The second leg of the AMV Shamrock-Rallye du Maroc was done at super high speed. Fast track after fast track in a magical landscape, an ideal picture for the 2008 competitors. Jean- Louis Schlesser almost changed the overall classification in the first lap, arriving ten minutes before the Russians, but got tricked by his GPS ten km before arriving. In spite of that, the « desert fox » wins today's two laps, ahead of Leonid Novitskiy, who is still the leader.
On the bikes David Frétigné and Michel Marchini share the win with one scratch each. Thierry Bethys, sneaking up from behind, gets the second place in the overall, behind Frétigné and in front of Bruno Da Costa, steady as a rock. On the quads Vincent Albira got far ahead of Spaniard Climent Vicent and Jean-Christophe Ménard. Alain Fricker and his SSV Drakart had quite a bit of fun, but repeated punctures ruined his performance.
The magic of the desert…
This second leg, very fast, was done at the speed of the gazelle in landscapes the likes of which can only be found in Africa. Over more than 70 kilometers, off-track between dunes and camel grass, then a series of speedy tracks with a lot of direction changes. A few nice passages close to the dunes and a very trying finish. Fairy tales landscapes made the competitors truly appreciate today's leg.
David Frétigné et Michel Marchini have it easy…
Two lightning fast laps.
Michel Marchini first this morning and David Frétigné this afternoon. Close to one another on the track, although the Corsican was too far behind to win today (because of yesterday's penalty). David Frétigné had a lot of fun and even rode for ten minutes at 143 km/h…, happy to go ahead, without a trail and enjoying the desert! Thierry Bethys was still continuing his day to day self teaching of the discipline. A lot of care and concentration for the rider from western France, aware he still has a lot to learn, especially on the navigation part.
Bruno Da Costa, 3rd in the overall, had a bit of a fright this morning when he broke his exhaust pipe. Thanks to Thierry Bethys, who nicely gave him a spare part, he was able to do the second lap and to keep his place. After yesterday's troubles, Michaël Pisano went on and is now coming up slowly.
Frédéric Lepan, 5th in the overall, is riding special after special and had some fun today. Too bad that losing his mudguard yesterday also lost him about fourty minutes. Hats down for Moroccan rider Harite Gabari, in the top ten since the beginning.