First general briefing

The day of technical, administrative and medical verifications ended with a general briefing, essential for the 78% of participants who are experiencing the Rallye for the first time. The Gazelles gathered in one of the large meeting rooms of Palais Nikaïa.

The bivouac, home away from home

Dominique Serra, founder and director of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, began her address by reminding the participants that this event would not be possible without its partners, whom she named one after the other: Les Eaux Minérales d’Oulmès, Diana Holding, CBA Informatique, 2M International, Bosch Car Service, Vinci Immobilier, Afriquia, MDJS, ATOL, Aïcha, Dupessey, HEC Paris, Chérie, Kraftwerk, Champagne Tsarine. She followed this with some basic information about the event, including the bivouac. “The bivouac will be your home, it is always set up in the same way so you can easily find your way around. The bivouac covers an area of 1,400 m2. It uses 28,000 bottles of water, 800,000 litres of fuel and has 80 people working in the kitchens. I will wake you up every morning, not at 4 a.m. but at 5 a.m., since Morocco did not set the clocks back last fall. There will be a briefing at 6 a.m. and the leg starts at 7.”  There will be a CBA Informatique medical tent at the bivouac should they need to see an osteopath, physiotherapist or doctor. An e-mail tent will deal with the messages sent to the Gazelles by family and friends. “This e-mail tent has even been the scene of marriage proposals…”

Committed to the environment

The Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc is the only motorsport event in the world with ISO 14001:2015 certification. “Respecting the environment is part of your duties towards Morocco. The event organizer has provided you with a cup; use it, it is another step in our environmental approach. There will be no more plastic cups at the bivouac. When it comes to waste management, there are several sorting and recycling bins just outside the restaurant. Food waste will be used to feed livestock and an incinerator truck will burn the rest of the waste. Plastic water bottles will be repurposed to build walls for houses and day care centres.” Before handing over the microphone to Ludovic Taché, Dominique Serra repeated: “You’ll see, Morocco is a wonderful country…”

Rules and regulations

It is Ludovic Taché, the event’s Sporting Director, who will hold the 6 a.m. briefing each morning of the competition. He began by reminding the Gazelles of certain rules and safety regulations: “Helmets and seat belts are mandatory as soon as the vehicle is in motion. You will be penalized if you are caught without either one.” He then provided some details about the organization of this year’s competition: “This year, routes A-B-C-D-E-F will be used for Automobile / Truck Class and SSV / Quad Class. G is reserved for VINCI Immobilier e-Gazelle cars, of which there are 8.  Route H is for the two VINCI Immobilier e-Gazelle buggies. And finally, Route S is for Crossover Class. When you get back in the evening, fill up your tank, check your liquid levels and then take your vehicle to the mechanics, you have one hour to do all that. If you fuel up in the morning, it will cost you 200 penalty points…” To communicate with the Bosch Car Service mechanics workshop, the Gazelles were provided with a mechanics notebook in which they can note any concerns or problems with the vehicle.  “The Rallye mechanics are magicians, they can fix anything, but they aren’t mind-readers: they can’t guess what the problem is. Rankings will be drawn up every evening, which will be used to create the next morning’s departure grid. This will be posted so you can see what line you are leaving on.” A final piece of advice before tomorrow’s official start at 3 p.m. on Promenade des Anglais: “Be careful not to fall asleep at the wheel: the route is long, and some parts are monotonous. Finally, don’t forget to re-read the rules when you have time on the boat!”