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Running at competitor no 300 this year was a new addition to the tough rally challenge, a Fiat Auto Belgio entered Fiat Sedici, piloted by Belgian Samiri Azmani and Frenchwoman Catherine Torgue.

The two female drivers and the team successfully made it though the rigorous terrain of the North African desert to the finish line.

The Fiat Sedici has taken to the North African desert and proved its off road credentials in the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles piloted through the adverse terrain by an all-female crew with the adventure supported by Fiat Auto Belgio.

Organised for amateur and professional women drivers, the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles is today the reference standard for female motorised adventure; it is the only women’s rally in the world that brings together amateur women between 25 and 65 years old, from all social and cultural backgrounds and from every country.

By excluding speed, it has created another vision of car rallies. The Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles is based on “old fashion” navigation skills. On board their 4WDs, SUVs, Motorbikes, Quad bikes, Trucks or Prototypes, the rally gives the entrants a 10-day challenging experience in the Moroccan Sahara. While being off-track with just a map and compass, in autonomy, the competitors must cover the marked out route in a minimum of kilometres.

This year's 18th edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles ran from 15-29 March, with technical checks taking place in France before all the competitors travelled to Morocco by ferry for the competitive section (19-27 March). Running at competitor no 300 this year was a new addition to the rally, a Fiat Auto Belgio entered Fiat Sedici, piloted by Belgian Samiri Azmani and Frenchwoman Catherine Torgue. The two female drivers and the team, which was additionally supported on the event by Partenariat Fiat Maroc, Napapijri Europe and Club Health O2 Halle, successfully made it through the rigorous terrain of the North African desert to reach the finish line.

Although the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles is a return to the roots for the “sporting” side of the adventure, safety is paramount at all times and the organisation uses satellite tracking systems, at the cutting edge of technology, to achieve this objective. It is this duality that makes this competition so unusual.

The concept sees the crew cover the predefined route, checking off all the control points set up along the route. The objective is the same as in all rallies: "accumulate the minimum", talking here in kilometres and not in minutes. Speed is not taken into account in the ranking of the event. Each morning the competitors draw one of the four predefined routes. They are given a road book and draw up their route for the day. This very succinct document only mentions the geographic co-ordinates (30°28'560 N / 006°25'743 W) of the 6 control points and the finishing line of the day. Three routes are identical in time, distance and difficulties. A fourth route is exclusively reserved for the SUV (Sports Utility Vehicles). This special route was introduced in 2003 for the first time and takes into account the specificities of this type of vehicle. This separation is designed to divide all the teams into 4 groups and thus avoid having too many on the same route.

It is strictly forbidden for the vehicles in the rally to follow each other or the drive together during a leg. The competitors draw their route on the map and must follow this itinerary whilst respecting the sporting regulations, only using a compass (old-fashioned navigating, GPS is forbidden). The start is given minute by minute every morning at 6.00am and an average day lasts for 14 to 18 hours.

The Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles is also one of the first events to commit to adopting an environmental approach. Over the past several years, many concrete actions have been taken (such as operation “clean bivouac” and controlled water management). 2007 marks a turning point with the launching of a fundamental program for the protection of the environment.