MARCHINI Michel FRA 14/02/1971 174 cm 72 kg

Vehicle

MODEL	MAKE
450	YAMAHA

RANKING

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Scratch	11	9	6	-	21	24	23	19	29	-	-	-	-	-
Stage	11	9	6	-	21	24	22	19	28	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Overall	11	9	7	-	93	83	71	68	55	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Michel Marchini: « We’re all in the same boat»

Michel Marchini has twice (2004 and 2007) finished as the top amateur on the Dakar and he took 7th overall in 2007. For 2009 he will leave for Argentina and Chile with a lofty ambition. He has thrown down the gauntlet «without getting a big head» :»my goal is to finish in the top five.»

He has run the Dakar four times and yet could well take advantage of the move to South America. «The new course will reset the counters to zero among the competitors», says Marchini. «We will all be in the same boat.» On paper, he likes the Argentinean and Chilean sites. «The tracks at the start of the rally resemble those we ride on in Corsica, with lots of rocks.»

He is playing the modest card: his first participation in 2004, already demonstrated his capabilities on such a difficult race. He finished 13th overall. «It was a tough race», he says today. «I lost a tremendous amount of weight.» He remembers, for example, two very trying days where he left «after midnight to arrive at 8 in the evening. Despite that, both times I finished in the first 25!»

The restaurant owner also knows the importance of a balanced diet. «The body is like a machine. On the opening days you have to make sure you eat and drink, even when you think you don’t need to. If you don’t you won’t hold up.» And because nothing can be controlled and to protect one’s self from the intangibles on a race such as this, the native of the island of Corsica will carry two pieces of corral that were given to him by his aunt. One attached to the machine the other to the man.

Dakar start photos on line: www.maindruphoto.com

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