Dakar 2013 – And it all starts in Le Havre?

Dakar competitors have known the port of Le Havre for more than 30 years, having collected their vehicles there from the Senegalese capital. But the Normandy stage has taken on a decisive character since the 2009 edition. This is where the vehicles, mainly European, are embarked for a cruise towards South America before starting the rally.

The Dakar is a land of contrasts. This character trait is already visible on the docks of the port of Le Havre, where the mainly European competitors are summoned for a vast operation of loading vehicles onto a cargo ship, bound for Lima. Thursday, early in the morning, the 9 Team X-Raid assistance trucks stood at attention in front of the reception booth. The keys to the 6 Minis and the BMW X3 entered in the rally have been entrusted to the team of mechanics and engineers responsible for taking care of them. For the defending team, the conquest of Le Havre is approached with rigor, but is a formality. For others, the arrival in Normandy already represents a victory. This is the case of Manuel Lucchese, who smiles at a new adventure, after a first Dakar already marked by difficulties: “I had a lot of difficulty setting up my project this year, and I was not able to recover a motorcycle only on Tuesday, explains the Bajas world champion (over 450cc). I was planning to make the trip alone, but thanks to Facebook, I found a traveling companion who took a seat next to me in my van: it's Davide Biga, a biker well known in Italy since he did the world tour in Super Ténéré. We arrived at 5am, on time! » Specialist in Italian improvisation, Manuel was still looking in the afternoon for new friends who could carry a few spare parts in their trucks.

The romantic fiber of the Veronese pilot (https://www.facebook.com/ManuelLucchesePage) also contrasts with the thoroughness and seriousness essential for the technical checks and the boarding of nearly 700 vehicles (race, assistance, organization, press?) in the bowels of the Rio Imperial. The Dakar teams rely for several days on the know-how of Haropa (Havre-Rouen-Paris), the leading French port complex, and on the logistical expertise of the structure which orchestrates the loading or unloading of 1 365 vehicles per year at the Le Havre ro-ro terminal. After passing through hangar 000, where the pilots obtain the green light after checking the safety equipment, the vehicles are stored in a closed park, then will be handled by 121 expert slot drivers. The great crossing of the Atlantic can then begin for the cargo ship: first heading towards Central America, to take the Panama Canal, then follow the Pacific coast to Lima. This is where the reunion between the pilots and their machines will take place. By then, Manuel will have made new friends?