{"id":1185,"date":"2014-02-06T19:20:38","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T19:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=1185"},"modified":"2014-05-07T18:33:11","modified_gmt":"2014-05-07T18:33:11","slug":"notes-from-the-road-mar-27","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/usnomadstudio.com\/usnomads\/blog\/?page_id=1185","title":{"rendered":"Notes from the Road – MAR 27"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTES FROM THE ROAD<\/h2>\n
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< more recent<\/a> | 27 MAR 2014 | older ><\/a> <\/p>\n

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LEG 6: THE LAST DAY OF COMPETITION<\/h5>\n


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The last leg of the race takes the teams on a loop south of Foum Zguid<\/strong><\/h6>\n


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27 MARCH 2014:<\/strong> The Gazelles leave the bivouac for the last day of the competition this morning, for a relatively short loop of 120 km. While the distance is shorter, the landscape is more variable, alternating between wide plains and steep valleys. In the distance the “Grand M’daouer” cliffs creates one of the most beautiful backdrops in the world. Several teams were not on the starting line today due to serious mechanical issues with their vehicles and will have to end the rally as “unranked.”

\nThe final Leg was supposed to be one of the easier days for the Gazelles, combining navigation and driving without any particular difficulty, except around CP1, where some expertise was needed to avoid the large stones along the oued bottom. However, Mother Nature felt otherwise. Serious sandstorms had blasted the bivouac all night long, making it difficult to sleep, and then continued through the morning. The lack of visibility complicated navigation and even veteran teams made unusual mistakes.

\nThe blowing sand draped an opaque veil over normally clear features. The Gazelles were forced to use close landmarks to navigate, magnifying any small heading errors fourfold. Under these conditions –visibility of just 3 km — the peak of Mhaijiba looks much the same as that of Amsailikh: an error that caused many a Gazelle to double the ideal distance of 15 km between CP3 and CP4.

\nBy noon, some teams had already reached CP5, and a few were even on their way to CP7. The route from CP6 to CP7 was also quite challenging, but this time due to difficult terrain: large angular rocks and deeply gullied hills slowed the teams down. Even top teams, who are used to driving “as the crow flies”, were forced to adjust their heading slightly to save time and to spare their vehicles. Top competitors are particularly hard on their trucks, and the challenge is sometimes just to keep the vehicle running so as to make it to the end.

\nThe finish line opened at 2pm, and teams not vying for the top rankings could cut their day short after 3 or 4 checkpoints to get back to the bivouac early. The fastest teams were already crossing the line around 2PM, with all 8 checkpoints complete. Others continued struggling on to find those last CPs.

\nA long line of Gazelles began to form at the finish by 6PM. Excited chatter and cries of joy could be heard as the teams crossed the line for the last time — successfully completing the rally, no matter what their ranking.

\nAnd at the top of the rankings there were some unusual twists. Team 188 (Syndiely Wade and Florence Pham – CONTINENTAL), who won the event in 2013, committed the unprecedented error of incorrectly plotting CP1 on the map, an error that cost them 35 extra kilometres and wasted a lot of time as they spent much of the morning backtracking to find it, thus running out of time before they could reach the final CP.

\nBy 8 o’clock, most teams have reached the bivouac and the suspense is high! The final results will be published tomorrow at noon (March 28th). In the meantime, the Gazelles can relax and enjoy the traditional last evening at the bivouac, with champagne, music and fireworks!

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\nFor more live coverage of Today’s event from the official Rally site: English<\/a> | Fran\u00e7ais<\/a><\/p>\n


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VIDEO: HUMANITARIAN ACTION<\/h5>\n


Gazelles TV profiles some of the work done by the rally’s humanitarian arm, Coeur de Gazelles, during this year’s event. [Sorry for the obligatory advertisement at the start of this clip, it comes as part of the embedded resource, not our site.<\/em>]<\/p>\n