Team 161: one of 3 Volkswagen teams

161 (Audrey LEPINE / Kattel CORCUFF - VW FINANCIAL SERVICES) is taking part in the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc for the first time. Both women work for Volkswagen in the banking sector. Volkswagen, which has been sending teams to the Rallye for 4 years, is represented by three teams in this 29th edition. Katte is a sector manager in Marseille and Audrey is a client advisor in Picardie.

Selected by their employer

Audrey and Kattel, aged 34 and 41 respectively, were lucky enough to be chosen by their employer Volkswagen through selection trials held by Maïenga, organizer of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, in Avignon at the end of November.  “It started with a team orientation race, and at 6:00 the following morning there was a warm-up followed by an individual race and a whole set of sports challenges like carrying tires and navigation tests. The session ended with a race based on orientation and speed in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon.” Two weeks later, Katte and Audrey learned that they had been selected to be part of a Volkswagen team from among the 17 employees present in Avignon.

Finally met at the end of January

As soon as they learned they would be taking part in the adventure together, the futures Gazelles started exchanging messages, as distance prevented them from getting together in person. They finally met for the first time in late January at the navigation training in Avignon, which lasted two days. “We shared a room to get to know each other and get into the swing of things. It felt good, we got along well.” For two days, they learned about topography, navigation, and how to plot points on a map.  They also met other futures Gazelles.

Compatible behind the wheel

They continued to get along at the driving training in Oise, where they drove their future vehicle: “It was in winter; we learned to drive on sand and on slippery terrain, and that’s when we saw that we were really compatible, by the way we listened to each other and especially because we quickly learned to trust each other. And we did a cool thing: a blind driving exercise where the navigator guided the driver, who was blindfolded, up and down slopes and we had a good laugh.” After this experience, they decided they would both drive: “We’re going to share the driving and navigating, and once we get there we’ll see if one of us has more affinity for one or the other; we’ll see how things go during the Prologue.”

Objective: to enjoy themselves

Karrel decided to take on this adventure for the challenge, to push her limits, make it to the finish line and get home in one piece!  “Everyone says this rally changes women’s lives, so we’re going to see if that’s true.” Audrey is also seeking a challenge: “to take some time for ourselves, have some fun, to make ourselves and our families proud.” After the verifications on Friday March 15, the two Gazelles aren’t particularly nervous: “We’ll see once we get there but for now, we haven’t had time to think about it. We thought we would cry when we received our official vests but no, there was a sense of pride, but no tears.” For the moment…