On the stroke of 12h, the first motorcycle left the assistance park for Al Amal Square to pass through arch for the official start of this 17th edition of the Rallye OiLibya, Morocco, organised under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
After a 16 km road link, the 62 motorcycles (45 FIM and 27 Enduro Cup), and 5 quads set out on a fine plateau trail that wound its way up to the top of a hill and down the other side.
This first Super Special was a great warm-up for the riders and gave the top fifteen finishers the chance to choose their starting positions for the first special tomorrow.
This first special of the Rally was won by Toby Price (KTM) with a lead of 8 seconds over Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) and 10' over Sam Sunderland (KTM). “It was a very short Special”, explained Price, smiling as always, “and I can’t wait to get stuck into a long selective section. Today, the trail was very hard and slippery and you had to be careful, but the bike is perfect and I’m really looking forward to this Rally!”
Honda rider Paulo Gonçalves came in fourth ahead of Xavier de Soultrait (Yamaha) who is not doing his own mechanics this time as in Sardinia, having joined Franck Helbert’s Yamaha client team HFP. “I missed out on a win, or at least a runner-up spot today”, said the Frenchman, “as I quickly found myself in the dust behind Anatasya Nifontova and I lost time before I could get past her.”
Kevin Benavides (Honda) came in 6th followed by Matthias Walkner (KTM), Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha), Joan Pedrero (Sherco), who had a scare on a corner, Pela Renet (Husqvarna), Ricky Brabec (Honda), Joachim Rodrigues (Hero), Loïc Minaudier (Husqvarna), Alessandro Botturi (Yamaha) and Lorenzo Santolino Sanchez (Sherco).
The only woman in the race, Russia’s Anastasya Nifontova, came in 48th.
In quad, Sébastien Souday (KTM) went all out, finishing 23rd overall, while Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) was 31st and Mattias Somfay (KTM), 36th. Bruno Da Costa (Yamaha), in 38th, had this to say: “It’s my 11th Rallye OiLibya Maroc! I did it 10 times on a bike and it’s my first time on a quad, so I am a beginner! The Super Special was short and sweet, a good warm-up.”
Tomorrow, the first Special is a 240 km loop around Agadir.
Judith Tomaselli