Road to Morocco: Most American Teams Succeed on Leg 1 of 2015 Gazelle Rally

2015 Gazelle Rally
Combs of Team 180 takes a heading.  Photo: Nicole Dreon

The 4am wake up call came up quickly on our Gazelles this morning. The first day of competition,  Leg 1 of the 2015 Gazelle Rally, was 180km of as-the-crow-flies distance, with an estimated time of 9 hours to complete.

Teams were divided into 7 groups, 5 that are a mix of 4×4, quads, motorbikes, and side x sides, one that is just for crossovers and one just for the expert class.

After the 5am breakfast briefing, teams lined up in grid and started at 6am at two minute intervals.

Leg 1 started with a common checkpoint for all groups, and although it was not the straightest route, it was accessible by a paved road. Some Gazelles chose to drive straight to that first CP and not take the pavement, in order to save kilometers. The trade off is that they lost more time. While the rally is not about speed, the checkpoints closed at 7pm. Teams must decide if driving a few more kilometers on the pavement is worth the amount of time saved and the guaranteed checkpoint.

2015 Gazelle Rally
Although not dead straight, Team 317 Beavis/Roenigk made all the CPs for the day.

Checkpoints are worth anywhere from 50 to 100 points depending on difficulty. Many teams prefer to take a road, adding a few kilometers, yes, but knowing that they would be penalized even more if they didn’t make the CP at all.

While this first CP was an easy one to get regardless if the choice Gazelles made, look for this kind of decision making to be a deciding factor as the rally progresses.

Team 182 of Pat Klishevich and Swiss Veronique De Sybourg-Siffert had an excellent day, driving very straight between CPs 2 and 3, making all of their checkpoints and returning to the bivouac. Team 107, the Hoehn Sisters, were the first US team to return to the bivouac and also made all of their checkpoints, as did Team 218 Rhonda Cahill and Rachelle Croft, Team 108 Nicole Pitell-Vaughan and Jessi Combs, Team 317 Chrissie Beavis and Alyssa Roenigk and Team 183 Rebecca Donaghe and Barbara Fiorentino.

2015 Gazelle Rally
Team 218 Croft and Cahill take a break to smile for photographers.  Photo: Nicole Dreon

Team 400 Sabrina Howells and Amy Lerner are competing in the Expert class. The promise of difficult terrain was no joke, as it took the team nearly 20 minutes to traverse a 500m rocky section. After a shaky start the team made all their checkpoints and arrived at the bivouac at 8:45pm.

First participants Team 175 Susie and Sarah Saxten had an excellent day, but had trouble finding the bivouac. They navigated a bit too far to the east and ended up in the town of Sijilmassa but hit the pavement and headed home. They reached the bivouac at 10:30pm local time.

Crossover team 316 Sue Mead and Shennen Marschner, who did very well in navigation training, had a tough day indeed. They were able to make five of the seven checkpoints, with the fifth one being very, very difficult for them. After some errors that took them south instead of east to CP6, the team decided to head north to hit the pavement and arrived back at the bivouac at 8pm. Missing two checkpoints and the additional kilometers added due to their navigational errors will be difficult to recover from.

2015 Gazelle Rally
Team 316 Mead/Marschner in their Mercedes Benz Sprinter Van.  Photo: Nicole Dreon

Sara Price and Erica Sacks in the #23 Teryx side x side seemed to have problems with their tracker. According to the website they started at CP1, not the bivouac, and remained in the middle of the desert all day. Rally organizers reported at 7:40pm that they had run out of gas but were being refueled and would soon be on their way.

Fortunately the Leg 1 route took teams back to the same bivouac, so their camps are already set up from last night. With a 500 square meter mess tent, hot showers, a mobile La Poste unit, and even a bar, the biv is the Gazelles place to relax and recharge. The bivouac will travel to a new location tomorrow.

You can follow the Gazelle Rally live and send messages to the teams by going to www.gazellerally.com

  • 23 Sara PRICE/Erica SACKS (Side x Side)
  • 316 Susan MEAD/Shennen MARSCHNER (Crossover)
  • 317 Alyssa ROENIGK/Chrissie BEAVIS (Crossover)
  • 107 Jo Hannah HOEHN/Susanah HOEHN (4×4)
  • 175 Susie SAXTEN/Sarah SAXTEN (4×4)
  • 180 Nicole PITELL-VAUGHAN/Jessi COMBS (4×4)
  • 182 Pat KLISHEVICH/Veronique DE SYBOURG-SIFFERT (Swiss) (4×4)
  • 183 Rebecca DONAGHE/Barabara FIORENTINO (4×4)
  • 218 Rachelle CROFT/Rhonda CAHILL (4×4)
  • 400 Amy LERNER/Sabrina HOWELLS (4×4, Expert)

About:  The Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles is a grueling test of driving skill and navigation across southern Morocco’s most beautiful and challenging terrain. The rally is unique whereby teams are not allowed technological assistance. In the absence of GPS, communications and service crews, teams must find the shortest distance between the checkpoints over nine days of competition with only the aid of traditional navigation – compass, outdated maps, and plotters. The event is an incredible test of endurance, patience, and teamwork, pushing competitors to their limits.

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Emme is a driver, reviewer, rabble rouser, and Gazelle who can be found online on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and either one of her blogs.