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TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2024
ETAPE 1 : NADOR / BOUDNIB : 4597,04 kms
Spéciale : 604, 35 km
After disembarking early in the morning in Nador, the first stage of the AFRICA ECO RACE in Morocco will be shorter than usual. The caravan will take a break in Boudnib, 200 km further north, to reduce the first day's liaison and with low night-time temperatures. Despite departing from Debdou to bypass a rocky mountainous area, the first selective sector of the 2024 edition will be exceptionally long, extending over 175 km. The special stage will take place on rolling tracks with frequent changes of direction, offering competitors an opportunity to get back into the swing of things while focusing on navigation. This stage will also serve as an introduction to reading the event-specific road-book.
A BUSY FIRST DAY FOR THE AFRICA ECO RACE 2024
It was 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 2nd 2024, when the first vehicle in the AFRICA ECO RACE caravan touched down on the quayside of the port of Nador in northern Morocco.
Once the administrative formalities had been completed, the first motorcycle set off on the 185 km route to the start line not far from Debdou, almost 1h30 behind schedule.
The program included a rather rolling special stage with frequent changes of direction, and in the end, 173 km swallowed up in 01:54:09 by the APRILIA Touareg 660 of Italian Jacopo CERUTTI. A superb performance for the Italian brand's return to offroas rallies, ahead of the two YAMAHA Ténéré 700s of Alessandro BOTTURI and Pol TARRES, at 00:01:47, but separated by just 3 seconds.
A particular performance of the French-Moroccan Guillaume BORNE, who placed his HUSQVARNA 450 in 4th position ahead of the HONDA 450 of Italian Giovanni GRITTI, who rounded off the top 5. Behind him, Swiss rider Alexandre VAUDAN also made a name for himself on his KTM, finishing just 12 minutes ahead of Frenchman Attilio FERT, also on an Austrian machine. A bike from a manufacturer unaccustomed to being at the forefront of the discipline finished 8th. It was the HARLEY DAVIDSON 1250 of Spaniard Joan PEDRERO.
Rounding out the day's top 10 were the BETA of Italian Andrea GAVA and the APRILIA of his compatriot Francesco MONTANARI.
On four wheels, following a technical problem, the timing team, the ERTF team in charge of GPS tracking and race management had to work through the night to define the times of each participant and produce the day's final rankings.
In the end, Spaniards Carlos VENTO and Carlos RUIZ MORENO won their CAN AM for 00:03:11 ahead of the OLIVEIRA team, Rui and Bernardo. Another CAN AM rounded off the day's podium with the Franco-German crew of Heatcliff ZINGRAF and Gregory REVEST. We had to drop down to 6th position to find the first car of the Belgians Koen WAUTERS and Kris VEN DER STEEN on a TOYOTA. Czech Tomas TOMECEK won the truck category, finishing 11th overall.
