The first edition of Fenix Rally ended today with a last special stage of 110 km. After 6 days and more than 1000 kms competitive sections, the race is ready to crown its first winners.
Tunisia welcomed the brand new project of RBI Sport and Alex Kovatchev with warm hospitality, full support from the authorities and unbelievable terrains in Sahara and the region around the city of Douz. It was one perfect week with high class organization and all kind of the necessary security and sanitary measures.
The last day was really interesting in the car open class in many ways. First of all, the desert rally veteran Jerome Pelichet showed what it means to have long years of experience in cross country competitions. The Frenchman took 6 from 6 stage wins, and won the race with unbelievable advance of 1 hour and 47 minutes to his nearest competitor.
The second place went to Agostino Rizzardi and his exotic Porsche proto. The Italian made very good progress during the rally, and pushed in the last stages, to climb on the podium. But even more interesting was the situation with Adam Bomba (BMW) from Poland, who completed the podium just in the last stage, beating the Bulgarian Dessislav Slavchev (Mercedes).
In the car limited category, it was Laurent Aubouex from France (Mercedes) who won the title in front of the Polish pilot Grzegorz Brochocki (Toyota) and the German Fritz Becker (Toyota). As the teams from this class couldn’t compete with the powerful T1 protos, they showed that you can take such a long rally with a conventional off-road machine, if you have enough courage and are smart on the racetrack.
In the most crowded class – those of the SSVs, it was Lionel Baud, who took the maiden victory of Fenix Rally. The pilot from France took 5 from 6 stage wins, behind the wheel of the powerful PH Sport Zephyr, leaving no chance to his opponents with over one hour advance at the finish.
Second in the “petite” class became the driver from Netherlands Pelle Moens as Lithuanian Dalius Olechnavicius completed the overall top 3. Both pilots counted on Can-Am vehicles.
In the bike class, there was the Dutchman Bram van der Wouden (Sherco), who eliminate the competition of two French riders: Lionel Mansuy (Sherco) and Romain Muraton (Husaberg). Van der Wouden was very constant and this paid off with more than 2 hours difference with the closest followers.
Finally, in the ATV class, it was Lithuanian domination, as Romualdas Karuzis (Can-Am) took the victory of Fenix Rally 2021 and his compatriot Adomas Gancierius (CF Moto) who get the “silver medal”. The third place was for the Polish rider Mikolaj Krysik (Can-Am).
Last but not least, Fenix Rally 2021 offered the adventure Discovery category, which gave the opportunity to the 61 entering teams to discover the world of the desert racing in guided tours without the pressure of the chronometer. And it’s clear that a lot of participants are already thinking to have the next race in Tunisia in the racing category.
Now all the eyes are turned to the next big competition of RBI Sport – the legendary Rallye Breslau which is planned for the end of June in Poland.
