Africa Eco Race

Africa Eco Race
Category	Rally raid
Country	Europe and Africa
Inaugural season	2009
Drivers' champion	Patrick Martin (Cars); (Bikes); (Trucks)
Constructors' champion	Mercedes(Cars); Yamaha (Bikes); Scania (Trucks)
Official website	www.africarace.com

Passage of Jan de Rooy's truck through the Tijirit zone of Mauritania during the 2009 Africa Race.

Africa Eco Race is an annual rally raid, organised in France and run in North and West Africa, launched after the cancellation of 2008 Dakar Rally, and the subsequent moving of the rally to South America.

The rally claims to have innovated to give a special focus on security issues and sustainable development. In addition to the sporting aspect, the rally aims to put emphasis on individual awareness about eco-responsibility.^[1] Bivouacs are chosen far from cities and airport tarmac.^[2]

History[]

2012 Route

The Africa Eco Race Rally, intended for amateurs and professionals, lasts for more than 6500 km over 11 stages. The race crosses the territories of Morocco, Western Sahara , Mauritania and Senegal.

Editions[]

- The 1st edition of the so-called Africa Race sailed from Marseille on December 26, 2008. The technical and administrative checks occurred on 26 and 27 December, the prologue took place on December 28, followed by embarkation and arrival in Nador, Morocco on 30 December.

- The second edition of the Africa Eco Race started from Portimão, Portugal where administrative and technical verifications took place on 27 and 28 of December 2009, preceded by a shakedown, in which the contestants could show and test their vehicles.

- The third edition took place from 27 December 2010 to 9 January 2011. The start was at Châteaux de Lastours and the arrival, as usual, was in Dakar, Senegal. This edition was the third victory in three editions for Jean-Louis Schlesser in cars, Willy Jobard with a hybrid ZONGSHEN in bikes and Czech in a Tatra truck.

- The fourth edition made its departure on December 27, 2011 in Saint-Cyprien and arrived in Dakar on January 8, 2012. A fourth victory was claimed by Jean-Louis Schlesser in a buggy built by himself. The motorcycles title was won by Oscar Polli with a KTM and the trucks category was won by who got a second place in the overall ranking.

- The fifth edition made its departure on December 28, 2012 in Saint-Cyprien and arrived on the shores of Lac Rose in Dakar on January 9, 2013. A fifth victory was taken by Jean-Louis Schlesser in a buggy built by himself. The motorcycles title was won by Martin Fontyn and the trucks category was won by Anton Shibalov with his Kamaz truck who finished second overall, ahead of and his Tatra truck.

- The sixth edition made its departure December 29, 2013 in Saint-Cyprien and arrived on the shores of Lac Rose in Dakar on January 11, 2014 . A sixth consecutive victory was achieved by Jean-Louis Schlesser in a buggy built by himself, co-driven by Thierry Magnaldi. The motorcycle title was won by Michael Pisano with a Honda 450cc and took the trucks title with a Tatra.

- The first edition without Jean-Louis Schlesser and with the return of the Kamaz official team, including an Hybrid truck. Jean Antoine Sabatier won the cars category with his Bugga One, the former Rally Dakar driver Pål Anders Ullevålseter won the bikes category while Anton Shibalov led his conventional Kamaz to the victory.

2016 - Departure from Monaco. Kanat Shagirov won the cars category with his Toyota Hilux Overdrive, while Pål Anders Ullevålseter and Anton Shibalov dominated completely motorcycles and truck categories.

2017 - Departure from Monaco.^[3] Russian Mini driver won the cars' category, his fellow countryman Andrey Karginov captured the victory in the trucks' section, while 17-year-old Gev Sella from Israel claimed the bikes' title ahead of last year's winner Pål Anders Ullevålseter from Norway.^[4]

2018 - Departure from Monaco. French driver Mathieu Serradori and Fabian Lurquin won the car category for the first time as well, Paolo Ceci for Bike category and Gerard de Rooy, Darek Rodewald, Moi Torrellardona in truck category.

2021 - The race was cancelled due to health risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.^[5]

Environment and sustainable development[]

Both the participants and the organization make a commitment to take care not to leave harmful traces of their passage through countries. A series of projects will aim to use renewable resources to a long-term contribution to the lives of people in remote areas of several countries that the race will cross. These actions are tangible and lasting.

The organization is leading the way, giving all participants reusable flatware kits for any event. Some organization vehicles are equipped with solar panels to use the energy stored during the day to carry out their missions.

The organization of the Africa Eco Race also created two projects for power generation using photovoltaic panels in Mauritania to power a school in Nouakchott and a library in Chinguetti.

For the environment, was created a category for experimental vehicles powered by renewable energy, designed to test at large scale and under extreme conditions, the reliability, power, strength and endurance of these vehicles. In 2011 Africa Eco Race funded the planting of 3000 eucalyptus in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

However, the race organisation has refused to create any dialogue with the Polisario over rally access to Western Sahara.

Vehicles and categories[]

A Buggy, in Tijirit, Mauritania during the 2009 Africa Race.

The three main categories are the Cars, Bikes and Trucks

Motorcycles: 450 cc class, up to 450 cc, Class Open (over 450 cc), +700 cm3 bicyl., EnduroCup, Female, Junior, Experimental (Hybrids, Eco), Classic and quad's

Cars and trucks: T1 (modified all-terrain vehicles), T2 (production all-terrain vehicles), T3 SSV, Open/Score, Classic, and T4 (Trucks)

"Experimental" group: vehicles powered by renewable energy created specifically for the rally, with its own ranking by kilometers

List of winners[]

Year	Route	Cars		Bikes		Trucks		SSVs
Year	Route	Driver	Constructor	Driver	Constructor	Driver	Constructor	Driver	Constructor
	Monaco – Tangier– Dakar	Patrick Martin Lucas Martin	Mercedes		Yamaha	Peter Czegledi Laszlo Acs	Scania	Benoit Fretin Cédric Duplé	Can-Am
	Monaco – Nador– Dakar	Jean Pierre Strugo François Borsotto	Optimus MD		Yamaha	José Marques Marco Cochinho	MAN	Rudy Roquesalane Vincent Ferri	Can-Am
	Monaco – Nador– Dakar	Mathieu Serradori Fabian Lurquin	LCR 30	Paolo Ceci	KTM	Gerard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Moi Torrellardona	Iveco	Jean Hugues Moneyron Thierry Maury	CFMOTO
	Monaco – Nador– Dakar	Vladimir Vasilyev Konstantin Zhiltsov	Mini	Gev Sella	KTM	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Dmitrii Nikitin	Kamaz	Frederic Pitout Hervé Lavergne	Polaris
2016	Monaco – Nador– Dakar		Toyota Hilux Overdrive	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM	Anton Shibalov Robert Amatych Almaz Khisamiev	Kamaz
	Saint-Cyprien – Nador– Dakar	Jean-Luc Rojat	Bugga One	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM	Anton Shibalov Robert Amatych Almaz Khisamiev	Kamaz
	Saint-Cyprien – Nador– Dakar	Jean-Louis Schlesser Thierry Magnaldi	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Michael Pisano	Honda	Tomáš Tomeček Vojtěch Morávek	Tatra
	Saint-Cyprien – Nador– Dakar	Jean-Louis Schlesser Cyril Esquirol	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Martin Fontyn	KTM	Anton Shibalov Evgeny Yakovlev Dmitry Sotnikov	Kamaz
	Saint-Cyprien – Nador– Dakar	Jean-Louis Schlesser Cyril Esquirol	Schlesser-Renault Buggy		KTM	Vojtěch Morávek	Tatra
	Chateau Lastour- Dakar	Jean-Louis Schlesser Cyril Esquirol	Schlesser-Renault Buggy		ZONGSHEN Hybrid	Vojtěch Morávek	Tatra
	Portimão– Agadir- Dakar	Jean-Louis Schlesser Cyril Esquirol	Schlesser-Renault Buggy		KTM	Peter Czegledi Tomas Toth	Scania
	Marseille– Dakar	Jean-Louis Schlesser Cyril Esquirol	Schlesser-Renault Buggy		BMW 450 X	Dany Colebunders Darek Rodewald	Iveco

Podiums[]

Cars[]

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
Year	Crew	Make	Crew	Make	Crew	Make
	Jean-Louis Schlesser Arnaud Debron	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Artem Varentsov Roman Elagin^[6]	Toyota Landcruiser	Abdelhamid Abouyoussef Hervé Cotel	Toyota Cotel Buggy
	Jean-Louis Schlesser Arnaud Debron	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Eugenie Decre	Bowler	Jean Marie Lurquin	Buggy
	Jean-Louis Schlesser Céline Merle-Beral	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Francois Beguin	Buggy	Eugenie Decre	Bowler
	Jean-Louis Schlesser Cyril Esquirol	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Frits Driesmans	Toyota	Sofiane Driss	Toyota
	Jean-Louis Schlesser Cyril Esquirol	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Jean Fromont	Buggy	Jacques Castelein	Toyota
	Jean-Louis Schlesser Thierry Magnaldi	Schlesser-Renault Buggy	Frits Driesmans	Toyota	Bruno Barbier	Buggy
	Jean-Luc Rojat	Bugga One	Alexandr Moroz	Toyota	Arsian Sakhimov	Hummer
2016	Vitaliy Yevtyekhov	Toyota	Pascal Larroque	Optimus MD	Didier Haquette	Optimus MD
	Konstantin Zhiltsov	Mini	Marek Sýkora	Hummer	Cristophe Crespo	Optimus MD
	Fabian Lurquin	LCR 30	Konstantin Zhiltsov	Mini	Pascal Larroque	Optimus MD
	François Borsotto	Optimus MD	Pascal Delacour	Optimus MD	Julien Rabha	Optimus MD
	Patrick Martin Lucas Martin	Mercedes	Yves Fromont Jean Fromont	VW Tarek Buggy	Alexey Titov Dmitry Pavlov	Ford Raptor (T2)

Bikes[]

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
Year	Rider	Bike	Rider	Bike	Rider	Bike
^[7]^[8]		BMW 450 X		KTM		Yamaha
		KTM		KTM	Only two riders classified
		KTM Hybrid		KTM	Bruno N'Diaye	KTM
		KTM		KTM		KTM
		KTM		KTM		Honda
		Honda		KTM		KTM
	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM		KTM		KTM
2016	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM		KTM		Husqvarna
	Gev Sella	KTM	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM		KTM
		KTM		Proto	Rui Oliveira	Yamaha
		Yamaha	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM		Honda
		Yamaha	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM	Lyndon Poskitt^[9]	KTM

Trucks[]

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
Year	Crew	Make	Crew	Make	Crew	Make
	Dany Colebunders Darek Rodewald	Iveco	^[10] ? ?	DAF	^[11] ? ?	Scania
	Peter Czegledi Tomas Toth	Scania	Hans De Pauw Richard Baeten	MAN SE	Xavier Turlais Frederic Vivier	Renault
	Vojtěch Morávek	Tatra	Jose Marques Marco Cochinho	MAN SE	Raymond Louin	Mercedes-Benz
	Vojtěch Morávek	Tatra	Jose Marques Marco Cochinho	MAN SE	Marc Lauwers Peter Belmans	MAN SE
	Anton Shibalov Robert Amatych Almaz Khisamiev	Kamaz	Vojtěch Morávek	Tatra	Jose Marques Marco Cochinho	MAN SE
	Vojtěch Morávek	Tatra	Peter Czegledi Laszlo Acs	Scania	Jose Marques Marco Cochinho	MAN SE
	Anton Shibalov Robert Amatych Almaz Khisamiev	Kamaz	Alexander Kuprianov Anatoly Tanin	Kamaz	Ladislav Lála	Tatra
2016	Anton Shibalov Robert Amatych Almaz Khisamiev	Kamaz	Ladislav Lála	Tatra	Jose Marques Marco Cochinho	MAN SE
	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Dmitrii Nikitin	Kamaz	Rostislav Pilný Filip Škrobánek	Tatra	Ladislav Lála	Tatra
	Gérard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Moi Torrellardona	Iveco		Tatra	Ben Van De Laar Adolphus Huijgens	DAF
	Jose Marques Marco Cochinho	MAN SE	Marc Lauwers Johan Cooninx	MAN SE	Dirk Schuttel	Mercedes-Benz
	Peter Czegledi Laszlo Acs	Scania	Karoly Farekas Albert Horn Peter Csakany	Scania		Tatra

SSVs[]

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
Year	Crew	Make	Crew	Make	Crew	Make
	Frederic Pitout Hervé Lavergne	Polaris	François Cousin Stephane Cousin	Can-Am	only 2 teams finished the rally
	Jean Hugues Moneyron Thierry Maury	CFMOTO	Loic Bonnevie Sophie Hamys	Can-Am	Vincent Guindani Stephane Nguyen	Can-Am
	Rudy Roquesalane Vincent Ferri	Can-Am	Bruno Fretin Willy Charbonnier	Can-Am	Benoit Fretin Anthony Pichard	Can-Am
	Benoit Fretin Cédric Duplé	Can-Am	Patrice Etienne Jean Pierre Saint Martin	Can-Am	Loic Frebourg Franck Boulay	Can-Am

Palmares and records[]

	Palmares Auto
	Name	victories	Editions
1	Jean-Louis Schlesser	6	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014
2	Jean-Antoine Sabatier	1	2015
	Kanat Shagirov		2016
	Vladimir Vasilyev		2017
	Mathieu Serradori		2018
	Jean Pierre Strugo		2019
	Patrick Martin		2020

	Palmares Bike
	Name	Victories	Editions
1	Pal Anders Ullevalseter	2	2015 and 2016
1	Alessandro Botturi	2	2019 and 2020
2	José Manuel Pellicer	1	2009
	Marco Capodacqua		2010
	Willy Jobard		2011
	Oscar Polli		2012
	Martin Fontyn		2013
	Michael Pisano		2014
	Gev Teddy Sella		2017
	Paolo Ceci		2018

	Palmares Trucks
	Name	Victories	Editions
1	Tomáš Tomeček	3	2011, 2012 and 2014
1	Anton Shibalov	3	2013, 2015 and 2016
2	Miklós Kovács	2	2010 and 2020
3	Jan de Rooy	1	2009
	Andrey Karginov		2017
	Gérard de Rooy		2018
			2019

	Palmares SSvs
	Name	Victories	Editions
1	Frederic Pitout	1	2017
	Jean Hugues Moneyron		2018
	Rudy Roquesalane		2019
	Benoit Fretin		2020

References[]

^ Journal L'Equipe du 9 mai 2008^{[dead link]}
^ Mototribu.com
^ Writer, Staff (January 2017). "Africa Eco Race takes off from Monaco port | Monaco Life". www.monacolife.net. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
^ "Teenager Sella wins Africa Eco Race". euronews. 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
^ "AER2021 - CANCELLATION | Drupal". www.africarace.com. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
^ "Africa-Race2009".
^ "Africa Race 2009. Vittoria finale per José Manuel Pellicer - Dueruote".
^ "Africa Race 2009: Vince Pellicer su BMW".
^ "Etape 12 ST LOUIS / DAKAR Classement Général - 19/01/2020". Africa Eco Race 2020 (in French). Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Iveco Trakker Victorious on Africa Rally". 2009-01-14.
^ "AFRICA RACE 2009 c'est parti -".

External links[]

www.africarace.com (multilingual)

[1] Journal L'Equipe du 9 mai 2008^{[dead link]}

[2] Mototribu.com

[3] Writer, Staff (January 2017). "Africa Eco Race takes off from Monaco port | Monaco Life". www.monacolife.net. Retrieved 2017-01-03.

[4] "Teenager Sella wins Africa Eco Race". euronews. 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2017-01-15.

[5] "AER2021 - CANCELLATION | Drupal". www.africarace.com. Retrieved 2021-01-05.

[6] "Africa-Race2009".

[7] "Africa Race 2009. Vittoria finale per José Manuel Pellicer - Dueruote".

[8] "Africa Race 2009: Vince Pellicer su BMW".

[9] "Etape 12 ST LOUIS / DAKAR Classement Général - 19/01/2020". Africa Eco Race 2020 (in French). Retrieved 5 November 2021.

[10] "Iveco Trakker Victorious on Africa Rally". 2009-01-14.

[11] "AFRICA RACE 2009 c'est parti -".

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