The 24th Rallye du Maroc, the fifth round of the FIA Rally Raid takes place from October 12-18, boasts an impressive entry list: 247 vehicles are expected to go through scrutineering at the Agadir Stadium, including 101 cars, 10 trucks and 136 motorcycles and quads.
Four car brands will be officially represented in Morocco by seven professional crews.
Audi announced at the presentation of its rally-raid programme three years ago that the Dakar 2024 would be its final event. This underlines the importance of next week’s reunion of Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekstrom, who have not all been entered together since January 2023
Absent from the fourth round of the W2RC, the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team will be back in the championship with Sébastien Loeb as well as Orlando Terranova. The Argentinian, who injured his back on the Dakar, will be back in the driver’s seat of the Hunter for the first time.
Nani Roma hasn’t competed in a rally-raid since 2022 while Ford and the M-Sport team will make its Rally Raid debut.
Nasser Al Attiyah will lead Toyota Gazoo Racing’s entry. For the six-time winner of the Rallye du Maroc, this will be his last appearance at the wheel of the Toyota having announced he will leave the TGR team after Morocco.
Among the 27 private T1s, no fewer than 6 Hilux pick-ups will be under Jean-Marc Fortin’s tents in Agadir with
an armada of talent led by Yazeed Al Rajhi and Juan Cruz Yacopini, the closest to Nasser Al Attiyah in the W2RC standings.
The major surprise comes from Guerlain Chicherit, the Rallye du Maroc title holder, who has also signed up with Overdrive Racing. After his winning debut in Morocco in 2022 with a Prodrive Hunter, Chicherit took the start of the first three rounds of this season’s W2RC at the wheel of the British car.
Mathieu Serradori (SRT) will be making his return to W2RC along with another Rallye du Maroc regular, fifth in 2022, Martin Prokop in his Ford Raptor. After their remarkable entry in round 3 of the W2RC this season, Brazilian brothers Marcos and Cristian Baumgart will be back in the two Prodrive Hunters that they have acquired.
Africa Rallye Team
All competitors of Moroccan nationality benefit from a special entry fee in order to encourage ‘local’ talent. For the members of the Africa Rallye Team 2023, supported by the race’s major partners, the entry fee and the hire of safety equipment are fully covered. They all benefited from training during the selection phase, which took place in Merzouga at the beginning of the summer, an experience that is priceless! 5 motorcycle entrants and one SSV crew will be making their debut in their respective categories. Moroccan Souleymane
THE PROGRAMME
> October 9: opening of the Parc d’Asssistance at 2pm
> 10 and 11 October: private tests
> October 11 afternoon and October 12: administrative and technical scrutineering
> 12 October: general briefing at 8pm at the Palais des Congrès Dunes d’Or
> October 13: Prologue – Agadir (Liaison : 90 km / Spéciale : 19 km Total 109 km) / Rallye du Maroc Festival free of charge in Agadir Place Al Amal
> October 14: Stage 1 – Agadir-Zagora (Liaison: 397 km / Special stage: 311 km / Total: 708 km)
> October 15: Stage 2 – Zagora-Zagora (Liaison: 100 km / Special stage: 288 km / Total: 388 km)
> October 16: Stage 3 – Zagora-Zagora (Liaison: 108 km / Special stage: 336 km / Total: 444 km)
> October 17: Stage 4 – Zagora-Merzouga (Liaison: 75 km / Special stage: 343 km / Total: 418 km)
