Road rallies – Tunisia welcomes the first Tunisian Moto Tour as a symbol of peace – Symbol of peace and tolerance

Posted on by admin

Tunisia welcomes first Tunisian Moto Tour as symbol of peace

Road rallies - Tunisia welcomes the first Tunisian Moto Tour as a symbol of peace - Symbol of peace and tolerance

The Tunisian Ministry of Tourism hosted Thursday in Tunis the launch conference of the first Tunisian Moto Tour, the sporting and touristic little brother of the Dark Dog Moto Tour, which will crisscross the north of the country from May 1 to 6… Presentation.

Symbol of peace and tolerance

The very first Tunisian Moto Tour, which will set off in a month to tour the north of Tunisia (read and), was officially launched Thursday in Tunis during a press conference at the tourism ministry.

"Symbol of peace, tolerance and democracy"

The Options Sports Events team, which seeks to diversify its activities on other playgrounds, has long prepared the arrival of this Tunisian "little brother" of the Dark Dog Moto Tour with the on-site help of the LOV Tunisia agency, the Tunisian Motorcycling Federation, the President of the Road Rally Commission of the French Motorcycling Federation (FFM) Gilles Planchon-Tourly, the Tunisian authorities and the French Embassy, ​​under the sponsorship of the former boxer and biker Franck Tiozzo.

"We wish to welcome this rally to make it a symbol of peace, tolerance and democracy", notably declared the director of tourism Mrs. Afraa Jouini (on the left above), while the president of Option Sam Thomas (in the center), who knows Tunisia well having stayed there almost thirty times. , is delighted to introduce the country to French bikers: "Tunisia is an exceptional playground and my goal is for European bikers to discover it and come to ride there, as they go to Corsica or Sardinia"…

This year, the 80 competitors – mostly French – will discover the north of Tunisia between Tunis and Tabarka with in particular the port of La Goulette, the pretty village of Sidi Bou Saïd (below), the Belvedère circuit which hosted the Grand Historical prices of vintage cars, the ruins of Dougga, etc..

It will cost them 990 euros all inclusive with the return trip Marseille-Tunis by boat, accommodation in a double room in luxury hotels in Tunis and Tabarka, meals in the morning, noon and evening, the four days of racing and transportation of personal effects. The transport of parts or tires is not included, but "pilots can share the costs of transporting a van or take a luggage supplement", notes Marc Fontan, director of the Tunisian Moto Tour.

The same formula is at 890 euros for accompanying persons (without the race but with vehicles to be driven on the specials) and at 300 euros for Tunisian pilots (without the crossing), while an option of mechanical assistance provided by Belmonte Equipment is offered at 280 euros.

"We have 5 or 6 requests from Tunisian pilots", explain Adel Nouira and Afif Trabelsi, respectively president and vice-president of the Tunisian Motorcycling Federation (FTM), whose objective is to promote sports and tourism activities.

It should also be noted that the final of the Tunisian road rally championship 2014, organized by the Bardo Bikers motorcycle club (read), will take place in Tabarka on May 31.

"Some passages are really difficult"

But beware: if the Tunisian Moto Tour intelligently plays the card of tourism and discovery, with its end of stages mainly devoted to lazing around by the hotel swimming pool, it is above all a road rally. motorcycle … And as with any good self-respecting motorcycle road rally, competitors should drool over it !

"Honestly, this is not a tourist walk and there are a few difficult passages that we have chosen on purpose", confides Kais Chaibi, director of LOV Tunisia: this is particularly the case on the Tunis – Tabarka stage, where"10% of the route presents difficulties", just like on the 380 km return with fairly hard sections."But these are also the most beautiful passages", believes Kais who foresees"an extraordinary adventure, even for the Tunisians because they do not know certain parts of the route"…

The objective is to install the Tunisian Moto Tour and to make it sustainable: if it is renewed next year, the organization will set up itinerant villages, educational trails for the discovery of two-wheelers and actions of awareness of helmet use … which is still far from being the case today !

Eventually, while "the Dark Dog Moto Tour is becoming more and more difficult to organize in France", Option Sports Events is considering extending the concept to other countries such as Morocco, Algeria or others:"my dream would be a big rally that would start from Tunis to arrive in Casablanca", loose Sam Thomas … To be continued on MNC: stay tuned !

Eric MICHEL

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *