W2RC – Toyota’s Al Attiyah faces Bahrain Raid Xtreme, Audi Sport and Bumper Field in Morocco, closing in on second FIA title

Rally du Maroc is the final round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC), with 102 cars and trucks competing over five days of grueling desert routes and approximately 1,470 competition kilometers. , determine the winner. Overall Drivers Championship and FIA T3 and T5 categories.

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah leads a large field in what will likely be his last event with the Japanese manufacturer. Just a few points are needed to clinch a second consecutive Drivers’ Championship.

The Qatari has won six times in Morocco and leads Toyota teammate Yazeed Al Rajhi with 51 points after four races, while his Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel He has already secured the FIA ​​W2RC co-drivers title and Toyota’s title. Gazoo Racing won the Manufacturers’ Championship at the final race, the Argentine Grand Prix.

On this occasion, Team Audi Sport, which is registered with FIA W2RC points in Morocco, and Bahrain Raid Xtreme, which missed the final race, will return to the series, making the competition for the overall victory extremely fierce.

While Al Attiyah will be aiming for the title, Al Rajhi will face a challenge for the runner-up spot from Overdrive Racing teammate Juan Cruz Jacopini and Frenchman Sebastien Loeb. Saudi Arabia led Jacopini by 29 points, with Loeb leading by another eight points in the first of four Prodrive Hunters entered by Bahrain Raid Xtreme.

Argentina’s Orlando Terranova will team up with Bernardo Graue to drive the second Hunter, while the Brazilian duo of Marcos and Cristian Baumgart also run under the Bahrain Raid Xtreme banner, but will not compete in the World Championship. not registered.

Team Audi Sport has vowed that the 2024 Dakar Rally will be the last event for the innovative Audi RS Q E-tron, with three cars entered in the T1.U (Ultimate) category in Morocco. New cars have been built for multiple Dakar winners Stephane Peterhansel and Matthias Ekström, while four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz is driving the third electric machine.

Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit is Morocco’s defending champion, but the French motorsport all-rounder has switched from Hunter to Overdrive Racing-managed Toyota Hilux to defend his Moroccan crown with co-driver Alex Winnock. I switched.

Other registered T1+ and T1 drivers include Czech Martin Prokop in a turbo-powered Ford Raptor RS Cross Country, Denis Krotov (Overdrive Toyota) and Frenchman Mathieu Serradri (Century). CR6-T T1.2), including the experienced Paul Krzysztof. Horouchik in the X-raid Mini JCW Rally Plus and Magdalen Zajac in the Toyota. The X-raid Mini JCW team currently holds his second place in the FIA ​​W2RC Manufacturers Championship.

The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team is working with Neil Woolridge Motorsport to develop the new Ford Ranger this year. Former Dakar winner João ‘Nani’ Roma (Spain) will once again show off the car in Morocco with Alex Haro reading the roadbook. Although the Ford is not registered with W2RC, M-Sport Ford hopes to see it participate in competitive activities throughout 2024. Ranger made its racing debut in the hands of Roma and Gareth Woolridge at Baja Spain Aragon in July, finishing sixth and 11th.

Three-way battle between American Red Bull drivers for the T3 title

37 lightweight prototype cross-country machines will compete in the T3 category, with 10 registered with FIA W2RC.

Morocco will see a three-way battle for the drivers’ championship between the Red Bull-supported American trio of Mitch Gasly, Austin Jones and Seth Quintero. Each co-driver, Keron Walch, Gustavo Gugelmin and Dennis Zenz, will be aiming for co-driver series honors.

Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA, led by BF Goodrich driver Gasly (Taurus T3M), arrived at Agadir with a three-point cushion over Jones. Jones is the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA representative and maintains a six-point lead over teammate Quintero, who finished third on the Can-Am team.

Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team’s Cristina Gutierrez and defending champion Francisco Chaleco López are classified as fourth and fifth in the drivers’ championship.

W2RC-registered competitors include the South Racing Can-Am team duo of David Gill and Erik van Loon, French veteran Claude Fournier, G Rally Team’s Keith Coolen in an OT3, and Saudi Arabian female driver Dania Aqeel. She switched from Can-Am to a Wevers Sport Taurus T3 Max for Morocco and the 2024 Dakar Rally.

Among the unregistered drivers are recent W2RC champion Rokas Batuszka (Can-Am) and the Polish family trio of Erik, Marek and Michal Gočar in the Energylandia Rally Team MCE-5 T3M. , including Tiago Reis, a regular FIA Baja front runner. João Diaz on the Santagu Racing Can-Am pair.

Another name to keep an eye on is Austrian Lukas Lauda, ​​son of the late three-time FIA ​​F1 World Champion Niki Lauda. He first joined the South Racing Can-Am team in a Maverick X3 along with co-driver Stephen Henken.

Japan’s Umeda tops Morocco’s T4 field

Shinsuke Umeda joins Italian navigator Maurizio Dominella in the Xtreme Plus Polaris RZR Pro R Sport with Italian navigator Maurizio Dominella as Batyushka and Spanish co-driver Oriol Vidal are already confirmed FIA T4 champions and head to Morocco in the T3 category. He leads the FIA ​​T4 section, which is made up of many names. . The Japanese has already secured second place in his class, as his closest rivals are competing in other categories.

Umeda’s registered rivals in North Africa are the Can-Am FN Speed ​​Team combination of Rebecca Busi and Sebastian Guayasamin, and João Ferreira, who won cross-country Bajas at last year’s FIA European Cup. . The Portuguese was announced as a new member of the Can-Am Factory Racing team earlier this week and will race under the South Racing banner in Morocco.

Unregistered drivers include Ferreira’s teammate Eduardo Pons and Extreme E frontrunner Sarah Price.

Van Castellen faces Masic in T5

Of the 10 trucks entered in the FIA ​​T5 category, three are registered to W2RC, with Dutchman Janus van Castelen and his crew, Darek Rodewald and Marcel Sneiders, ahead of Martin Masic and Frantisek. He will face Tomasek’s Czech MM Technology Trio. and David Svanda took title honors. The two Iveco Powerstar crews are separated by just 11 points at the end of January’s season-opening Dakar Rally.

Tomas Vratny is third in the points standings, behind Ford Cargo’s Bartolomiej Bova and Jaromir Martinek, who raced in the Fesh Fesh Group.

The Dutch crew dominates the list of unregistered teams, with Anja van Loon switching from Can-Am to compete in the all-female Iveco crew alongside Marie van Ettechhoven and Floor Maten .

The rally will start on Friday 13th October with a 19km prologue stage near the port city of Agadir, then spend three nights in Zagora before heading through Morocco’s remote desert, completing five desert stages before finishing on Wednesday 18th October. Finish in Merzouga.

2023 Rally du Maroc – Entry List (Top 20):

2023 W2RC Drivers Championship – After Round 4:

Event timetable