Par
Matthieu Van Bellinghen
Published on
Jan 2, 2025 at 5:46 p.m.
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Maxence Formery et Noa Guilbert are two young people from Orne. One is from Vimoutiers Orne), the other from Flers (Orne). They are ready for the raid in the Moroccan desert, from February 19 to March 2, 2025. Their car is almost ready. It still needs to undergo some engine adjustments. With its 158,000km on the clock, their Renault 4L of 1988 saw others. The young drivers are only 20 years old and their car is 36 years old.
An unusual race
The 4L Trophy is a solidarity Raid. A journey inspired by Paris-Dakar. The difference is that here, the race is done at the nonchalant pace of these small cars from another era. No question of speed, the raid relies on orientation and resourcefulness. No GPS, cards for the browser and minimal support. The race is also an opportunity to bring school materials to the Enfants du Desert association which helps Moroccan families.
They will leave from Biarritzcross Spain and embark for the Moroccowhere they will do five stages of 150km in a desert area in the south of the country. The route passes in particular around the dunes of Merzouga and in the Atlas Mountains, to lead up to Marrakech.
At the origin of the trophy
The idea of the 4L trophy dates back to 1997. It is a raid intended for young people under 28 years old. In 2017, for its twentieth anniversary, the 4L trophy brought together 1,450 crews and as many vehicles from France and Europe. Before participating in the race, the crews must set up their project, find a car, organize the financing of their trip and learn the mechanical. A challenge that suited Maxence Formery perfectly.
Already the mechanics are quite nice. I am impatient by nature, but not when it comes to mechanics, there I am patient
Maxence only has 2 years of license under his belt. He went to high school in L’Aigle and today he is on a work-study program at Lisi Automotive. With Noa, they met during training in mechanical and production engineering at Alençon. They managed to find sponsors to embark on the adventure.
An iconic car
The car was bought from an individual in Lisieux, 5 000€. A relatively high price for this Renault. The 4L is overpriced, for a vehicle of its age, because it has “capital sympathy”. Practical, very light, easy to DIY and, as a collector’s vehicle, it is not subject to a driving ban on peak pollution days in Paris for example.
Many weekends of mechanics
Purchased in February, Maxence and Noa have already tinkered quite a bit on the car, they spent weekends rebuilding the engine, the starter, the cooling circuit. Adjusting the engine and carburetor will be done before departure by a mechanic so that it is optimal. The two friends will still install protections under the body, and a ring of towingindispensable.
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The 4L they will drive has a 1108 cc engine, 34 horsepower and 120km/h cutting edge. Despite everything, it has a featherweight of 720kg. That’s almost half as much as a mid-range car today. The two young pilots from Orne will write a diary of their adventure on their Instagram account
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