The largest marathon rally raid in the world
René Metge, three-time winner of the Dakar Rally and icon of French motor sports, has created a totally new endurance race for motor sports enthusiasts: the Transorientale Rally. The rally raid, hailed as the biggest car race in the world, will start on June 12, 2008 from St. Petersburg in Russia and end on July 28 in Beijing at the foot of the Great Wall.
Five types of road vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, four-wheelers and trucks are allowed to take part in the race which will for the first time also feature a relay category that allows several people to take turns driving one vehicle.
The basic principle of the marathon rally raid is simple: to drive the 10,000-km journey between St. Petersburg and Beijing, via Kazakhstan,by car, motorbike, four-wheeler or truck, in seventeen days. The participants will pass through a wide range of terrain in locations that have only recently opened to the outside world.
Start day was National Day in Russia and so it was a great opportunity for everybody to come and admire all competitors at the end of the first Special Stage (71 km). They came from Moscow (about 800 km) to watch drivers and their cars, trucks or bikes.
The first Special Stage of the 2008 Transorientale gave everything excellent except for French Eric Vigouroux. He broke the rear wheel of his Trophy Truck. Good news comes from Spaniard José-Luis Monterde with the best time: “For me, it’s a very good start. The SS was quite pleasant and was made of fast and slow sections”
At the bivouac, all competitors were pleased to say that René Metge made an excellent job for the first Special Stage. They all said the difficulties were here to make their day harder and harder. But they all listened to their team managers’ tips: “Take your time to understand your car. Because the Transorientale 2008 is a long way to Beijing”
