The dunes leg widens the gap

Difficult to be as close to the ideal distance in this second leg, which took the Gazelles through the heart of the majestic Erg Chebbi dunes. In 4×4 Class, Jeanette and Rachelle of Team 267 (Jeanette JAMES / Rachelle GRESLE)finish in the lead, with 10.15 km over the ideal distance of 60 km. This performance moves them up two spots in the general 4×4 ranking, which they are now leading with 10.15 km, just ahead of Team 216 (Tania LIO / Régine ZBINDEN). Team 238 (Hélène GRAND'EURY / Charlotte ZUCCONI) drops a spot, ending up in third place. Team 125 (Sophie SOLON-BREUSSE / Laure DE LA JONQUIERE) makes a noteworthy climb to 4th place in the general ranking, 8.16 km behind the 3rd-place team.

This dunes leg caused a lot of damage for the First Participation 4×4 teams. Most of them had to call for mechanical assistance, which cost them a hefty penalty. The only novice team that managed without assistance, and which therefore now dominates the category, is Team 223 (Cendrine AZZOPARDI / Pauline CHAPPAZ). This also puts them into 13th place in the general ranking!

A second win for Team 39 (Betty KRAFT / Sonia BAUDOIN-GUERARD) in SSV/Quad Class! The quad team finishes with just 3.22 km over the ideal distance, or one third as much as the best 4×4 teams, an impressive performance! Delphine and France of Team 47 (Delphine BICHOFFE / France CLEVES)finish with 4.57 km, just ahead of Laurence and Véronique of Team 44 (Véronique DE SYBOURG-SIFFERT / Laurence BRASEY). The general ranking remains the same as at the end of the first stage.

In Crossover Class, it’s same thing, different day: the results of Leg 2 are exactly the same as those of Leg 1, but with a wider gap. Adeline and Karima of Team 308 (Adeline DROUIN / Karima BENOUARET BENZID) are in the lead with 14.29 km over the ideal distance. They are still followed by Hajar and Malika of Team 306 (Hajar EL BIED / Malika AJAHA)with 19.35 km, who are trailed by Marion and Aziza of Team 305 (Marion SUBILS / Aziza BOUBEZARI) with 31.73 km. The general ranking remains the same.

The sand was also a challenge for the E-Gazelles, many of whom requested mechanical assistance. Only Manal and Karolyn of Team 500 (Manal FAXELLE-ABOUHAMDA / Karolyn FAVREAU)managed to do the entire leg without assistance. They finish with 13.01 km over the ideal distance. In the general ranking, Sophie and Nadjette of Team 509 (Sophie QUERO / Nadjette GUIDOUM) hold on to second place but are trailing behind with 90.2 km. Among the electric prototype buggies, Armelle and Yolande of Team 602 (Armelle MEDARD-LANG / Yolande BENS)once again take top spot, beating yesterday’s performance with just 3.9 km over the ideal distance. Marie and Agnès of Team 600 (Marie BELINGARD / Agnès MOSSINA) are far behind with 16.29 km. It won’t be easy for them to catch up to the leaders. Nahide and Marta of Team 601 (Marta PARDO / Nahide ENNAM)did not reach all their checkpoints and finish with 114.09 km.