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Three hundred vehicles, over 4000 kilometres, crossing Tunisia and Libya: navigation, driving skills, gigantic dunes, all this in a 10 day race full of passion and rebounds. 3000 km of timed race ending in a cliff hanger made the 2008 edition of the Rallye de Tunisie, first gathering of the All Terrain Rally World Cup, the biggest African Rally of the year.

You didn't need convincing, all you needed was to see the smiling faces of the competitors on the finish line on El Kantara beach, close to Djerba. Out of the 97 bikes, 91 cars and 11 trucks, on the starting blocks in Marseilles at the end of April, a little less than half made it to the end, but all had the pleasant feeling of flirting with the "Extreme". Proving Africa will always be number one host to adventure aficionados,

Stephane Clair and Cyril Neveu have given a new dimension to the Rally, of witch the laureates of the competition: the biker Olivier Pain (Yamaha 450), Tomas Tomecek in his MAN truck and Dominique Housieaux (Schlesser Buggy) have fully been part of.

Ever since the fist nocturnal prologue in Marseilles, witnessed by hundreds of excited fans, all the way to the turquoise waters of Djerba Island, ten days later, the competitors of the Rallye de Tunisie 2008, have lived a spectacular adventure. Taking them through the splendour of Tunisia and the remoteness of Libya, in a race that was difficult for man and machine alike.

Original, varied and testing…
It's obvious that the Rallye de Tunisie is one of the major stages in this kind of event. The outcome proves the toughness of the 4000 km run; indeed 42 cars made it back, out of 97, 44 bikes out of 91 and 4 trucks out of 11 who set out. There was a new itinerary through Libya, a first in the 27 editions. The difficulties encountered equalled the beauty of the landscapes. The colour was sand, especially after the three specials in the dunes.

The first was on the way to Libya, and the Ourabi Erg where the competitors first encountered the imposing "cathedral Dunes" on the idri/idri loop. Then, on the way to El Borma, and finally the white sands of the Jeinein erg on the way to Ksar Ghilane. There was something for everybody, stony and technical tracks, very demanding on the engines, fast and sandy stretches full of navigation traps all done at high speeds and off road. All the teams went through all sorts of problems relative to an African rally, testing theirs capabilities all the way to an exciting ending.

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