Africa Eco Race, Stage 6: Canceled!

[advrider]

The Africa Eco Race moved into Mauritania today, after Sunday’s rest day, and the plan was to start the special after a 370-kilometer transit stage that started at the country’s border with Morocco. But, weather interfered, and Stage 6’s special had to be canceled, since the support aircraft were not able to get in place in time.

In the words of the rally org:

It was 6.00 am this morning when Frenchman Xavier FLICK set off on the long 370 km liaison to the border between the Western Sahara part of Morocco and Mauritania. Close to the border between the two countries, a tent had been set up by the Moroccan authorities to provide a breakfast buffet worthy of the one in the Port of Nador. This was yet another demonstration of the extraordinary welcome that Morocco has given the AFRICA ECO RACE.

Once this welcome meal was over, the competitors took the road into the “no man’s land” between the two countries before finally entering into Mauritania. This was an express border crossing, involving a simple check of the number of vehicles and passengers, with visa formalities now being carried out at the first Mauritanian bivouac. Consequently, at 10.30am, the majority of the bikes and cars had reached the GPS point of departure where tents had been set up to shelter them from the sun and water provided to rehydrate them. Everything was in place for the special to start at 12.00 pm as planned.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions in Dakhla and in particular the thick fog that grounded the organization’s helicopters and planes meant that we were not able to start as planned. The start had been planned for daybreak, towards Nouadhibou in Mauritania for the customs formalities, before a take-off towards Boulanouar, for the start of the special. In a worst-case scenario, the plan allows for the aircraft to be in place at the start by 12:00 at latest. However, the aircraft were only able to take off at 10:30, thus losing more than two hours of the initial schedule, and they only arrived at Boulanouar at 14:00. The competitors had been on stand-by for more than 3 hours by this point, with a temperature of almost 40°C, although in the shade of tents, but they had consumed all the water available to them. In these conditions, it would have been imprudent to let them start in a 200 km special. The decision was therefore taken to cancel this first Mauritanian special stage. A relief for the majority of the participants, who are well aware of the risks of dehydration when driving in the desert at this time of the day.

While no doubt the competitors would all have liked to make up time against the front-runners, the fatality on Stage 2 serves as a reminder to all that safety measures need to be in place at this event.

So, the racers should be back in action on Tuesday for business as usual, with a 470-km special, filled with sand dunes. The overall standings below remain the same, with no special today, but you can bet there will be some changes tomorrow.

Overall results after Stage 6

Classement Général – 24/10/2022		47 concurrent(s) classé(s)

 

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