Go... They\'re off - at 13h00 Local Time

Pino/Raid Gauloises / 28.04.2002

Even as the teams begin to line up at the start, some of them already feel that it is going to be an uphill struggle.

The final report from the jury is in and two of the 51 teams coming to the starting line do so having already contravened one or more regulations and picked up, as a result, time penalties. The Belgians of X-CAPE will be regretting the absence of appropriate head lamps, important enough for both the night progression and caving activities to be given a 2 hour penalty. Spie – Batignolles picked up a 90 minute penalty, the result of being forced to bring a last minute replacement into the team, Fredo Binh standing in for the injured Mickael Fargier, who had no time to complete the statutory inoculations.

This didn’t dampen the spirits of the teams concerned and, at 13h00 local time, beneath the heat of a sun at its zenith, the planet’s oldest, toughest and longest adventure race started amid a sea of blazing colour with local musicians beating a path for the 260 eager athletes. Some teams, like team Asia, have been training for this moment for 2 years and feel that only by finishing the 1000kms course as a unit, will they dampen the fire the has been burning for 24 months. However the quintet are scheduled to be in jungle, climbing mountains, paddling on rivers and kayaking on the south china sea for the maximum 12 days, so they must be careful not to burn out too quickly as enthusiasm soon takes over from logic and intuition.

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[Penalties can play an important role in the Raid, but this one seems a bit harsh. Not only was Fredo a last minute replacement, but he lives in the country! The Belgian team would have lost a lot more than 2 hours without good headlamps … - SleepMonster]

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