Closure...

Rob Howard & Anne-Marie Dunhill / 20.09.2012

From the first section starting last Saturday in Ailefroide, the New-Zealand Seagate team dominated this race. If that first portion was a mano a mano with Thule, with each team racing hard and fast to send a clear message from the start, as the race progressed their lead increased substantially. Crossing the finish line on the French Riviera they were were surprisingly fresh and playful, with the team captain Nathan Fa’avae turning over his teammates boat.

The new Adventure Racing World Champions took time afterwards to speak to international media on the beach, snacking whilst responding to questions. Kiwi doctor Sophie Hart sang the praises of the race route, saying that this was her first time in France and she’d greatly appreciated the efforts that race director Pascal Bahaud and his team had taken to ensure that the race took them through some stunning parts of the country, without ceding to the facility of long road sections.

Team captain Nathan Fa’avae was obviously delighted with their win. After the four hour penalty his team received at the World Champs last year in Tasmania for forgetting a piece of mandatory equipment(the tracking device), he said that he had a lot of weight on his shoulders vis a vis his teammates Sophie and Chris.

The penalty wasn’t the only reason for their second place position behind Thule last year; bike troubles meant that they lost eight hours. Based on that experience, they didn’t feel they had these championships in the bag until after the last mountain biking section, when they were off the bikes and back on their feet.

Nathan said that he knew a lot of really strong teams were behind them and instead of adding to the pressure of the race, it added to the pleasure of the race. He added that it was an additional satisfaction to beat the French on their home ground. (Jacky and Mimi of the Franco Swedish team Thule are French).

Speaking about the race route, he said that as his team a first and foremost a group of good friends, they’d had a fabulous, long expedition. Their substantial lead meant that they saw little of the media on the race route as the teams were so spread out. This probably suited them as he felt in Tasmania that they didn’t have the same transition as other teams as they were constantly pestered by the media.

When jokingly asked if avoiding the media was part of the teams strategy this year, he denied it but it was obviously still a touchy subject. 

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