But what still keeps the Sancerre adventurer, now 73 years old, running? After having made the big departures in Africa then in South America, he has made Saudi Arabia his playground in recent years. “When we go to the north of the country, near Jordan, the landscapes are beautiful,” he assures. However, during these two weeks of racing, Claude Fournier will not have time to go sightseeing.
“In the evening, we don’t enjoy anything, we sometimes arrive at midnight on certain days. The Dakar is hard! At times, it is horrible to do, but it remains an extraordinary human ordeal. You have to have the mentality, the endurance, the will. It is said that this edition will be even harder than usual and I have the impression that this will be the reality. »
“A very hard, very brittle first week”
At the end of the prologue contested this Friday, January 3, the competitors will be put to the test on Sunday with nearly 1,000 kilometers of special, to be covered over 48 hours. During this week of racing, the pilots will also have a marathon stage on their program, again over two days, without the possibility of assistance during the bivouac. “This first week should be very hard, very brittle,” he believes. The 48-hour stage takes place on rocks. You will have to try not to puncture and be strategic to protect the equipment. »
Belgium
