Team 151: Alexa, age 23, the baby of this year’s Rallye

At 23 years of age, Alexa is the youngest participant in this 29th edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc. The first-time Gazelle is competing with her mother, Valérie.

A project that helps you grow 

51-year-old stay-at-home mum Valérie has 4 children, of whom Alexa, aged 23, is the eldest. Valérie discovered the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc 10 years ago: “Alexa was 13 at the time so I knew I would have to be patient. I would have liked to do it for my 40th birthday, but my children were too young. Then I wanted to do it for my 50th birthday, but Alexa couldn’t, she was preparing for her medical biology exams. In all that time the desire never left me, and now that they have all grown up, here I am with my eldest daughter, about to take part in the adventure at 51; that’s where our team number comes from 151 (Valérie THEILLIER / Alexa THEILLIER - Pack élite diffusion).” Alexa never had any doubts; she knew she wanted to accompany her mother: “I threw myself into the preparations in December, after my exams. I was attracted by the competition aspect, the driving. But the thing I loved most about the project was that it really helped me grow. I had to present our vehicle wrap before adults, bosses: I had to make them believe in the project. I had never done that before that type of audience before; it’s quite a change from the student environment.”

Team on fire!

The pair from Charleville-Mézières in Ardennes call themselves “Gaz’Elite”: “It’s because we’re on fire, though we may not have gas on every floor… The idea made us laugh and we ran with it. I know things will go well with my daughter. She’s a good driver, we make a dynamic team and we get along extremely well on every level. There’s nobody I get along with better than my daughter.” And Alexa confirms: “We were both interested in the idea of living this adventure. We love to travel, we’re going to get to know each other even better, we’re going to discover what happens when we leave our comfort zone and the student life. It’s going to be fun to do something new, and with a group of women.” Valérie is proud of her daughter, and more than that: “she’s my lucky charm!” The Mum has the role of driver for their first Rallye, “but we’ll take turns. I also want to experience the pleasure of driving in the dunes so we’re going to make sure both of us get to enjoy every aspect of the Rallye.”

The goal: to make it to the finish line 

Alexa isn’t putting too much pressure on herself: all she wants is to “finish the competition with a vehicle in good working order and as many checkpoints as possible without too may problems; if not, as Mum says: the podium!” Despite her young age, Alexa is not taking this rally lightly: she is proud and happy to be taking part in such a major and impressive project. As the start of the competition fast approaches, the only thing making team 151 (Valérie THEILLIER / Alexa THEILLIER - Pack élite diffusion) a little anxious is the idea of a mechanical problem: “knowing that mechanical problems could knock us out of the competition makes us a little nervous. But, touch wood, the car has to make it!” exclaims Valérie. In fact, the Gaz’Elite already shed a few tears of frustration when the car refused to start the day before their departure for Nice: “we needed a tow in Reims; we had a faulty probe after having the mud guards changed a few days earlier”. But all’s well that ends well. Let the adventure begin!