Lucas Moraes was the main name on the second stage of the Rally of Morocco, the fifth and final stage of the World Rally Raid Championship, in a grid full of the sport’s stars. The driver of the official Toyota Gazoo Racing team won with Spanish navigator Armand Monleon, keeping him in contention for a top-three position in the World Championship, an unprecedented feat for Brazil.
The Moroccan stage, which began on Sunday, suffered schedule changes due to a heavy storm that affected the route between Marrakech, where the prologue was held, and Zagora, where three of the week’s five stages begin. Many competitors had problems getting around and, for safety reasons, the organization also changed the route of the first stage, which took place on Monday.
Yesterday, Lucas and Armand faced a challenging 180 km course against the clock, full of rocks. To preserve his equipment, the Brazilian adopted a cautious pace and finished the stage in seventh place, aware that he would need to be faster the following day.
Fifth victory of the year – On the second day in the Sahara desert, the race featured 267 km of special stages (timed sections), with a course marked by long straights and rocks. Lucas and Armand started eighth in the overall standings, making the most of opportunities to accelerate hard.
Speed once again favored the duo, who remained in the top five in each section. The situation improved on the final stretch: Lucas finished the fourth stage with the best time and kept up the pace until the end of the stage, recording 3h04min57s and beating the leading duo in the accumulated time of the race, Nasser Al-Attiyah/Edouard Boulanger, by just 13 seconds after 267 km of timed sections. Third place went to Sebastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin, another top duo on the international scene, with 1min53s more.
“We lost the brake with exactly 60km to go. We kept hoping that the lead we had would be enough and it worked out, but it was a flatter section with long straights. There’s more tomorrow!” said Lucas.
The result marks the Brazilian’s fifth special stage win of the season and moved Lucas and Armand into the top three. They are 11min18s behind Al-Attiyah/Boulanger, who lead the competition with 5h15min19s. The current second-placed duo in the Rally of Morocco is Guillaume de Mevius/Mathieu Baumel, who have a time of 5:23:41.
Tomorrow, the peloton will leave the city of Zagora for Mengoub, on the longest special stage, with 325 timed kilometers and 676 stages. Lucas Moraes, who is fighting for second place in the World Rally Raid Championship, has the support of Red Bull, Repsol, Strava, Oakley and Zapalla, as well as the Brazilian tire brand SpeedMax, which sponsors the Toyota team. The Morocco Rally concludes on Friday (11/10).
Top-5 da 2ª especial, de um total de 5, Zagora até Zagora, 267 km
1º Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) – Toyota Gazoo Racing, 3h04min57s
2º Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia Sandriders, +13s
3º Sebastien Loeb (FRA) / Fabian Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia Sandriders, +1min53s
4º Guillaume de Mevius (BEL) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) – X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Team, +2min08s
5º Seth Quintero (EUA) / Dennis Zenz (ALE) – Toyota Gazoo Racing, +7min03s
Top-5 geral após a 2ª especial
1º Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia Sandriders, 5h15min19s
2º Guillaume de Mevius (BEL) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) – X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Team, +8min22s
3º Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) – Toyota Gazoo Racing, +11min18s
4º Guerlain Chicherit (FRA) / Alex Winocq (ESP) – X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Team, 13min22s
5º Sebastien Loeb (FRA) / Fabian Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia Sandriders, 14min27s
Programação da prova:
3ª especial – 09/10 – Zagora até Mengoub – 676 km
4ª especial – 10/10 – Mengoub até Mengoub – 373 km
5ª especial – 11/10 – Mengoub até Mengoub – 374 km
Automatic translation of the Brazilian Portuguese version
Source: Lucas Moraes Press Release / Best PR
