Like every year, the Rallye du Maroc is the last major get-together before the Dakar, which is now positioned as the first round of the next W2RC season. Its dual role as the grand finale for the key players of the FIA-FIM World Championships and as a dress rehearsal for the whole field places it at the intersection of the two big prizes of the season and consistently attracts a star-studded crowd. The competition for the places of honour and their bounty of points is fierce, so anyone who heads to Morocco with just a few points to spare over his championship rivals is playing with fire.
Luciano Benavides claimed his maiden RallyGP win in a W2RC round on home soil in early September. The younger Benavides surged from second to first place overall, with 80 points. Mechanical troubles prevented the former leader, Toby Price, from finishing higher than seventh among the W2RC RallyGP riders and sent him home with 71 points on his account. 9 points separate the two factory riders. Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda) is still third, now with 66 points, 14 fewer than the leader. The Desafío Ruta 40 also shook up the manufacturer ranking, with Honda wresting the top spot from KTM. The reds now have 128 points to KTM's 122 and Husqvarna's 114. Both the riders and their teams will have to make the difference in the Rallye du Maroc.
In Rally2, the withdrawal of Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing) played into the hands of Romain Dumontier, who took over the reins of the World Cup in Argentina. The Frenchman (79 points) has 13 points in hand over the Italian (66 points). Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Rally) is third with 58. In Rally3, the Albanian-born Ardit Kurtaj clinched his first win of the season and moved into the championship lead with 45 points, ahead of the Italian Massimo Camurri (25 points) and the Ecuadorian Mauricio Cueva (20 points). In the quad category, Rodolfo Guillioli and Juraj Varga inched closer to Laisvydas Kancius after the championship leader skipped the Argentinian round. The Lithuanian has 69 points to the Guatemalan's 53 and the Slovak's 46.
THE KINGDOM OF RALLY RAIDS
The 23rd edition of the Rallye du Maroc is a grandiose eastward journey across the Sharifian Kingdom, from the sand on the resort beaches of Agadir to the orange dunes of Merzouga. In keeping with the tradition in Morocco, which has been a focal point for rally-raids ever since the inception of the sport, David Castera (see quote below) and his team have woven a rich tapestry of terrains, registers and navigational challenges. After a 119 km trek on the day of the prologue near Agadir, two bivouacs will punctuate the race. The first stopover will be in Zagora, near the Erg Chegaga, the largest golden sand sea in the country. The Rallye du Maroc set up camp here in 2021. Next, the caravan will move on to Merzouga, the village that lent its name to the tallest dunes in the country.
Each of the two most challenging ergs (seas of dunes) in Morocco will make a double appearance. The Erg Chegaga will feature in stage 1 (721 km), which will get under way with a road section between Agadir and the start of the 324 km opening special in Tata. Its dunes will return in stage 2 (388 km). This 288 km special takes the unusual step of mapping out separate courses for the FIA and FIM categories to keep the bikers safe while upping the ante for the navigators in the car race.
Stage 3 (444 km) and its 336 km special around Zagora will be the only outing without dune-surfing. Stage 4 from Zagora to Merzouga (426 km) will culminate on the dunes of the Erg Chebbi, at the end of a 351 km timed section. The final stage of the season will not feature any road section. The 152 km special will revisit the dunes, at the foot of which the race will come to a close. A total of 1,470 km of specials awaits the competitors in two point-to-point stages (1 and 4) and three loop stages (2, 3 and 5).
David Castera, Director of the Rallye du Maroc:
"We are in for a very special edition of the Rallye du Maroc. In the aftermath of the disaster that hit it a few days ago, we will support the reconstruction of our host country through a series of initiatives launched in close consultation with the authorities. The original sports programme of the race remains in place. The Rallye du Maroc is cast in the same mould as its bigger counterpart, the Dakar, whose features and spirit it has always shared. Now as ever, Morocco is a vast arena for rally raids, with dirt tracks, sand, stones and dunes that open up possibilities in every register. It is also a sprawling desert riddled with navigational challenges. Not a single special will dip below 300 km. It is no exaggeration to say that the Rallye du Maroc is a miniature Dakar. The upcoming edition will stay true to this tradition, with an A to Z of what our sport has to offer. This is crystal clear to both the pros and the amateurs, which is why we already have 140 motorbikes on the start list. We also have a few surprises in store, such as Nani Roma's first official outing with Ford in the car race and the reveal of a new Honda HRC in the motorbike competition."
Programme
27 September: closing date for entries
9 October: opening of the service park at 2 pm
10 and 11 October: private test
Afternoon of 11 October and 12 October: administrative and technical scrutineering
13 October: prologue — Agadir (total: 119 km)
14 October: stage 1 — Agadir–Zagora (road section: 397 km / special: 324 km / total: 721 km)
15 October: stage 2 — Zagora–Zagora (road section: 100 km / special: 288 km / total: 388 km)
16 October: stage 3 — Zagora–Zagora (road section: 108 km / special: 336 km / total: 444 km)
17 October: stage 4 — Zagora–Merzouga (road section: 75 km / special: 351 km / total: 426 km)
18 October: stage 5 — Merzouga–Merzouga (road section: 0 km / special: 152 km / total: 152 km)
Evening of 18 October: prize award ceremony
ASO