The top teams confirm their positions
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Leg 5 MDJS | Marathon
With the end of the competition fast approaching, the Gazelles at the top of the rankings are using strategy to avoid wasting kilometres…
Day follows day and all look alike for Team 190 (Anne-Marie BORG / Yolande BENS - CONSTRUCTIONS DU SUD OUEST - CSO), winners of Leg 5 MDJS in 4×4 Class with 21.30 kilometres over the ideal distance, just 600 m ahead of Team 200 (Jeanette JAMES / Murielle TARRAZI - Bumper Off Road). With this performance, Anne-Marie and Yolande also climb in the general ranking, where they are now in third position. Jeannette and Murielle hold onto their first place in the general ranking, followed by Tania and Régine of Team 207 (Tania LIO / Régine ZBINDEN - Bumperoffroad). “We’ve won 3 legs out of 4 so naturally we’re happy. It’s a good performance for us because we lost 10 km the first day”. The Gazelles will “do their best and work tighter”. At any rate they are going to be “confident going into Chegaga”.
In First Participation Class, Marlène and Valérie of Team 156 (Marlène VILOTTE / Valérie DUBOURDY - LITTLE BRIDGE) win the leg with 30.76 kilometres over the ideal distance. A nice victory for the Gazelles who are “proud”, especially as they won the leg with “three and a half wheels” (the fourth being wobbly). Their goal: finish among the top 3 First Participation teams. They will need to gain a few kilometres to climb from fourth to third place by “staying completely focussed”. Léa and Alia of Team 191 (Léa BAUDIER / Alia BOUCHAMA - BMCE BANK) finish just 40 m behind them and hang onto their top position.
Babying the vehicle for the last leg
Still no change in Quad/SSV Class. Betty and Sonia of Team 29 (Elisabeth KRAFT / Sonia BAUDOIN-GUERARD - POLARIS FRANCE) stay in top spot in the general ranking, as well as winning every leg. During Leg 5 MDJS, they drove only 19.59 kilometres over the ideal distance. Véronique and Laurence of Team 25 (Véronique DE SYBOURG-SIFFERT / Laurence BRASEY - Michel Riedo&Fils SA) also put in a good performance with just 4 kilometres more than the leaders. The latter should manage to hold onto their second-place position in the general ranking, and approach this sixth and final leg without much stress. “We’re 10 kilometres behind the leaders and the third-place team is 14 kilometres behind us, so we can allow ourselves not to take too many risks. The idea is not to break anything”, remarks Véronique.
In E-Gazelles Vinci Immobilier Class, Team 505 (Aurélie DARD / Stéphanie PERUSSE - Intermarché Gaillard (74)) climbs another spot in the rankings after winning Leg 5 MDJS with 9.59 kilometres over the ideal distance. “We’re super happy”, exclaims Aurélie, who is “savouring” the victory, especially since they were “only a few hundred metres”, 240 to be exact, ahead of Team 510 (Stéphanie GUERRY / Carine POISSON - ZOE). However, the latter hold onto their first place in the general ranking.
In Crossover Class, Team 313 (Karine DRIRA ROGEZ / Audrey JOVER - INEHA Finance) stays in the lead with 42.53 kilometres over the ideal distance. Karine and Audrey are attached to their top spot but not to the detriment of their vehicle, which they chose to baby during Leg 6 “while optimizing kilometres”. “We’re in the lead and we’d like to stay there” observes Audrey. The two Gazelles are followed by Team 311 (Stéphanie d'HEILLY / Marina DUMEAU - MAN TRUCK & BUS FRANCE), with an additional 13 kilometres. Third place Team 312 (Frédérique ROBYR / Malika SCHMALZ - Consortium Entreprise Générale Patrick Schmalz et Dhome SA), finishes the leg with 57.74 extra kilometres.
