The team with the number 402, formed by Elisabete Jacinto and France Clèves, completed at the end of this afternoon, the first marathon journey of the 25th Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles. After spending the night in the desert, the Luso-Belgian duo fulfilled successfully the fourth stage of this great navigation rally and pointed out all 13 obligatory points with consistency and regularity.
This leg had the ideal distance of 335 kilometres, carried out between the Moroccan cities of Mech Irdane and Oulad Driss, divided in two days during which the participants remained in complete autonomy without having the benefit of the usual help of the mechanical team. This marathon journey was also marked by the extreme hardness of the mountain crossings, where once again Elisabete Jacinto and France Clèves put to the test the reliability of their Volkswagen Amarok, and the lack of navigation landmarks in the sand passages.
At a time when there are only three days until the end of this event, the Portuguese pilot Elisabete Jacinto continues to show a great capacity for concentration and dexterity and still continues to assume a top position of the general ranking, which was reached on the first day of this competition dedicated exclusively to women.
The ranking relating to this leg will be available tomorrow, because the teams of this rally may end each special by 12 noon of the next day. It is recalled that after the third stage Elisabete Jacinto occupied the fourth place in the overall standings of the Expert Category.
Tomorrow begins the fifth stage of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles that will be once again a marathon journey. The next two days will possibly be the most challenging of this entire navigation competition. The participants have to go through the dunes of Erg Chegaga, and are expected the hardest routes of all this competition. A few days before the end of this great event ranking start to get set. But until the end a lot can happen.