The 4L Trophy has been created by Jean-Jacques Rey.
The idea of a race accessible to young people, with a humanitarian objective comes from his participation to the Paris-Dakar. It starts the first edition in 1997 with 3 cars and 6 college students.
The objective of the race is to bring school and sport material to the South of Morocco.
The car must be a Renault 4L. Emblematic French car, known for its reliability and its low cost.
Pilotes must be college students and be between 18 and 28 year old. They have to plan their rally by themselves, manage their budget, find their sponsors and mostly prepare the car. That is the first challenge of the 4L Trophy.
The start happens in Biarritz, in the south-west of France. Driving through Spain, towards the Gibraltar Detroit, then Morocco. In total, it is 6000 kilometers (3728 mi) that are covered by the students. An endurance race, not a speed race because the old cars must, before anything, survive the tough conditions of the desert, the heat and the sand. You better have a good sense of direction and some knowledge in general mechanics! No worries though, the raid is also about cooperation. That’s why in French, we call it “solidaire” because it means humanitarian (to help people) and cooperative (to help each other). The competitors will stop without hesitation to help a team in trouble. In the “villages- étapes“, we gather, give the material to the charities or schools and rest until the next stage.
All ends in the “Village d’Arrivée” (Finish village) where they celebrate the success (or not) all together. In 2017, they were 1450 teams, 2900 students. And if you want to see more, among them were 2 French Youtubers, Amixem and Cyril who filmed everything! (see below)
With the same concept, there is “the Trophy Roses des Sables” who gather women pilots for another solidary rally!