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. Follow it on the Race Center from 7:35 a.m. (UTC +1).
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.
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
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.”
The program :
• October 13: Stage 1 / Fès – Erfoud (total: 779 km / SS: 298 km)
• October 14: Stage 2 / Erfoud – Erfoud (total: 393 km / SS: 306 km)
• October 15: Stage 3 / Erfoud – Erfoud (total: 327 km / SS: 323 km)
• October 16: Stage 4 / Erfoud – Erfoud (total: 379 km / SS: 284 km)
• October 17:
– Stage 5 / Erfoud – Erfoud (total: 306 km / SS: 216 km)
– FIA Power Selective Section / Erfoud – Erfoud (total: 39 km / SS: 33 km)
– 6:30 p.m.: Post-race press conference (bivouac)
– 8:00 p.m.: Race and W2RC awards ceremony (bivouac)
Source: Rallye du Maroc
Photo: © Rallye du Maroc / DPPI / J.Delfosse
