THE FIRST RECONNAISSANCE TRIPS

The 2002 Total-Dakar, which will set off from Arras on the 28th of December, is taking shape little by little. It's definite route will only be made known at the end of November, but Hubert Auriol and Patrick Zaniroli, respectively General Director and Sporting Director of T.S.O., today lift the veil on a part of the route : the Moroccan stages.

Just back from the first reconnaissance trips, Patrick Zaniroli reveals to us details of the first four African stages which will cross Morocco from North to South, before joining Mauritania.

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For Hubert Auriol, the route of the 2002 Total-Dakar in Morocco must reply to certain criteria: " first of all, it is a question of finding places which lend themselves to the specifics of the Dakar and the vehicles which make up the caravan. We can't go into the Atlas mountains, because the pistes are too narrow for the trucks. Moreover, in January, with the rain, the pistes are impassable.

We then have to take into account the notion of long (approximately 600 km by day) and smooth driving stages, specific to the Dakar.

And finally, the first African stages of the Dakar are a sort of warm up session. They allow the competitors to test themselves, to evaluate the opposition ,to make the final adjustments to their vehicles. " While the stages in Europe (France and Spain) allow the public to be close to the competitors, the arrival in Morocco marks the sporting start of the rally.

The making of a route

As soon as Spring arrives, Patrick Zaniroli is bent over his maps, in order to work out the outline of the route to be taken. His knowledge of Africa and it's pistes help him in this delicate task. But that's not enough because the pistes, the dunes … in Africa nothing remains still for very long : more and more pistes are asphalted, or damaged by bad weather, the oueds dry up, the dunes move with the wind…

For Patrick Zaniroli, " The aim of the reconnaissance trips is to verify what I imagined from the maps. To check the viability of such a route and eventually find new pistes, new passages.

The route must provide a logical and homogenous progression. Even if it is more and more difficult to find new pistes in Morocco, I try as far as possible to draw up a route that is varied, interesting, and progressively difficult. A passage taken in the opposite direction can prove to be totally different, even insurmountable ! "

A first " Reco " is thus organised early Summer and a second much longer one in October (Mauritania, Mali and Senegal). Hence, everything is settled from the reconnaissance trips onwards : creation of the road-book, the number of kilometres to each stage, GPS points, direction to be followed…

However, for the safety of all, a final verification is indispensable. This takes place just before the rally and allows any possible modifications to be made to the road-book.