Rally du Maroc 2025 – Day 5 / Stage 4: Video Highlights – report & Gallery!

ON THE TRACK

In the motorcycle category, Ignacio Cornejo (Hero MotoSports) entered the fray. In second place, the Chilean is the only rider, along with his teammate Ross Branch, who finished third in stage 1, to have challenged the dominance of Sanders, Schareina and Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda HRC) this week. The Spaniard won for the third time in a row this week ahead of “Nacho” (+24″). With the prologue won by Brabec, Honda now has four victories in the race. The American took third place today (+2’02“). Sanders is not in the top three for the first time this week and is disappointed, aware that he made the wrong decision by not staying alongside his rival, whom he had caught up with (see Quotes). Fourth (+4’11’‘), “Chucky” loses the overall lead to Schareina, who goes from 38’‘ behind to 3’33“ ahead. Fourth place at the start of tomorrow’s final special stage is the consolation prize for Sanders, who could take advantage of it to close in on his rival and win at the wire.

In Rally2, Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM), who yesterday closed the gap to 40 seconds behind overall leader Edgar Canet, lost his way. The South African ceded his 2nd place to Konrad Dabrowski, the day’s winner. The Pole won with a 3’36“ lead over the factory KTM rider. Rui Barbosa (HT Rally Raid, +7’04”) took his first podium finish of the week. In the overall standings, Canet leads Dabrowski (+16’06“) and Docherty (+23’14”). In Rally3, Noa Sainct wins the third stage ahead of Carlo Cabini (RS Moto, +46’37“) and Thomas Zoldos (Aub’Moto, +49’57”). Carrying a foot injury since the day before yesterday, Zoldos gritted his teeth but lost the lead in the category to Sainct, who is now 10’25“ ahead of his compatriot.

In the cars, Nani Roma won his first stage of the week after leading the race at the end of the second stage. Sébastien Loeb, who had been leading since yesterday, finished second, 44 seconds behind the Catalan. Lucas Moraes completed the day’s podium (+57 seconds) ahead of Nasser Al Attiyah (+1 minute 10 seconds). In the overall standings, Loeb extended his lead to 3 minutes 38 seconds over Moraes. Roma is third (+6’51“) and Al Attiyah fourth (7’34”).

Tomorrow, Moraes will start in third position, three minutes behind Loeb. To win the 26th edition of the Rallye du Maroc, the Brazilian will have to overtake the Frenchman on the track and gain more than 38 seconds on him. The world championship title is likely to be decided between Moraes and Al Attiyah, who will also start one behind the other (see W2RC). Moraes will be sandwiched between two Dacias. He will have two challenges to overcome: ahead of him for the race victory, and behind him for the world championship. The final stage promises to be exciting, and couldn’t be easier to follow live!

In the Challenger category, Dania Akeel wins his second stage in a row, this time ahead of Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (QQMF Racing, +5’21“) and Charles Munster (BBR Motorsport, +5’35”). In the overall standings, Pau Navarro (BBR Motorsport) retains the lead he took yesterday. The Spaniard is ahead of Nicolas Cavigliasso (Vertical Motorsport, +4’05“), who is heading for his first world title. In SSV, Jeremias Ferioli wins his first stage ahead of Manuel Andujar (South Racing Can-Am) and the other factory Can-Am of “Chaleco” Lopez. The Argentinean extends his lead over his teammates “Chaleco” (+14’42“) and Hunter Miller (+15’16”). In Trucks, Martin Macik scores his fourth win of the week, as he did yesterday ahead of Gert Huzink (Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid Dakar).

BIVOUAC RADIO: ANGEL OF THE DESERT

It’s not easy to convince Angel Braga to sit down long enough to give even a brief interview. And when you do, you have to deal with a series of interruptions. Not because she’s rude, but because talking about herself is clearly not her priority. “Mrs. Nomade Racing,” the other half of Manu Braga, with whom she runs one of the largest privateer motorcycle teams in the bivouac, is 100% focused on her “boys.” During the 2025 Rallye du Maroc, Angel is the surrogate mother for 14 motorcyclists, which keeps her very, very busy. So much so that yesterday, for the first time in her long “career” in rally raid, she found herself lying in the medical center with an IV in her arm. A former special needs teacher for disabled children, nothing predestined Angel for a life in the dusty world of desert racing. By her own admission, she is not particularly passionate about motorsport, though she owns a small Yamaha TW for pottering around. But the maternal instinct and altruistic nature of this mother of three and stepmother of two are undoubtedly one of the keys to Nomade Racing’s success. When asked about it, she modestly admits that it could contribute to the impressive percentage of repeat customers. Angel does not consider her life in rallying to be a business. For her, Nomade Racing is simply an extension of her already large family. And like all mothers, all she wants is for her children to be happy and safe.

NUMBER OF THE DAY: 3

Tosha Schareina wins today for the 3^rd time in a row. The Spaniard won 3 stages of the Rallye du Maroc in 2023, and 3 more in 2024; today he claims his 3^rd victory in the 2025 edition. His lead over Daniel Sanders in the overall standings has increased to 3 minutes and 33 seconds, putting him in pole position to become the third Spaniard to win after Isidre Esteve and Marc Coma. This is great news for Honda, which has already won the race three times. In the car category, Sébastien Loeb leads the overall standings for the 3^rd time since the start (stages 1, 3, 4), on the day that Ford M-Sport becomes the third team to win a stage. In the Challenger category, Dania Akeel scored the third consecutive victory for a female driver: Puck Klaassen (G Rally) started the series (stage 2), and the Saudi Arabian dominated the following two days.

THE RALLYE DU MAROC AND ME

Chris Evans (Press release writer, briefing translator, and press conference host for the Rallye du Maroc)

My first Rallye du Maroc: „I was writing the press releases and English translator for the briefings on the last Rallye de l’Atlas in 1999. The race was then owned by A.S.O., for whom I had already been performing these duties since the previous year on the Dakar. I continued to translate the briefings for Cyril Neveu on the Rallye du Maroc, which he launched in 2000. After that I was the press officer for KTM in rally raids, sometimes acting as manager on smaller races. So I was part of the team of Richard Sainct, Isidre Esteve, and Cyril Despres when he joined them. At the same time, I was also Cyril’s manager. I’ve always worn several hats.“

My last Rallye du Maroc: „In 2018, David Castera called me to ask me to resume my former duties as press release writer and translator for the race briefings. I no longer go up on the podium for the briefing as I used to; it is now done simultaneously in three languages via earpieces given to the competitors and their teams. It is a much better system and makes the briefing much more fluid. For the past few years, they’ve also got me hosting the press conferences before and after the race and the starting order selection ceremonies.“

W2RC: EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR TOMORROW!

Third on the day ahead of Nasser Al Attiyah, Lucas Moraes scored one more point than his title rival. At the top of the FIA championship, the gap between the two men has narrowed to just 10 points. The final day of the season will be decisive between the Qatari and the Brazilian. Stage 5 will award up to 5 points to the winner (5, 4, 3, 2, 1), plus 3 on the Power Selective Section that will conclude the race (3, 2, 1). Not to mention the points for the final overall classification, with up to 30 points awarded to the winner of the Rallye du Maroc. The complete scoring system can be found by clicking here.

TOMORROW’S STAGE AS SEEN BY MARC COMA

Two hundred kilometers: “The last special stage is just over 200 km long, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy. The competitors will have to be careful, because there are dunes at the end, but also navigation before that. The rally will be far from over. The FIA will then discover, for the first time at the Rallye du Maroc, the Power Selective Section. We’ll see if finishing with this sprint right next to the bivouac adds anything to the sporting interest of the race.“

QUOTES

Nani Roma (Ford M-Sport): „An incredible feeling to win this stage. Not just for us, but as you saw when we arrived, the whole team was really happy and I dedicate this victory to them. Without them, it wouldn’t have been possible. These guys work tirelessly in the dust, at night, in the heat. It wasn’t an easy stage. There was a bit of dust at the start, but everything went well and Ford has secured another victory. Alex [Haro] did a great job.”

Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders): “It was really good. We started in third position, but we quickly overtook Quintero, then we started to catch up with Lategan and finished close behind him. The navigation was quite difficult, off-road with CAPs, but we had a good race. Tomorrow’s stage will be another long one, so we’ll see, but for now everything is going well.”

Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC): “What a crazy championship these last four days in Morocco! We are now only 2 points behind Nasser. Today, I was a little too cautious with the car in the rocks. I could have pushed a little harder, but when you’re fighting like this, you’re always thinking about the car. At the end, I attacked a little more, but not enough to win the stage. We’ll see tomorrow. We’re going to give it our all and hope for the best. I hope the fans in Brazil can help us win this championship. The Power Selective Section could be decisive.”

Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders): “The navigation wasn’t easy, but we did a good job without taking any risks. We’re really happy to have climbed back up from where we were. We’re fighting for the podium, which is very important for the world championship. Tomorrow, we’ll really have to give it our all, and our position in the special stage should work in our favor.”

Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC): “I’m happy to win and move up in the overall standings. I feel sorry for Nacho. He was really the man of the stage and did a great job. Congratulations to him. Tomorrow, I’ll have to open the stage again over 216 kilometers, so I’ll be focused on that.”

Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): “We expected it to be fast. The average speed was 105 km/h. We thought the navigation would be easy, but I took a quick look before the start and it looked a little more difficult than they said. It was good to have something different. Today there were a lot of tricky things and, as Tosha and I were fighting for the overall standings, we made a lot of mistakes. I caught up with Tosha at kilometer 35/40 and I just had to manage. But I went ahead and took the wrong direction, while Tosha took the right one, and it was difficult to make up for lost time. At the refueling stop, I was about a minute behind. It wasn’t a good day, I made some stupid mistakes. I lost my lead in the overall standings and let the team and myself down.“