Africa Race 2013

[Stagehand]

Thanks for keeping up on this one, Brodo- Its a good one to watch!

Very exciting!


Congratsto all the starters and finishers!

[barrier]

SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE Wednesday January 9th 2013 Stage 11: Koba / Lac Rose / Dakar

FINALLY AT LAC ROSE!

On Wednesday 9th January 2013 the Sonangol Africa Eco Race caravan arrived at the end of it's journey through Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal. It once again arrived at the mythical Lac Rose where the podiums and closing ceremony took place. A demonstration of joy and emotion awaited the partners and friends of the competitors. Also present were the SONANGOL representatives, official sponsor of the rally, the directors of the Senegalese Motor-sport Federation and a large number of supporters who had made the trip to Dakar especially for the occasion.

The bikers of Sonangol Africa Eco Race

The first bikes arrived at 13.00 at the edge of Lac Rose, ending a journey of 5825 km of which 3500 km were Special stages. Under the much appreciated and benevolent watch of Sonangol Africa Eco Race director René METGE, the winners were welcomed back; Belgian Martin FONTYN in the bike class, Frenchmen Jean Louis SCHLESSER and Cyril ESQUIROL in the car class and the Russians Anton SHIBALOV, Evgeny YAKOVLEV and Dmitry SOTNIKOV in the truck category. The winners of the different classes and all of the finishers of this 5th edition came up one after the other onto the podium. The ceremony lasted three hours and each participant was able to express themselves; giving thanks to their partners, mentioning the excellent ambiance of the race, telling stories about their adventures and acknowledging the good organisation. By passing underneath the finish arch of the Sonangol Africa Eco Race, they have immortalized themselves in history and immersed themselves into the magic of a real African rally.

Jean Louis SCHLESSER and Cyril ESQUIROL at the top of the podium

Martin FONTYN winner of the bike category

Victory for KAMAZ in truck category

Martin FONTYN and Jean Louis SCHLESSER Anton SHIBALOV, Evgeny YAKOVLEV and Dmitri SOTNIKOV

René METGE expressed his version of the race: "When José Maria SERVIA, Fina ROMAN and Manfred KROISS planned out the journey of the 2013 Sonangol Africa Eco Race, we knew that this would once again be a difficult test. It was cold in Morocco and the sands of Mauritania weren't easy to navigate again this year. Despite all that, the competitors were very strong as two thirds managed to get themselves through all of the problems to finally reach Lac Rose. They all have a mentality that I've rarely seen during my career. According to their commentaries on the podium, I think that we fulfilled our mission and nothing gives me gReater pleasure than when the participants are satisfied. I'd like to thank all the members of the organisation team and all of the contributors who worked very hard. I'd like to say to everyone; see you next year I hope!"

The podium cars-trucks

KINI KTM's Team The bikes podium

Martin FONTYN Jean and Yves FROMONT, 2nd in car

Stéphane HENRARD and Cédric LEGEIN, winners in Classic Hubert AURIOL and Jean Paul FORTHOMME

ALL THE RESULTS ON : www.africarace.com

PRESS CONTACT Thierry SCHARFF GSM: +33 (0)6 63 44 23 61 Email: presse@africarace.com FTP AFRICA RACE FOR PICTURES COPYRIGHT FREE OF RIGHT: CONTACT US

[Brodovitch]

Short message from Guillaume yesterday:

it was a great event. Very professional Organisation. Must do this if you can. René Metge is a real professional and the road books are a dream. Nice scenery too.

[Brodovitch]

Guillaume's brother made this very cool video with footage from the race:

[izom]

...lots of respect for "our" austrian drivers/actors moretti and bloeb...!!



when i read first about their starting - ithought OMG- a media joke- theyll drive for last place-

but both finished in top ten-

and even they had the "full ktm package" i think they did really good...


they only thing whats really NOT good that this african race is at same time as "bigbrother" dakar so it gets a little bit lost in the media etc.

[Brodovitch]

Originally Posted by izom

...lots of respect for "our" austrian drivers/actors moretti and bloeb...!!



when i read first about their starting - ithought OMG- a media joke- theyll drive for last place-

but both finished in top ten-

and even they had the "full ktm package" i think they did really good...

good on the boys! I was also afraid they would be another pair of Boormans but it looks like they bit the bullet and pulled through

Originally Posted by izom

they only thing whats really NOT good that this african race is at same time as "bigbrother" dakar so it gets a little bit lost in the media etc.

I'm working on it

I feel like a psychopath posting to myself over here sometimes, but hopefully by keeping this thread alive a few others will take note & we have more inmates for next year... The live tracking AER offers is fantastic, when we were spectating the Morocco Race (which had Iritrack positions as well) it led to some very frantic days over here...

[Brodovitch]

Last stage, Lac Rose !

[Flood]

Originally Posted by izom

when i read first about their starting - ithought OMG- a media joke- theyll drive for last place-

but both finished in top ten-

I thought the same thing.

And then I remember Tobias Moretti and his red XL500 in the Piefke Saga. I had to look it up, that was 1990 already :

[izom]

...haha- yes time goes by...!!

but he shouldnt colour his hair blonde- was afraid they wouldnt find him in the desert...after taking his helmet off...

-but to be honest the big LOUIs (schlesser) didnt get prettier also......BUT his still FAST...

would be intersting seeing his blue buggy comopete in southamerica...

anyway- i love rallys...here or there- and lots of respect for those people ridin day for day hundreds of kms...

[cguch]

Hi to all!

Thanks for beeing with us at Africa Race 2013!
It was pretty hard, but we survived ;-)

All infos: www.rally-team.at

CU at Tuareg Rallye ;-)

Christian Horwath

[Sportakus]

Thanks to everybody for the info...
This it's a real rally...

[Brodovitch]

Originally Posted by cguch

Hi to all!

Thanks for beeing with us at Africa Race 2013!
It was pretty hard, but we survived ;-)

All infos: www.rally-team.at

CU at Tuareg Rallye ;-)

Christian Horwath

First of all congratulations Christian! And to everyone else who finished, in whatever way

Good to see some racers on here, feel free to tell us more info. How were the roadbooks? Accurate? the organization (starting times, refueling, etc)? The safety?

There is so much I want to know about this one, yes, I am itching to ride in Africa

[Flood]

Austrian TV station Servus TV / Red Bull TV started its 5-part documentary on the Moretti/Bloeb brothers' Africa Eco Race adventure yesterday.

Dunno if it's IP-blocked, you can try to watch it here:

http://www.servustv.com/cs/Satellite...11259485369389

[Brodovitch]

Originally Posted by Flood

Austrian TV station Servus TV / Red Bull TV started its 5-part documentary on the Moretti/Bloeb brothers' Africa Eco Race adventure yesterday.

Dunno if it's IP-blocked, you can try to watch it here:

http://www.servustv.com/cs/Satellite...11259485369389

Great! Working for me in Greece, wish there were subtitles though