A long but straightforward first leg
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Leg 1
The first leg of the competition advanced at a slow pace, naturally enough considering that 78% of this year’s participants are novices. Some Gazelles made costly navigation errors, and many teams failed to reach all of their checkpoints.
But the seasoned Gazelles got through the day without difficulty. Unsurprisingly, in SSV/Quad Class, Betty Kraft and Sonia Baudoin, the only Quad team 29 (Elisabeth KRAFT / Sonia BAUDOIN-GUERARD - POLARIS FRANCE), drove a straight course. 13-time and 5-time Gazelles Betty and Sonia are beginning to know every rock by heart! They were forced to adjust their heading several times by a few metres to avoid certain terrain.
In 4×4 Class, Team 200 (Jeanette JAMES / Murielle TARRAZI - Bumper Off Road), with 10-time Gazelle Jeannette James, finished in the top 3 with a solid performance. Team 144 (Vanessa PARIS / Julie HU SEIK - Mca technology) reached every checkpoint and stayed at the head of the pack all day: “Today we were often the first to reach the checkpoint and we don’t have many extra kilometres, so we hope it will be the same tomorrow. We’re getting into the spirit of competition!” Team 238 (Hélène GRAND'EURY / Charlotte ZUCCONI - AFFI MOBILE) are defending their title this year. They finished the Prologue in top position but admitted to an imperfect performance today: “We had to avoid several new fields of crops, and there were some places we couldn’t get through in some places where we could before.”
In E-Gazelles VINCI Immobilier Class, Team 505 (Aurélie DARD / Stéphanie PERUSSE - Intermarché Gaillard (74)) finished just ahead of the Zoé, despite that vehicle’s better terrain capacity and greater autonomy. “It goes to show that having a careful strategy always works. And we have to look after our vehicle.”
In Crossover Class, Team 311 (Stéphanie d'HEILLY / Marina DUMEAU - MAN TRUCK & BUS FRANCE), got off to a good start with nice clean headings, only losing a little time on CP3. As the competition advances, some Gazelles will begin to stand out and dominate the rankings.
