Meet the competitors – Franck Daurelle and Françoise Hollender

In a series of blog posts we will introduce competitors who shared their experience at Rallye Breslau or other event of RBI Sport in the interview.

1) Who are you? What is your occupation?

Franck Daurelle and Françoise Hollender :

They met at Breslau Balkan Offroad in 2012 and have been in love ever since, soon to be married…shhhh! Françoise is the co-founder of Euro4x4parts, sponsor of the rallye and with 20 year experience selling 4×4 parts and accessories to trade and individuals in over 150 different countries. Franck has been working all his life within the truck industry and, together with Françoise, has created 6 years ago a successful company selling used trucks across the world, Trux4me.com.

2) How did it start with your off-road passion? Since when are you rallying/driving off-road? What is your rally experience?

Franck : has always loved nature, engines and nature : off-roading came to him very naturally. Enticed by some of his off-road friends, Franck registered to Breslau Rallye 2007 with a bright new stock Defender 90. The Defender evolved slowly from one Breslau rallye to another, until it became the “Mandubien”, which was since sold to Guillaume Boudoux, who gave it a further racing life at the Breslau rallye. Franck always finished all his races and was the first French person ever to reach a Breslau podium in 2012 (he came 2nd), that same year he met Françoise…

Françoise : discovered off-roading when founding Euro4x4parts, watched her customers racing and told herself “why not racing myself?”. Started by the 24 heures de France in Paris (a week-end only race) en 2010 then registered to Breslau in 2013 on another Defender with Pascal Leboucher. Met Franck in 2012 and raced with Franck ever since, at Breslau rallies but also Croatia Trophy, Transilvania. Built a new tubular proto with Franck in 2016, “Hommage” and took it to 7 races since, reaching 6 podiums.

3) You already have taken part in Rallye Breslau. When was your first participation? Share with us the first experience.

Franck, 2007 : everything was new to him. He suffered a lot, but enjoyed it that much, hence his repeated registrations.

Francoise, 2013 : everything was new to her. Hesitated a while before jumping for the first time in the cold water/deep mud but considered it not that bad/difficult after all. Repeated ever since.

4) In which class are you competing in the Breslau? Did you drive in a different class or category or do you remain faithful to one specific class/category?

We compete in the Xtrem category, the very spirit of Breslau races, a very unique relationship to nature, with something like a pioneer/survival feeling. There are less people competing in that category, we are all part of a family, competing against each other at the same time as making friends and having a hug and a glass of beer at the end of each leg. Challenge is very high and requires many skills, much more than in the Cross Country category from my point of view, and for both driver and co-driver : driving is more difficult because of the many obstacles, you have to be able to deal with mechanics because cars are under bigger pressure, co-driver has to mix high navigating skills with physical abilities to get the car out of the place it is stuck, be it deep water, heavy and sticky mud, or the steepest and slickier slope. And of course, the car has to be very skillful too, able to overcome any obstacle without breaking, but also speed up in rapid sections of the track.

We don’t consider changing categories and will stop racing rather than doing it.

5) Tell us more about your rally vehicle.

“Hommage” is a tubular rig based on a D&G Taurus frame, a Defender TD5 engine optimized by TD5 inside, Profender coilover and by-pass suspension, R380 gearbox with LT230 transfer case modified by Syncro Gearboxes, Nissan Y61 axles with RCV shafts, Trail Gear full hydraulic steering, 37″ Maxxis Trepador tires, Gigglepin winches.

We absolutely love it! It was perfect from the start and has never deceived us since. The secret behind this is the choice of technical solutions we have tried and approved on our previous car.
More about the car on
https://www.offroadlifestyle.com/2018/11/28/tribute-performance-and-passion/?fbclid=IwAR0sq8oSrJc91D5OKsigXRi8BqiLOrfLUsoxEd92jjj91eqgePiayGgnwEg

6) What is special about Rallye Breslau? What drives you to participate in this rally? What are in your point of view the main features of this event that makes it different to other rallies?

Organisation is failless, staff is friendly, tracks are nicely and cleverly designed, road-books are perfect, there are the right media and communication, food is nice. Besides, there is this very friendly atmosphere all over the camp : nothing replaces the pleasure of sharing racing experiences and mechanics tips over a bonnet and a glass of beer!

7) Share something from your rally vehicle preparation for Rallye Breslau, that can be useful to other competitors.

Don’t wait till the last minute to prepare your rig. Should you look for the spare parts and accessories we are using, please have a look on euro4x4parts.com. With a massive stock and a friendly staff, we are selling more than 70.000 part numbers in 16 different languages, there must be something there for you!

Never take things for granted, should you get good results : a race is never finished until the last minute!

Never give up, should you experience a problem during your race : a race is never finished until the last minute!