Intense Competition in the Morocco Rally
The opening stage of the Morocco Rally proved to be fiercely contested, but Lucas Moraes ultimately emerged victorious after completing the 268-kilometer special stage from Agadir to Zagora. This thrilling rally continues until Saturday, concluding in Zagora, and features four special stages that create a loop around the city of Zagora.
Moraes clinched the win with a margin of thirteen seconds ahead of the Century Team, comprising Mathieu Serradori and Loïc Minaudier, who took the lead at kilometer 232. Mitch Guthrie, finishing third with just over a minute behind, leads a trio of factory Ford Raptors, while Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekström round out the top five for the stage.
Nasser Al-Attiyah, who finished eighth in the rally, lost 4:28 minutes to his Dacia teammate. However, the Qatari capitalized on this situation in the championship standings, as the pre-rally leader Sébastien Loeb experienced a disastrous day. The Frenchman, who had initially led the pack, lost more than 45 minutes after a stop at kilometer 201, where he was already trailing Al-Attiyah by over a minute.
As of the publication of this article, the Alsatian driver, navigated by Édouard Boulanger, had yet to pass PK 232, indicating that he would lose significantly more than an hour, severely jeopardizing his chances for an overall victory in the Morocco Rally, which he had previously won in 2025. The nine-time World Rally Champion, who leads the W2RC standings by three points over Al-Attiyah and thirteen points over Seth Quintero, now hopes to limit the damage before the final leg of the season, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in November.
As reported by autohebdo.de.
