Prologue
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- The 26th edition of the Rallye du Maroc began with a prologue just outside Fez, giving the fastest competitors the opportunity to choose their starting positions for Stage 1. Find out what they chose this evening in a dedicated post on the Race Center.
- In the motorcycle category, Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda HRC) won by a narrow margin ahead of his teammate Tosha Schareina. In Rally2, Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM Racing) finished one second ahead of Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), while the rookies distinguished themselves in Rally3.
- In cars, the seven-time winner of the Rallye du Maroc marked his territory. Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders) won ahead of Joao Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing) and Sébastien Loeb’s other Dacia. At 21, Jayden Els (BBR Motorsport) surprised everyone in the Challenger category. Joao Dias (Santag Racing) in SSV and Martin Macik (MM Technology) in Trucks lived up to expectations.
- Stage 1, between Fez and Erfoud, will have a Dakar-like profile! This is due to its distance (779 km, including 298 km of special stage) and its location in the Oriental province, which was crossed during the last Dakar rallies in Africa.
ON TRACK
Ricky Brabec is in a hurry this week! The American, who left California over a month ago to compete in the last two rounds of the world championship, scheduled one after the other, makes no secret of his desire to return home. Yesterday, the Mojave Desert native also spoke of his eagerness to return to the great outdoors this week. This motivation translated into victory in the 19 km prologue not far from Fez, three years after his last success in the race on stage 4 in 2022. The factory Honda rider (12’48”) finished ahead of the prologue specialist, his teammate Tosha Schareina (+1”), who was the fastest in the 2023-24 Moroccan prologues. The two factory KTM riders, Daniel Sanders (+5”) and Luciano Benavides (+10”), finished behind the two Hondas. Brabec has never won the Rallye du Maroc, but the Californian has already secured two podium finishes (2018, 2022), finishing in the top five a total of four times, including in 2019 and 2021.
In Rally2, Michael Docherty also returned to winning ways, having not won in Morocco since 2023 (stages 2 and 4). The South African set the fifth fastest time (13’03”), also one second ahead of his closest rival, KTM rider Edgar Canet. Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports) completed the day’s podium (+21’‘). In Rally3, Thomas Zoldos (Aub’Moto), the category winner in Portugal, took the win (14’33”) ahead of Noa Sainct (Nomade Racing, +8”) and Carlo Cabini (RS Moto, +1’48”). All three are new to the Rallye du Maroc.
In cars, Nasser Al Attiyah would like to shake off the Toyotas of Henk Lategan and Lucas Moraes, his two threats in the world championship, this week. And the Qatari seems eager to do so! The factory Dacia driver set a blistering time in the prologue (11’56’‘), relegating Joao Ferreira to 11” and Sébastien Loeb to 17”. One second behind his compatriot, Mathieu Serradori (Century Racing) is ahead of a trio of official Fords with Mattias Ekström (+18”), Nani Roma (+20”) and Carlos Sainz (+20”). Moraes and Lategan couldn’t do better than 8th and 14th.
In the Challenger category, another precocious young man made his mark for the first time in his career at the Rallye du Maroc. Jayden Els, the South African karting prodigy, already made a name for himself at home on May 21 by finishing just off the podium on a stage of the South African Safari Rally. That was in Ultimate, among the world’s elite and driving for the Red-Lined factory team. Returning to test himself in W2RC, this time in a Taurus, Els finished ahead of Emilio Fernandez (Raceseven, +6”) and Puck Klaassen (G Rally, +7”). Rookie Kevin Benavides (BBR Motorsport) posted the fourth fastest time (+12”) among the 25 light prototypes in the race.
In SSV, Joao Dias beat his Portuguese compatriot Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally, +6”) and Jeremias Gonzales Ferioli (Can-Am Factory, +13”).
In the truck category, Martin Macik (14’31’‘) continues his winning streak from last year. The Czech driver is ahead of young Kay Husink (Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid Dakar, +4’‘).
RADIO BIVOUAC
Noa Sainct is one of the youngest riders on the Rallye du Maroc. He is also the son of the late Richard, three-time winner of the Dakar (1999, 2000, 2003) and two-time winner of the Moroccan race (2001-02). “Given his experience, he has great potential in navigation,” says Loïc Minaudier, navigator for Mathieu Serradori when he is not training others to use road books. Noa has his sights set on the Dakar, but he is taking it one step at a time. After preparing with races in Sardinia and Morocco, this week he is making his debut in a world championship round with Nomade Racing. “Rally raids are really the discipline that suits him,” commented team boss Manu Braga. “He’s young, he has time to learn by making as few mistakes as possible and without rushing things.” This Sunday, Noa came within 8 seconds of his first victory in Rally3, the bridge between enduro and rally raids.
NUMBER OF THE DAY: 4
Four different brands finished in the Ultimate top 5 today: Dacia thanks to Al Attiyah and Loeb, first and third; Toyota with Ferreira between the two Sandriders; Century 4th with Serradori; and Ford thanks to Ekström in 5th position.
The top 4 riders on the day are also the top four in the world championship standings: Brabec, Schareina, Sanders and Luciano Benavides, the 4 fastest men of the season, finished within 10 seconds of each other.
Tomorrow, the caravan will leave Fez for Erfoud. For the spiritual capital of the Kingdom and the date capital, this is the 4th time in the history of the race that they have been the starting city for one and the finishing city for the other.
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THE RALLYE DU MAROC AND ME Luc Alphand, deputy director of the Rallye du Maroc: My first Rallye du Maroc…: „My first Morocco dates back to the 1999 Rallye de l’Atlas. It was in a Ralliart Mitsubishi Pajero Evo Marathon, the equivalent of today’s T2, which will be called the Stock category from next year. In 2000, I entered this vehicle in the first edition of the Rallye du Maroc. At the time, to put it in context, I was battling it out with Sven Quandt. I won the category in 2001 and 2002.“ My last Rallye du Maroc…: ”My last participation was in 2007, this time with the factory Mitsubishi team. I often fought for victory, but I never actually won the race. But Morocco was really special, because between the tests, the Rallye du Maroc and the Dakar, which crossed the country as the competitors will do tomorrow, we spent more than two months here and covered thousands of kilometers.„ TOMORROW’S STAGE AS SEEN BY MARC COMA The longest day: “It’s a Dakar type stage with two long transfers before and after the special. The timed section takes place on the Rekkam plateau, where the first stage of the Dakar in Africa was traditionally held. It’s a fairly fast introductory stage to the desert, with some navigation. I think the most difficult thing about the day will be the distance to be covered.” W2RC You have to go back to the 2024 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to see a rider other than Daniel Sanders or Tosha Schareina win a prologue – at that time it was Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports). The two men won the next seven prologues, from the 2024 bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal to the 2025 edition. Ricky Brabec has ended their reign and taken the lead in a rally raid for the first time since the Desafío Ruta 40, where he took his last victory. A good omen for him? In the meantime, the American has given Honda its 60th RallyGP victory. He has made a good start to the season finale, in the battle for the runner-up spot with his teammate Schareina (tied) and factory KTM rider Luciano Benavides (3 points ahead). QUOTES Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda HRC): “The prologue was a little bit tricky. Not as dangerous as they said in the briefing but a couple of things that could catch you out. But I felt good on the bike. The improvements we did has made it so easy to ride now and lots of fun. I just tried to stay on the track. I don’t think I made any mistakes.” Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC): “I had arm pump from km 5, so not so smooth for me. A prologue with some bumps not always visibility and some spectators so that was good. I tried to ride smooth and I think I took second place but the real battle starts tomorrow.” Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): “A different kind of prologue, we’ve never done one like this before, through the fields over farm tracks. Very high speed and very technical. I made one big mistake when I got confused with a waypoint and slowed down too much. Finishing third, hopefully I’ll be able to pick a good starting position for tomorrow.” Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM): ”It was fun, a good way to start and get back into the swing of things. In the end, I had a smooth prologue with no mistakes, and I can’t wait for the race to really start tomorrow. I’m going to give it my all in this rally.“ Nasser Al-Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders): “We didn’t attack a little, we attacked a lot! In the first 8 kilometers, we really pushed to see how we were doing. Then, at the end of the prologue, we saw that we had a good time, and as the others finished, we stayed in the lead. It shows that our speed is good and that the car is working very well.“ Joao Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing): “It was very tricky, it was easy to make mistakes. We tried to set a good pace, to attack without making any mistakes.” Sebastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders): “A good special stage. The aim was to finish in first place so we could choose a good spot for tomorrow, which is the only goal of the prologue. That, and getting a feel for the car. The feeling was good, the car was running well, and we got a good result that should allow us to choose a good starting position for tomorrow.” |
Quelle / Source / Pictures / Bilder: Rally du Maroc, Lopez
