Road rallies – Tunisia Rally Tour 2012 (D2): the Knight like a prince! –

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Tunisia Rally Tour 2012 (D2): the Knight like a prince !

Road rallies - Tunisia Rally Tour 2012 (D2): the Knight like a prince! -

First real step today since the ball of the race against the clock is open. Serge Nuques won royally ahead of Vincent Philippe after a long stage which already saw the first dropouts. Are the holidays over ?

First real step today since the ball of the race against the clock is open. Serge Nuques won royally ahead of Vincent Philippe after a long stage which already saw the first withdrawals. Are the holidays over ?

The first departure this morning given at 7 am foreshadowed a busy day. This time, the departures are given individually, always from minute to minute, from the Skanes Serail hotel in Monastir where the Red Bull arch sponsor of the event was erected..

The 3:15 hours allocated for the first link are relatively large. Calculated for an hourly average of 60 km / h, they still allow some breaks in view of the very rolling parts located between more brittle parts.

There, the change of scenery is well felt and the cacti along certain roads do not make you want to drive excessively fast at the risk of undergoing a painful hair removal session if the trajectory is a little too wide! It’s road safety from another perspective…

This 195 km link brings us to the first special. Barely over 2 km long, it’s a technical, slippery stage (we’re almost getting used to it here!) And ended with a succession of hairpins downhill.

The Grolandais knight does not detail and displays the color with a time of more than 7 seconds faster than his "immediate" pursuer Vincent Philippe! We are not crowned prince of Tunisia for nothing …

Behind, the differences are less important. Alain Fratini (Aprilia Tuono V4), famous veteran of the French rally championship, obtains the third time in 2’06.6 or 6 seconds behind the seven-time world endurance champion.

On the side of the Tunisian pilots also it is the fight: Techini Bassem on Kawasaki 750 Z, first Tunisian, obtains the 15th scratch time ahead of Ben Zaied Afif, 17th on Suzuki 1000 GSXR.

Karine Slitz, first female (winner of the category at the last Dark Dog Moto Tour) on the handlebars of her KTM 690 SMR obtains the 7th scratch time, more than 38 seconds behind the best time.

The second special is very close: barely 4 km separate it from the previous one. And there, same refrain: first time for Sergei the Tunisian-Grolando-Basque prince / knight who atomizes everyone on the handlebars of his Yamaha 450 WRF, starting with Vincent Philippe on Suzuki 450 RMX R to whom he sticks this time close to 8 seconds !

A "small" one-hour link then takes us to an Agil gas station (another sponsor of the TRT) in the town of Sbeitla where the lunch break for the day is organized. We will learn about the fall in the special of three pilots, the most affected of which comes out with a broken ankle.

After this 30-minute interlude, the pilots set off again for nearly four hours of linkage because Tozeur is still 237 km away from various and varied roads, in sometimes more than degraded conditions with potholes scattered over sometimes kilometers and miles. Lots of "basins" too, kinds of large depressions due to the passage of flood water from nearby rivers. In short, a total change of scenery this TRT !

Without there being a lot of changes of direction, we should not miss the only passage control of the day… The local population is very enthusiastic as the rally passes. Even passing Tunisian mopeds want to be pointed at the CP! And in a very cooperative way, the organization plays the game…

The times, still wide, allow to travel the laison relatively easily to the imposed average of 60 km / h. And it is therefore around 4 p.m. that the first motorcycles arrive at the Ksar Jerid hotel in Tozeur, the finish of this marathon stage..

In the evening, during the presentation of the cups to the first three of the stage, Serge Nuques took the opportunity to send a message of caution to the competitors, underlining the particular character of Tunisian roads, especially for the stages….

Tomorrow the program is more "light" in terms of the link but the pace of the specials increases! A loop of about 70 km Tozeur-Tozeur, which takes two specials, has to be covered twice. Stay connected !

Marcus HIMSELF

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