For Jean-Maurice Sauvard, this 2007 edition of the Dakar
Rally will be his 15th. As before, he will be driving one of the
ASO sag-wagons responsible for picking up unlucky competitors who
fail to finish a given stage or are forced to pull out of the rally.
Lost bikers, car drivers having
broken down or suffered accidents… the list is long of those
competitors who get lost or stuck in the sand and the inextricable
dunes of the African desert.
At 57 years of age, Jean-Maurice
is still teaching HGV mechanics at the Maréchal Leclerc secondary
school in Orleans. Because he talks to them the whole time about
mechanics, trucks and rallies, he has sparked a sort of enthusiasm
for that special world amongst some of his students. The latter
are sometimes onboard his truck for some of the difficult stages,
with others in Dakar waiting to celebrate his arrival.
From his early adventures, he remembers
foreign makes of vehicles which were, to say the least, rough and
ready. Today, with his Renault Kerax, he considers his voluntary
participation in the race a real pleasure.
“The Kerax is certainly a
very comfortable truck and poses no problems, whatever the terrain.
So as to keep clear of some of the traps out there, we sometimes
have to look for our unlucky competitors on foot. Sometimes, they’re
in places that no-one would think to go !”
“We have an isothermal box
on the Kerax, to transport the drivers and we stick the motorbikes
on the bed at the back. For the cars, we assist the drivers and
only bring them back in emergency situations. They’re supposed
to get their cars back under their own steam”, adds Jean-Maurice.
For this 29th edition of the Dakar,
Jean-Maurice and his co-driver, Marc Guiraud, are preparing themselves
for some difficult nights ahead. As each year, there will be many
competitors pulling out en route… lots of motorbikes to find
using the sat-nav and others to bring back along with their disappointed
riders.
After the rally, Jean-Maurice Sauvard
will return to his students and, once again, open their minds with
his enthusiastic memories of the rally. Pure enjoyment for these
future mechanics who will have no problem finding a job when they
come out of school.
|
