NEWSLETTER : 27/05/2015
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TRANSFERT : 5KM – SPECIAL : 225KM – TRANSFERT : 8KM
The longest stage of the Rally takes place on former tracks used when the Tunisia was the cradle of rally-raid. In the heart of the dunes, the track alternates fast sections and navigation through desert tracks. To be rediscovered unlimited!

A LONG.... LONG STAGE...

The track has disappeared because of the sand storm of yesterday. There is no mark anymore.... the sand is soft and the average speed will be very slow. The organization and the race officials decide to add 1h05 at the maximum time to do the special. The competitors will have 7h30 to finish de special before being out of time.

AT THE STARTING LINE THIS MORNING

At the starting line of stage 2 this morning, the sun is here and there is no wind today. The good mood is also there: the official team that give the start composed by Serge Tison, Mahmoud Essoussi and Jean Claude Ayral tell fun stories of their past rallies, Helder Rodrigues n°1 jokes with his mechanics of the Team Yamaha Racing Yamalube and his team mate Alessandro Botturi N°2...

At 7am, the first bike starts.
Just behind, ,Gérald Delepine on his KTM N°22, 1st of the Enduro Cup category yesterday, starts behind the two professional riders. Waiting for his turn, Gérald is concentrated on the the track of the day. The Belgium world champion of Supermotard from the Team Piboules Racing will have to take the measure of the dunes to renew his performance of yesterday.

Philippe Dasse, Team Manager and Piboules Racing rider on his KTM N°20, starts at the 6th place. Arrived 3rd in Enduro Cup yesterday, Philippe knows that it will be hard today: « We have to ride with a good pace without taking the risk to fall. »

For the Cars/SSV, the Polaris of Philippe Pinchedez and Jean Brucy N°394, and of Patrice Garrouste and Benoit Delmas N°395 look good in front of the buggys and other 4x4. This morning, it's the main subject on every mouth. Everybody is grouped in front of the 2 SSV, joke about their adventures of yesterday and take photos. Yesterday, only the 2 SSV did not tanked in the dunes, or got lost and had no mechanical problems on the 1st stage. Will it be the case on today stage?we will see...

At the 3rd place on the starting line, we find the CUMMINS Buggy of Patrick Sireyjol and his copilote François Beguin N°302. The crew is hunger for success for that 2nd stage.

The atmosphère is friendly but the competition is real when it's time to start.

THE FEW NON RUNNER OF THE DAY...

The bikes of Ibrahim Khmekm N°6 and Melek Abdelkefi N°23 are not starting this morning.
The conformity of their bikes did not allow them to start the race. They give rendez-vous to all their fans for the Rally of Tunisia 2016. After a demanding 1st day, Jérôme Lunot N°4 prefered to be reasonable and did no start this morning. He will be at the Rally OiLibya of Morocco with NPO EVENTS on the track he likes since 2011.

For Cars, the T1 of Sami RASSAS and de Fethi BOUGHANMI N°319 could not repair in time to start today. They worked on the car all the night with the hope to be ready in the morning but couldn't make it. They will be at the start of SS3.

2 ENDURO CUP ON THE PODIUM OF THE SPECIAL OF THE DAY

In 2008, when the ENDURO CUP category was created in Rallye-Raid, NPO EVENTS wanted to allow to a maximum of rider by Bikes and Quads to discover the rallies and reveal young and not so young rider with their machine in an origin setting.

The objective is complete once again in that 31th edition of the Rally of Tunisia!

The Yamaha N°1 et N°2 lead at CP2 but Gérald DELEPINE N°22 and Duong NGUYEN-KHOA
N°26 are not far away despite the refuelling of the 2 Enduro Cup!

At the finish line of the special, the surprise is here: it's the KTM of Gérald DELEPINE n°22 that win the stage in front of Alessandro BOTTURI and the KTM of Duong NGUYEN-KHOA! Helder RODRIGUES, the favorite of this Rally of Tunisia 2015 is 4th.

In addition of being amazing on the track and really nice outside, the Belgium rider Gérald DELEPINE is also generous! We learn at the finish line that he has helped the 2 Yamaha riders on the track by giving them some fuel. The 2 professionals were gentlemen at their turn by letting the Belgium go away as a thank to let him win his 1st victory in Rallye-Raid.
He will open the track of the stage 3 tomorrow... a gift?... it's a new challenge for Gerald.

Here in Tunisia, The "young wonder" realize an exploit for his 1st rally. BRAVO !

LE BUGGY CUMMINS LEADS THE CAR CLASSIFICATION

With more than 80% of sand on the longest stage of the rally, the competitors had a lot to do to cross the finish line. The professionalism of the copilote François BEGUIN and his driver Patrick SYREIJOL allow to the Buggy CUMMINS N°302 to win the special and cross the finish line with more than 27 min in front of the crew N°294 PINCHEDEZ / BRUCY.

The N°300 of Team Portugais MRACING PRT on TOYOTA finishes the special 3rd. The crew of Paulo Rui FERREIRA et Jorge MONTEIRO is faithful to the rallies NPO EVENTS and have lived intense adventures during the stage today. They are 3rd also at the general classification.

The 1st T2 is in the Top 10 of the general classification. A great performance for a pilot full of courage: the Tunisian rider Ludovic LELOUP is alone in his TOYOTA N°317! "Ludo with a big heart" has also helped 5 crews in the dunes and lost more than 1 hours doing it: CONGRATULATIONS!

The only woman in the competition, HEND CHAOUCH N°327 finishes 20th of the special and has helped other riders on the track once again.

From the opinion of the PROS and the AMATEURS, the stage was really difficult today. We just have to look at their face to understand what they have lived today.

The hotel is calm tonight. The day was hard for all the competitors and their machine.

General provisional classification BIKES: click-here

Special provisional classification BIKES: click-here

General provisional classification CARS: click-here

Special provisional classification CARS: click-here

THE UPCOMING STAGE:

STAGE 3: KSAR GHILANE – DOUZ
LIAISON : 147KM – SPECIAL : 182KM – LIAISON : 62KM
A stage more difficult accross the Oriental Erg. An amazing view on the huge plateau of dunes which competitors can admire. The cords of dunes rhythm the stage, and the driving must be mastered in paradisiacal landscapes.

CONTACT NPO EVENTS

A professional team and an expertise at your service

For all informations or registrations, feel free to contact us:

NPO EVENTS Competitors service:
Phone : +33 4 42 840 843
Email : concurrents@npo.fr
Web : www.npo.fr