The Portuguese driver Elisabete Jacinto reached today, at the end of the fourth stage of the Morocco Desert Challenge, the seventh place among the trucks on a day when competitors crossed once again the Erg Chegaga dunes. The special allowed the team Bio-Ritmo® to win 15 places, compared to the stage of the previous day, and to increase again in the overall classification of the T4. With this result the Portuguese return to the top positions of the trucks occupying the ninth place of its class.
Today’s journey, which included 310 time kilometers held between the Erg Lihoudi and Fezzou, although complex was positive for the Bio-Ritmo® team who, after the setbacks recorded in yesterday’s stage, managed to recover by taking a course without problems and having completed the selective sector in 5h48me33s only 20 minutes behind the third classified of the T4.
For Elisabete Jacinto this special allowed the team to continue the consistent progress on the race: “today 
all went well. We passed the dunes without any problems. We had a minor problem on the crest of a dune, but we were able to solve the situation very quickly. We had to pass the dunes quite calmly, because due to the configurations of our truck I’m not able to be fast in the sand. But we did everything gently and it went pretty well. After the sand we were able to print a good rhythm and we managed to climb places in the classification of the trucks which makes us satisfied”, revealed the Portuguese pilot.
Tomorrow will be the fifth stage of the Morocco Desert Challenge which connects Fezzou to Merzouga and will have a distance of 275 timed kilometers. It is going to be a special with a little bit of everything: between Fezzou and Marabout the competitors will find sand plains, then the MHarech cliff, where the rocky paths predominate, the dunes of Ouzina, which will have many sandy trails and, finally, a the first crossing of the Erg Chebbi.
Elisabete Jacinto completed today the third stage of the Morocco Desert Challenge, a difficult day in the Erg Chegaga dunes that proved to be devastating for the Bio-Ritmo® team. In this special, composed of 335 timed kilometers that began in Touzounine and finished in the Erg Lihoudi, the Portuguese rolled among the first five trucks. However, at the crossing of a large section of sand one of the MAN TGS’s tires left the rim which caused them to lose a lot of time trying to solve the situation and finished the stage in the 22nd place of the truck classification.
but we had problems with the shock absorbers. However, our major problem was the dunes. One of our bedlocks, the system we use that lets us ride with lower tire pressures so that they don’t get out of the rim, failed when we were crossing a sand barrier, and the tire came out of the rim and we got stuck. It took us a long time to sort things out and to get out of there. The dunes are always very treacherous and without the right material it is difficult to do better. After that we only had minor difficulties in a place where it is always very complicated to navigate but we managed to run with a good pace. However we lost too much time in the dunes. This makes us frustrated because we were doing a good race”, said the Portuguese driver who is in the 16th place in the overall classification of her class.
The driver Elisabete Jacinto reached, at the end of the second stage of the Morocco Desert Challenge, the fourth place among the trucks and made a brilliant recovery of 22 positions in the ranking, after the setback suffered in the prologue that left her in the last places among the T4.
can say with certainty that it was the day we beat our record of overtaking. It was a difficult job, because we got a lot of dust, but we managed to do a very good and smooth stage. The special was really complicated. The hardness of the route and the extension of the selective sector made life very difficult for us. We spent seven hours driving what is truly tiring. Despite the obstacles, we had no difficulty with the navigation and we always came on the right track with a good pace. We did a good job and we are happy with our position”, said the Portuguese driver on arrival at the camp.
Elisabete Jacinto completed today the prologue of the 10th edition of the Morocco Desert Challenge, which was composed of a selective sector of 77 kilometers completed along the Plage Blanche in Morocco. The Bio-Ritmo® team, despite having started in a positive way this great African competition, suffered a setback when crossing a muddy oued that ended up tossing the Portuguese to the 25th position among the trucks.
the third truck to leave to the prologue and we were able to maintain a good rhythm and always on the right track. At a certain point, when we were crossing a muddy oued, the truck jumped up, and as the wheels settled on the ground, they got completely buried on the mud. We tried to get out of there, but the mud was so dense that it wasn’t possible to leave without help. So we decided to call the balai truck. However, a competitor with a MAN KAT 6×6 similar to ours pulled us and managed to get us out. After that we ran in a good pace. Despite the setback we don’t fade. Tomorrow we have to do a careful progression, because we are going to leave after many slower competitors, but we believe we will be able to achieve good results”, said Elisabete Jacinto.
The driver Elisabete Jacinto and the team Bio-Ritmo® held today in Agadir, Morocco, the administrative and technical checks of the Morocco Desert Challenge rally. On this day dedicated to the analysis of the documentation of the teams and the technical compliance of the vehicles, the Portuguese also received their race number. In this edition, they will leave for the competition with the number 503 being, therefore, the third truck on the prologue.
“This is a day when there is some bustle. We have schedules to accomplish and we cannot be distracted. We hardly have time to take a deep breath when all this administrative part is finished, as we have to follow to the briefing where are given a series of indications that must be taken into account. We like to look at the trucks of our opponents and guess their abilities … to greet everyone but we haven’t got the time to do everything … it is amazing to see the number of people who have gathered this year and all these vehicles ready to race!” said Elisabete Jacinto.
A few days before the start of the 10th Morocco Desert Challenge, Elisabete Jacinto and the Bio-Ritmo® team are setting the final details to start their third participation in this competition. The Portuguese have been in the last few days in the region of Erfoud, an area of Morocco well known for the great conditions for the practice of off-road, where they could test the performance of the MAN TGS.