Sidebar: Open All Hours--The Rally Mechanics

It takes a lot of coordination and organization to keep 220 Gazelles and their vehicles running smoothly for nine days across the Sahara. In some cases, "smoothly" is a luxury. Sometimes a little duct tape and baling wire along with a lot of ingenuity is all you get. Often, it's all you need.

The 33 dedicated mechanics who burn the midnight oil at the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles are one part specialist, one part night owl, and one part MacGyver. The assembly of hard-working grease monkeys at the 2011 rally made history with the addition of the first woman to the team. In this traditionally male-dominated field, Anja Schwegler does not feel unwelcomed or out of place. "I am proud to be the first female mechanic, and to show what women can do," she says.

And what she and the 32 other technicians accomplish is impressive. Each night, as the Gazelles sleep, four workshops buzz with activity, sharing the job of checking and repairing the vehicles according to priority. Even with experts from Dacia, Mercedes-Benz, and Isuzu among the workers this year, you still don't always have "all the necessary tools like you would have in a garage," says Christophe Agar, one of the Quad specialists. "Often we end up making them." Ah yes, MacGyver would be proud.

The two-woman Gazelle teams entrust their "third" wheeled teammate to the skilled mechanics at the end of each day's route for penalty-free care--providing they are actually able to drive back to the bivouac.

While out in the desert, though, only official competitors are allowed to "help" each other (penalty-free) with any mechanical problems or mishaps such as digging out of the sand--a common occurrence. This means the Gazelles must know their vehicles intimately and be able to keep them running between visits to the mechanics.

This is particularly important during the two marathon legs, when the ladies camp under the stars away from the comforts of the bivouac and the mobile mechanic shops.

So, why did the rally organizers allow the only male team--a promotion/ expedition team, not official contestants--to help the first-place participants fix their truck during one of the marathon nights?

American Emily Miller is gracious with her understanding: "This was a grey area for the rally," says Miller. "I don't fault anyone for doing this, but the ball was in the rally's court on this call, and no call was made."