Dakar Rally
After the breakup with Nasser Al-Attiyah, Mathieu Baumel breaks the silence: “We have to think about the future”
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Rally-Raid
Behind the scenes of the Dakar bivouac: the usher
The bivouac welcomed around 1 additional people in 000 compared to the previous year. © Eric Vargiolu / DPPI
They are called “Follow me”. This is not a reference to Muse music or a certified Twitter account, but to the two words written on vests worn by six people who take turns on Yamaha PeeWee 50s within the Dakar 2022 bivouac.
Met in Riyadh, Jérôme Séveno gave us the pleasure of getting off his little motorbike while he showed us his work. For his third month of January spent in the Saudi desert, he sought to « see all the teams in all categories present at the event (Auto, Motorcycle, SSV, Quad, Truck, Classic) ». So he left a job with motorcycle trunks to be a “tracer”.
J. Sévenot accompanies the assistance trucks when they arrive at the bivouac in the middle of the day, before the competitors. © M. Casaurang
As its name suggests, the tracer must arrange the bivouac where more than 3 people live like in a village. The church in the middle is certainly missing, but the muezzin, located a short distance away, launches the call to prayer at 5 a.m.
“The tracker arrives the day before or even the day before the competitors, explains Jérôme Séveno. We draw up a plan for each bivouac under the responsibility of a team leader who knows the exact dimensions of each stopover town. » Street numbers allow each team to find their way. This plan is also very practical for journalists in the press room when it comes to heading towards a specific stand!
In fact, the bivouac adapts to the typology of the stopover town. In Riyadh, where the competition rested for four nights in a row, it was necessary to deal with sloping terrain in certain corners of the bivouac, and therefore space the teams further apart so that staff could sleep on flat ground. In Ha'il, scene of the start of the 2022 edition, the bivouac was particularly huge. He was shrunk in Al-Qaisumah.
In addition, some teams appreciate finding known faces. “ We have to satisfy certain structures that like to set up near other “friends”, like X-Raid near Audi or Overdrive with Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa and OT3. The Classics also bivouac together. »
Also be careful not to create diplomatic incidents or even accidents in this hive. “This year, we are welcoming a hydrogen truck for the first time (Gaussin), which we voluntarily place at the end of the bivouac for security reasons. We try as much as possible to bring together the noisiest teams at night to minimize noise disturbance for the rest of the participants. »
The tracer, a Dakar enthusiast from his African days, did not “don’t feel like you’re working” because he is living his dream. “I always wanted to experience racing from the inside, and that’s what I’m doing now! Everyone is passionate here. »
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Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
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