Category: News

Elisabete Jacinto finished her participation in the tenth edition of the Africa Eco Race. The damage of the front differential of the team’s MAN TGS, which broke during yesterday’s selective sector, was irreparable and although the team tried to find a solution to the problem, the procedures were fruitless.

It is to bring to mind that the differential of the truck broke at a time when the Portuguese were in second place in their category. The trio still managed to finish the third special only with the traction on the two rear wheels. On the arrival at the camp they worked hard to solve the situation but it wasn’t possible to find a solution that would allow the Portuguese to continue the race.

However, Elisabete Jacinto will continue to follow the race until Dakar: “We have made every effort to find a solution to our problem. We talked to the competitors who had trucks similar to ours, but none of them had the piece. We contacted the importer in Portugal and there was a possibility of having the piece coming from Casablanca. Our idea was to repair the truck on the rest day and continue the race from Mauritania on. But because of the weekend this hypothesis was soon made impracticable because they needed at least four working days to send the piece. Now our option is to continue until Dakar. Marco and Helder arranged a way to get the truck rolling down the road, which was also an unprecedented experience. I’m really sorry for what happened because the shock absorbers were excellent for the first time, which allowed me to ride quite fast. Zé was doing a perfect navigation job, and everything ran beautifully when this happened. It was indeed a huge frustration for everyone” said the driver.

Today was the fourth stage of the Africa Race that had a special of 499 timed kilometers. Tomorrow the caravan arrives in Dahkla, where the race will have, on Sunday, the usual rest day and then leave for Mauritania. The rally ends on the 14th in Dakar where the mythical leg held on the banks of the Lac Rose will take place.

The Portuguese driver Elisabete Jacinto concluded today another stage of the Africa Race 2018, the third one that was fulfilled between Agdal and Assa, in Morocco. The day started very well for the Bio-Ritmo® team which registered a very fast speed during much of the special. Until CP2, the Portuguese were in second place among the trucks and were discussing closely the lead with the Hungarian Micklos Kovacs. But a few kilometers from the CP3, the front differential of the MAN TGS broke making difficult the progress of the Portuguese who finished the day in the 10th place of their category.

The trio, made up of Elisabete Jacinto, José Marques and Marco Cochinho, had a small difference of 40 seconds of the first place when the setback arose which ended up making it impossible for the Portuguese team to keep the speed particularly in the dune zone. The Bio-Ritmo® team completed the selective sector, which was won by the Dutch Gerard De Rooy, in 6h00m02s. The Portuguese are now in fifth place in the overall T4 standings.

Although it is a difficult situation to solve, Elisabete Jacinto continues in the race: “we were driving very well when at one point we heard a noise. We did a few more kilometers, but the noise began to grow and we stopped to see what was happening. That’s when we realized that the front differential had broken. From that moment on we made the rest of the race with two-wheel drive, which meant we had to roll slowly and it was more difficult to finish the special. Still we managed to print a good speed until the end and now we have to try to solve the problem so that tomorrow we can be at the start”, revealed the Portuguese.

Tomorrow will be the fourth stage of the Africa Eco Race which will link Assa to Fort Chacal. It will be held 499 timed kilometers in this which will be the longest leg of the whole rally. The journey will be particularly complex in terms of navigation and will require a lot of concentration. In addition to returning to the Oued Draa the caravan will enter a plains area without much landscape and therefore without many visual points to navigate. Even before reaching the camp at Fort Chacal, the competitors will face the final challenge of crossing the Oued Hamra.

The Portuguese driver Elisabete Jacinto finished today in the fourth place among the trucks the second stage of the Africa Race 2018, whose selective sector of 443 kilometers was disputed between Merzouga and Foum Zguid. The Bio-Ritmo® team took 7h06m45s to complete this long and very demanding day and, with the result achieved, climbs a place in the overall standings table and is now in the fourth position in the T4 category.

The special began with a complex passage through the Erg Chebbi dunes where the Portuguese suffered a setback that made them lose more than 40 minutes. The truck got stuck in the soft sand and it took a lot of work to remove it from the place where it got buried. But the Portuguese trio, composed by Elisabete Jacinto, José Marques and Marco Cochinho, didn’t fade away. As soon as they were able to solve the difficulty, they started a brilliant recovery that made them move up from a modest 12th position, their classification in CP1, to the fourth place at the end of the stage.

For Elisabete Jacinto, although hard and tiring, this was a very rewarding stage: “the Erg Chebbi’s crossing was truly stressful. We were passing the dunes very well but at a point the truck got stuck in the sand. We stopped for over 40 minutes to dig and we saw all the competitors coming by. It was a despairing. But as soon as we got out of there we printed the fastest pace we could and fortunately we didn’t have any more complicated situations, even though we made lots of dune crossing. The hardest part was to pass so many riders. However, we gave our best. At the end of the special we speeded up and we were able to make a very positive result. We are happy”, said the driver who is currently in the 19th place in the classification of cars and trucks.

The third stage of the Africa Race will be held between Agdal and Assa and will be composed by 400 timed kilometers in a selective sector that will be quite fast. Near the end of the day competitors will have to cross Oued Draa again and at this point the navigation will be complex and difficulties may arise. The camp will be located on the outskirts of the city of Assa.

Elisabete Jacinto completed today the first special of the Africa Eco Race 2018, a short 92-kilometer journey held between Ameziane and Merada in Morocco, in the fifth place among the trucks. The Bio-Ritmo® team took 1h13m34s to complete the course of the day and registered a difference of 10m47s for the first place of the T4 category, a position that was reached by the Dutchman Gerard de Rooy who participates at the commands of a powerful IVECO, and has a small disadvantage of only 2m05s to the Hungarian Miklos Kovacs, winner of the 2010 edition of this race, which is currently the third among the trucks.

This first day was very demanding, because much of the route was composed of narrow, winding, rocky paths and had many navigation difficulties, and besides all dificulties also a fail in the sentinel system, which is a device that allows competitors to realize the presence of a faster driver behind him and who for safety reasons should facilitate overtaking, ended up delaying Elisabete Jacinto: “the specials made in the north of Morocco are always the most complicated because the roads are very narrow and it becomes very difficult to go with a truck. However, in terms of course, we managed to overcome all the setbacks that have appeared to us. Despite everything we had a mishap that delayed us a lot. We were printing a good rhythm and we were able to get close to Tomecek, who left in front of us. When finally there was an opportunity to overtake him we realized that the sentinel system wasn’t working. We spent a lot of time in the dust and we ended up losing a lot of time due to that fault”, said the driver who occupies the 16th position of the joint auto / truck classification.

Tomorrow will be held, between Dar Kaoura and Agdal, the second stage of the Africa Eco Race 2018. The leg, which will be composed by a total of 443 kilometers, will be a reflection of the wide variety of terrain that Morocco has to offer, with highlights such as dune crossings, fast lanes and stone paths. The day will start with an approach to Erg Chebbi where competitors will find the first dunes of this race. The crossing of the Oued Draa will also be one of the highlights of this stage.

The Bio-Ritmo® team held today in Menton the technical and administrative checks of the Africa Eco Race 2018. This is the last stage that competitors have to complete before the official departure of the race, which will be held tomorrow with great excitement from the Principality of Monaco.

The Portuguese carried out the technical checks with normality and are now in countdown to the first leg of the rally that will be disputed on January 2nd already on Moroccan soil. For Elisabete Jacinto, the checks went smoothly: “it was an impeccable day without any setback. The weather was excellent which made everything more enjoyable. The truck is already in Parc Fermé which means we are ready to leave”, said the Portuguese.

Elisabete Jacinto and the Bio-Ritmo® team will display in this Africa Race the number 402 and will face several major opponents such as De Rooy team, that is going to participate in this edition with two IVECO trucks one of which will be commanded by Gerard De Rooy and the second by the Dutchman Wuf Van Ginkel, an experienced driver who has participated for several times in the Dakar rally. Tomas Tomecek with his Tatra, with which he has already won for three times this race, and Micklos Kovacs, winner of this competition in 2010, with a Scania will also be present in the 10th edition of this rally with the ambition to win it.

The Africa Eco Race will have, this year, the largest number of truck teams having a total of 14 registered pilots in the T4 category which will face the difficult and complex routes of this African marathon. Several formations will make their debut in the Africa Race, namely the Dutch team led by the pilot Johan Elfrink, with a Mercedes, and also the Dutch Van de Laar Racing team, with a DAF, but is still expected a great competition among them.

Sorry, this entry is only available in European Portuguese.

Sorry, this entry is only available in European Portuguese.

Sorry, this entry is only available in European Portuguese.