On today’s menu: 198 km around M’Hamid, Chegaga, and Lake Iriki.
Due to recent flooding, the stage had to be partially re-routed. The start takes place on a hard-packed track before dropping into an oued leading to the Sacred Oasis, where caution is advised — the trail becomes tricky in places.
The main highlight of the day is a beautiful 35 km dune crossing. After that, teams will hit Lake Iriki, where they can test their top speed — though speed limits still apply for SSVs and motorcycles.
Next comes a navigation section following compass headings, where drivers will need to stay sharp: there are many parallel tracks that can easily lead to errors. The stage wraps up with a return to the bivouac via fast, sandy tracks.
Lormand Xavier / Jorda Guillaume #217 – SSV “Flamingos”
It was a bit like the same stage from two years ago, just in reverse. There were tracks everywhere. There were three major navigation traps — maybe due to the changes they had to make. It was a very rough special stage with 37 km of dunes. You had to be sharp to get back on track quickly and follow the compass headings properly, or you’d end up in some strange spots.
There’s going to be a lot of hammering in the bivouac tonight to get the cars back in shape. The dunes weren’t that hard to cross.
M’Hamid is still as great as ever. It’s my first Carta, though I’ve been doing rallies for 25 years. My co-driver had done the Baja Morocco with Chris last September and had a blast. He told me, “Let’s do the Carta together,” and a bunch of our friends also came to race. The atmosphere is really nice, and there are a lot more French participants compared to other rallies where it tends to be more tense. The roadbooks are very precise — if you stick to the distances and headings, you won’t go wrong. It’s well done, kind of like what René Metge used to do — very accurate, well put together, and friendly. They’ve done a great job.
I hope we get a beautiful dune session on Saturday. I’m really hoping we can dive into the real heart of the sand. For me, 35 km is just the beginning. All the vehicles are evenly matched, so straight tracks don’t really add much — apart from overheating the belts. But in the dunes, that’s where it gets interesting.
Chris is super friendly, and the welcome has been great — the Pacha in M’Hamid was excellent.
