Raid Gauloises
First at last for Intersport?
Chris/Raid Gauloises / 27.04.2002
They were just 3 minutes away from winning in Nepal… Now over the frustration, Intersport and its captain Pascal Bahuaud are back and wound up to the max for the 2002 event. With the secret hope of winning at last!
Pascal, was the team preparation any different this year from previous years? I have to point out that we have some new members: Rudy Gouy and Emma Rocca are the recent additions to the team and we’re not really used to racing together. To counter this lack of familiarity we decided to take part last December in the EMA in Brazil, to see how we would fare under stress. We wanted to work more on \"cohesion\". The physical aspects can be dealt with individually. We’ll give it another go on April 7th for the X Winter Salomon in Courchevel. This in fact will be a return to competition for me, since I was sick all winter and haven’t been able to do any racing.
What does going to Vietnam mean to you? We’re very lucky to have one team-member, Bruno, who knows Vietnam very well. We also like the idea of the many nautical sections, even though this 2002 edition is not quite so \"water oriented\" as others. We might not win the Gauloises on the water but we could well lose it there. We have to be able to complete these sections without being penalised so we’ve been working on our boating skills much more than usual.
Who are your main rivals? You can never really tell on this kind of race; anything can happen so you have to keep modest. Nokia won the Gauloises the first time they took part so a really crack team could come right out of the blue. After the first two days, you already have a pretty good idea.
Have you assimilated your defeat in 2000? There are so many parameters that you have to take into consideration that to finish 2nd is already a victory, especially if you come from behind. We were blocked at a CP and even wanted to drop out. So to finish 2nd was a huge performance.
Did it take you long to rebuild your confidence in your assistance, after the mistakes in Nepal? No, because our strength lies in the fact that once the race is over, that’s the end of it. So no matter what happens, we always come out of it as friends. Sure, our assistance \"screwed up\" at an assistance point and we waited for them. It took us more than one hour and a half to assemble the bikes. Nokia caught us up and won the race... But everybody does their best and if the assistants were late, they must have had a reason.
What does a team need to do to win in 2002? You have to be perfect in navigation. We’re lucky to have Rudy and Pierre who are both excellent orienteers. That way I can concentrate on managing the GPS. I also think the \"non-stop\" aspect works in our favour because we prefer races that have a continuous time line.
What do you think the new Raid Gauloises concept set up as of 2003? It’s a great idea. Especially for the smaller teams who could never get the cash together. A page has been turned creating a new race standard with 4 team-members and no assistance. For youngsters and any team that can go the distance, to take part in the Gauloises will no longer be insurmountable and that’s what you need to remember…
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