Stage 2
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- The first of four loop days around Erfoud featured the first dunes of the 26th edition of the Rallye du Maroc, over a 394-kilometer Stage 2 (including 307 kilometers of special stage).
- In the bikes, Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC) won ahead of his teammate Ricky Brabec. Third-placed Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) remains overall leader by just 43 seconds. In Rally2, Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM) won ahead of factory KTM rider Edgar Canet, who now has a lead of only 5’08” over the South African in the overall standings.
- In cars, Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders) won the stage ahead of Nani Roma (Ford M-Sport). The Spaniard is the new race leader ahead of Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC). His teammates Henk Lategan and Seth Quintero both lost a lot of ground.
- In the Challenger, SSV and Trucks categories, Puck Klaassen (G Rally), “Chaleco” Lopez (Can-Am Factory) and Gert Huzink (Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid Dakar) are the winners in their respective categories.
- Stage 3 will take place tomorrow over 326 km, including 323 km of special stage, with the Merzouga dunes once again on the program.
ON TRACK
In the motorcycle category, yesterday’s losers are today’s winners. Fourth on Stage 1, Schareina took the lead over Sanders in the first crossing of the Merzouga dunes. The Australian, who opened the special stage, was caught off guard (see Quotes). The factory Honda rider won on Tuesday ahead of his teammate Brabec (+2’22“) and Sanders (+3’45“). The winner of the 2024 Rallye du Maroc retains the lead in the overall standings, but by only 43 seconds. Three riders have distinguished themselves since Fez (see Stat of the Day).
In Rally2, Docherty, who won the prologue, took the win again. The Dubai-based dune specialist finished ahead of another privateer, Konrad Dabrowski (Duust Rally, +2’34“), and Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports, +2’56“). Fourth-placed Canet lost 3’16’‘ to Docherty today, but still has a 5’08’‘ lead in the overall standings. In Rally3, Noa Sainct (Nomade Racing) was heading for a clear victory over Thomas Zoldos (Aub’Moto) before melted his mousse a few kilometers from the finish and being forced to miss two waypoints. Sainct received a 1h15′ penalty and now finds himself 2nd overall, 1h26’24“ behind.
In the car category, Nasser Al Attiyah, who lost more than 10 minutes yesterday repairing his front suspension, claimed his second victory after the prologue (see Stat of the Day). Starting in 20th position on the special stage, the Qatari beat an excellent Nani Roma (+1’30“), who was able to emulate his compatriot Schareina. The Spaniard consoled himself by taking the overall lead, moving up from 4th to 1st place, which was occupied this morning by Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders). The Frenchman (+4’03’’) and Mattias Ekström (Ford M-Sport, +3’42’’) dropped out of the overall podium. Only Lucas Moraes (2nd, +47’’) remains there. The Brazilian is the strongest man in the Hilux contingent with Joao Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing, 3rd at 3 minutes and 2 seconds).
After Al Attiyah yesterday, this time it was the turn of Moraes‘ teammates, Seth Quintero and Henk Lategan, to have a bad day. The American, who had the third fastest time on the track as he approached the Merzouga dunes, was forced to return to the bivouac by road to repair his pickup. The South African crew, who were 5th, had to finish in two-wheel drive (see Quotes), losing 1h09’14“ at the finish. Fifth overall this morning, Lategan, who is competing here for the world title against Al Attiyah and Moraes, will not have fond memories of his first time in Merzouga (see W2RC). The day’s winner moves up to seventh place overall, 10’26“ behind, compared to 12’40“ this morning.
In the Challenger category, Puck Klaassen is the first woman to win this week. The Dutchwoman finished ahead of Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (QQMF Racing), with her teammate Khalifa Al Attiyah threatening the G Rally driver until he was forced to stop 6 km from the finish. In the overall standings, Yasir Seaidan (Race World – MMP), yesterday’s winner, retains the lead ahead of Charles Munster (BBR Motorsport, +2’11“) and his teammate Pau Navarro (+6’17“). In SSV, it was a triple win for the Can-Am Factory clan with “Chaleco” Lopez ahead of Jeremias Ferioli (+3’21“) and Hunter Miller (13’42“). In the overall standings, two factory Can-Am drivers, Ferioli and Miller (+5’50“), lead ahead of Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally, +12’41“). In the Trucks, Gert Huzink ended Martin Macik’s winning streak (MM Technology, +1’25“), who had been undefeated since the 2024 prologue! However, the Czech driver remains at the top of the overall standings.
RADIO BIVOUAC: A RACE AGAINST TIME
Martin Camp moved to the UK from South Africa and married an Englishwoman. During his stay there, he won the British Enduro Championship. They then moved to Saudi Arabia, where he developed a passion for riding in the dunes. He signed up for the Dakar 22 years ago but had to withdraw when a sponsor dropped out. To overcome his disappointment, he won the Baja 1000 in the 40 Pro category. Clearly Martin loves riding motorcycles and taking on a challenge. Life got in the way of his Dakar dream until last year, when he decided it was time to tick that box. That’s when his race against time began, when he noticed that an age limit had been added to the regulations and that it was either the 2026 Dakar or never. Fortunately, the South African Safari Rally became a round of the W2RC in 2025, so ‘all’ he had to do was finish it to qualify.
Everything was going according to plan until he had an accident 8 kilometers from the finish line of the penultimate stage. Plan B, and Martin’s last chance to qualify for the 2026 Dakar, is the Rallye du Maroc. He ordered a new Kove for the occasion, but it was shipped to the wrong port. His only solution was to ring the boss of DHL South Africa and persuade him to ship his training bike by regular flight to Morocco. Martin passed the technical checks and thought his problems were over. But today, his battery failed in the dunes. Miraculously, a competitor gave him a jump start and he managed to finish. Martin is not the type to give up and you have a feeling he will finish this race no matter what.
NUMBER OF THE DAY: 3
Prologue, stage 1, stage 2: the Dacia Sandriders have won everything so far with Nasser Al Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb. Three victories in a row is a first for the team, which is celebrating its first anniversary here. On the bikes, Tosha Schareina is the third different winner of the week after Ricky Brabec and Daniel Sanders. Winning stage 2 of the Rallye du Maroc is the third time this has happened for the Spaniard, after 2023 and 2024. In both of those editions, he won three times… but didn’t take the overall victory. In SSV, the top three finishers of the day were all members of the Can-Am Factory Team.
THE RALLYE DU MAROC AND ME
Juan Castor Fernandez Olle (Team manager of the Xraids Experience team, nine riders at the start)
My first Rallye du Maroc: “It was when it was the Rallye de l’Atlas. The year? I can’t remember! As for the Rallye du Maroc itself, that goes back to 2005 with a 240-kilogram BMW 650 GS, the heaviest bike on the start line. I was a rider at the time and came from Spain in a van with friends to prepare for the 2006 Dakar.”
My last Rallye du Maroc: “Last year, this time as team manager of the Xraids Experience team. It was created in 2004, but our first real year as a racing team was 2008. Having a lot of riders today is a great motivation to continue, because we’ve been working towards this for 20 years. Which is more stressful, being a rider or a team manager? Team manager, for sure!”
W2RC: THE TITLE RACE IS CLEARING UP
Nasser Al Attiyah did not score any stage points yesterday (20th). His victory today adds 5 points to his FIA championship total, compared to 3 for Lucas Moraes. The Qatari thus regains a 9-point lead over the Brazilian. But above all, Henk Lategan’s setbacks relegate him to 30th place overall. The South African is not mathematically out of the title race, but it should now come down to a duel between Al Attiyah and Moraes. The three-time world champion has moved up to 7th place in the Rallye du Maroc, five places behind the Brazilian. In this scenario too, every point – and therefore every position – will count in the quest for the world title.
TOMORROW’S STAGE AS SEEN BY MARC COMA
99% timed: “The start will be 4 kilometers from the bivouac and the finish will be at its gates. It’s a two-part stage, starting with a few technical sections where, like yesterday, you’ll need to take care of your machine before entering the Merzouga dunes. Then, navigation will become more intense between black soil and sandy terrain. The climb back to the bivouac will be faster.“
QUOTES
Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders): „The stage was really difficult. We started from the back. We caught up with Yazeed (Al Rajhi) very quickly, I don’t know what happened to him, then we caught up with two other cars. Suddenly, in a small wadi, a rider had fallen and was blocking the track. We got out of the car to help her, she was very tired. We lost a little time, which we tried to make up. It’s good to have won. Yesterday we lost 12 minutes, today we made up some time. That’s the Rallye du Maroc, and everything is still to play for.“
Nani Roma (Ford M-Sport): „It was good but not easy. I expected less sun and fewer dunes. At the beginning, it was a bit tricky in the wadis. But we tried not to make any mistakes, to stay calm, and the car was really fantastic. We’re happy to be here tonight, and happy to be leading the rally. Of course, it’s always good to win the stage, but having Nasser open tomorrow isn’t too bad either.“
Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC): „Everything was going well at the start, then our rear differential started playing up before giving up completely just before one of the big dune sections. We stopped immediately to check it, but obviously we didn’t have a spare. So we deflated the tires and tried to find a way through all the different sections of dunes. Obviously, we couldn’t get through the biggest ones with a car that weighs 2 tons and only equipped has front-wheel drive. It was a nightmare and we lost an hour, but we made it, even though we’re out of the running for the win.“
Édouard Boulanger (The Dacia Sandriders): “A good day for us. We led the entire stage. No one caught up with us, even when we had a flat tire. You can’t do better than that when you’re opening, and we’re still in contention for the win.”
Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC): “Much better than yesterday. First and second for the team is positive. But it wasn’t an easy day in the dunes and a final part with no visibility. Tomorrow, I’ll have the difficult task of opening the special stage. I might lose a little time, but I’ll try to open all day and take the bonuses.”
Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): „ I got off to a great start and had a lot of fun for about 180 kilometers. Then we got to the big dunes of Merzouga and it was really hard to see the terrain. I hit some camel grass pretty hard and banged my chest against the navigation tower, biting my tongue. I didn’t fall, but the airbag deployed. I then tried to survive the rest of the day, but I made a few navigation errors towards the end. The last dunes were horrible; you couldn’t see anything with the sun. I’m very happy to have crossed the finish line.“
Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM): “A very good day. The stage was very nice, with a lot of different terrain, and of course some dunes, which I really enjoyed. I made a big mistake in the first 100 kilometers and lost a lot of time there. I’m looking forward to the next stage and hope there will be even more dunes.”
Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): “The navigation was very difficult and, by refueling my head was already cooked. After that, I felt a little sick, it was very hot, but I couldn’t drink water because otherwise I would have thrown up. But I’m happy with my position. Tomorrow we’ll start further back. The Dakar is in two months and I have to get there fit and healthy. Luciano [Benavides] had a big accident yesterday and I have to think about that too.“
Quelle / Source / Pictures / Bilder: Rally du Maroc
