These first september days mark the end of the summer vacation for most of the people in France and Europe. It’s been the case for the SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE team although they’ve taken advantage of the the summer period to refine the preparation of the 2014 edition that will, once again, be grandiose!
LESS THEN 15 DAYS TO BENEFIT FROM THE PREFERANTIALS RATE
The SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE gives the opportunity to its participants to benefit at various preferential subscribing rates according to specific dates. Actually, until September 15th, the second offer is still effective. These preferential rates are for sure a considerable saving for the participants, but be aware, the end of the preferential period ends in a bit less than two weeks!
RENE METGE IS ON THE RECO
Just back from his journey in the American Wild West, where he spent his summer vacation, Rene METGE left straight away for the African continent! Indeed the sporting director of the SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE will spend a bit more than a month in Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal in order to refine the route to Dakar and finalize the road-books!
In reality, Rene went there earlier this year, he then established a theoretic route using IT mapping and he is now going to approve it stage by stage directly on the field as mentioned above, but also to set the “assistance” track and the bivouac areas for each stage in accordance with the authorities of each of the three countries. A considerable amount of work will be achieved in a very short period of time by René, which will be assisted as always by Jose MARIA SERVIA, Fina ROMAN, Manfred KROISS and a new member this year, Didier BRINKER. A perfectly well prepared team that will be reinforced by a third recognition car this year (driven by Didier BRINKER)! Fitted with satellite communication systems, even in the middle of the desert, they will regularly give updates concerning their progression, and also concerning the evolution of the route to DAKAR! Pictures will also be sent to the different internet supports such as the website and the different facebook pages!
THE RALLY QUEEN IN PARIS
Austria’s 24 year old Julia SCHRENK was chosen out of the 600 applicants, by ELITE RACING, to participate to the next edition of the SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE, riding a YAMAHA.The operation is named “RALLY QUEEN “, with a large communicating and media campaign during the whole race. “JULES”, nickname of the rally queen and Ulrich WAGNER, the ELITE RACING Team Manager both went to Paris in the end of august in order to get an interview with René METGE. A very nice moment where René took the appropriate time to explain and scale the adventure the RALLY QUEEN was about to attend and experience, both on sporting and human values. Both, Julia and René were very pleased to meet one another, mostly René: “Julia is a very pleasant person, she has special temper which will be helpful to her, for her preparation, but also during the whole race. I have always approved presence of female participants on cross-country rallies, especially on motorbikes. I am therefore delighted by the participation of this RALLY QUEEN, we will do our best to have her cross the finish line at the “LAC ROSE”, same as for each contender!"
THE ORGANIZING TEAM NEARLY COMPLETE
Since 2008, the SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE hasn’t stopped evolving without having any negative effect on its quality in terms of sporting level, security or logistic organization. All this is due to the involvement of every single member of the organizing team; Employees, volunteers, providers etc.
The start is in a bit less than 4 months, and 90% of the organizing team (a bit more than 120 people) is completed. Most of these people have already participated to the event in the past which is for sure a quality pledge in terms of organization!
FOCUS ON TWO BIKERS
This edition should be, once again, well filled with participants in the Motorcycle category which are faithful to the SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE but also with new participants. Frenchman André LENOBLE will be back after his participation on the 2012 edition, while the biker Robby LABINSKY from Germany will participate to the race for the first time. Here are their impressions concerning the 2014 edition.
Andre LENOBLE: “ The SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE is a beautiful event which has seduced me as a whole. I found what I was looking for, that is the adventure and the fact to surpass ourselves. All of this in a warmhearted ambiance and the respect of human values.
I’m now back for the 2014 edition after a year of break that has given me the necessary time to reload myself at all levels. Indeed, its not the easiest thing to seek for partners, prepare myself as well as the required equipment and to have a decent family life when you are about to participate to such a great AFRICAN race. Plus my motorcycle is fitted PV cells for the electrical energy supply so it’s even more of a challenge for me!
After a successful 2012 edition for me in terms of renewable energies with the PV cells, I took the decision to do it again but with massively improved equipment. The cells are way more efficient than 2 years ago and part of the work is to adapt it to the ride, which means a lot of work! But we will be ready on time!”
Robby LABINSKY: "I'm 49 years old, and I'm a dealer for KTM in Germany, more precisely in Bavaria. I'm a passionate of cross country rallies since 1987 when I participated to the "Paris-Dakar" as a co-driver in a Toyota Hilux. Unfortunately our car caught on fire in the "Ténéré" near Agadez. I managed to acheive my goal anyhow which was to do the whole route till Dakar, but it was with the assistance truck.
Dnenfoto RobbyIn 2008, I participated at René METGE's Transoriental rally, going from St Petersburg to Pekin. It was a great experience and that's when I met René, what I liked was his sens of organizing and his dedication to what he does. In the past 15 years I participated to various rallies such as "L'Atlas", "Tunisia", "Pharaons", "Dubaï" and also the "Touareg" with my wife. To stay fit, I train 4 times a week and we organize many off-road raids for our customers in Tunisia and Morocco. I therefore travel over 6000km per year riding my motorcycle. I don't have any idea about my opponents on the 2014 SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE but I'm well prepared and I really hope I'll see Dakar once again!"
Competitiors department: concurrents@africarace.com
