The making of a new sport!
The TransAfricaine Classic is not just another rally or off-road race but a whole new sport. It’s the ideal balance between endurance and regularity, the combination of the African adventure and traditional style.
The TransAfricaine Classic should not be considered as a rival to other road races but more like an alternative, adapted for amateurs, and all those who would like to take the leap but don’t yet dare, for all those who nostalgically recall a long-gone era, or who are looking for a challenge that suits both their dreams, their aspirations, and their budgets. Furthermore, this option is not reserved for Africa only. For the past three years now, the Le Mans Classic has attracted fabulous antique automobiles to this quintessential endurance race and the historic Monte-Carlo rally brings together over 400 teams each year from across Europe to follow the tracks of road racing’s masters.
The classic road race is a strong trend as it maintains the original spirit and mind-set, while adapting to the times. It joins together performances and enjoyment. Let no one forget Thierry Sabine’s famous words: “a race that’s designed for amateurs where drivers have their place”.
Since 1987, the exact opposite has become reality. In the past, before Peugeot’s team arrived on the scene with their 205 T 16, when a manufacturer joined the starting line in Paris it was to attempt a great adventure, to dive into the vast and mysterious Africa, to confront each other on even terms, with the amateurs’ know-how making all the difference. This was the case for Volkswagen in 1980 with their famous Iltis, for Citroën’s CX, Mercedes’ 280 GE, and even Porsche’s 4WD-911! One fine day, we shifted into another gear, one where the manufacturers design the race to their advantage, leaving nothing uncalculated, putting their enormous funds to use, and organizing their own media coverage with chartered flights, thereby phagocytizing all the amateurs now relegated to the role of bit-player in the big picture.
So why not turn back the hands of time, not for nostalgic reasons, but simply out of common sense? Link Paris to Dakar in the grand ‘ole tradition of yester-year not on a whim but based on a well-thought-out decision following two full years of careful reflection.
This is also a good way to rediscover the Africa that has given us so much, and who we’d all like to somehow repay. The TransAfricaine Classic offers us an opportunity to show our appreciation and sincere intrigue for this country through specific, personal actions, that are not so much humanitarian in nature, but rather, more simply, just human.
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