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00:16Welcome to the Rallye du Maroc 2024. Marrakech is the starting point for this year's edition
00:22which will take the competitors on a six-day off-road adventure with almost 1500 kilometers
00:28against the clock. After a short prologue around Marrakech, it's off to Zagora before heading
00:35through the Mazuga dunes and discovering a new region around Mengub.
00:41We're going to new areas which will change things. People won't know what to expect.
00:45The idea of this rally is always to explore new tracks and new regions.
00:51As ever, a host of riders and drivers have signed up for the rally, which is one of the
00:55most popular on the calendar. There'll be no fewer than 134 bikes and quads in the FIM
01:01classes and 124 car and truck crews over in the FIA classes.
01:12We're the victims of our own success. Lots of people want to come on this rally. It's
01:17very popular. Whether you are totally new to the sport of rally raid or fighting for the
01:22world championship title, the rally to Marrakech is the place for you.
01:34Rally to Marrakech is one of the best rounds in the world. I went six times here and we have
01:40a lot of experience. It's always very special when you are going to participate for the first
01:47time with a new car. We are all very excited.
01:57In the bikes, Ross Branch enters the final round of the World Rally Raid Championship with
02:02a slender lead over Ricky Braybeck.
02:05You know, the championship coming down to the last race like this is really good for our
02:08sport. We'll see what happens, but for sure we're not holding back. We're going full gas
02:13here to do the best we can do and cross our fingers and hope we get the championship.
02:25We haven't seen the Sherco factory team in action at a World Championship rally since
02:30Portugal in early April. The team did a fair few European Bajas this summer, but they needed
02:35to come out to Morocco for some desert testing before the Dakar. Lorenzo Santolino came as
02:41high as second on stage five, finishing sixth in Rally GP.
02:50Pablo Quintanilla was the only former winner in the bikes to line up again on two wheels
02:55this year. But the 2021 champion was stopped in his tracks by a crash on stage four. Luckily,
03:01no major damage done.
03:03On one turn, I didn't show one rock and I hit pretty hard. Nothing broken, but just painful.
03:09It's just starting to go out of the race in this way.
03:23Adrian van Beveren came to Morocco with a very slender chance of taking the world title, though
03:29he would need both Branch and Braybeck to run into trouble. The Frenchman lost time due to
03:34what he felt were some misleading notes in the roadbook on stage four and came in fourth
03:39overall. He was second in the championship.
03:47Tosha Shirena made a typically fast start, winning his fifth straight world championship
03:51prologue. But the Spaniard was slapped with a costly 13 minute penalty on stage three for
03:57not stopping in the neutral zone and also hit navigation trouble. Despite two stage wins,
04:02he was forced to settle for second place overall.
04:07We have the rhythm, we have the speed and we had a lot of problems this rally and take the
04:12second position in this rally, I think is really good.
04:23Ricky Braybeck was two for two before Morocco having won the Dakar and Ruta Quarenta but his
04:29hopes of snatching the W2RC crown from Branch were blasted on the very first stage. The American
04:36took a heavy impact on his right leg and was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.
04:40Yeah, you know, it hurt. So, you know, the whole stage after that we had to take it easy and
04:47yeah, it's a little bit of a bummer. Right now I have to weigh my options, you know,
04:50be 100% healthy at the Dakar or risk hurting my knee in a couple more days.
05:07Red Bull KTM showed that they're back in business after what has been a difficult year.
05:13Luciano Benavides and Daniel Sanders both signed for the team just before Morocco and both of them
05:18ended up on the overall podium. In his last rally with the number one plates, Benavides was third,
05:24not bad considering he broke his hip in Argentina in June.
05:38Sanders, meanwhile, roared to his first overall victory since last year's Sonora rally.
05:43It's been a long road back for the Australian who suffered a terrible leg break just after Sonora in May
05:482023,
05:49but he was dialed in on the new bike this week, taking the win by over 11 minutes from Sharena.
05:59KTM's back, baby. We've got the speed and bike's feeling great, so it's definitely a good sign going into Dakar
06:04and
06:05yeah, unreal race. It had everything this event and yeah, they just keep making it better and better,
06:11so it's good to be here racing in Morocco and yeah, the terrain is unreal and it's a great adventure
06:16and a great race.
06:28Well, finally Branch was rewarded for his consistency this year as he claimed the FIM at World Rally Raid Championship
06:35title.
06:35Once Brabeck was out, the Motswana was able to take it nice and easy and just make sure he got
06:41to the finish line.
06:42This is also a reward for Hero after all of their hard work and investment this season.
06:48Branch is Rally Raid's new number one.
06:50It's been a lifelong dream and to finally get it is just like undescribable, you know.
06:56I'm still on cloud nine and it's just incredible and thank you to the team, thank you to my family.
07:01It's been a long journey, 34 years of racing motorbikes, but we finally got it and I couldn't be more
07:08happier.
07:10Sanders taking the rally victory by 11 minutes and seven from Sharena.
07:26Branch finishing the World Championship season 12 points clear of Van Beveren.
07:48Roman Dumontier came to Morocco with an eight point championship lead in the Rally 2 class, but the Frenchman found
07:54himself unable to compete with the front runners on Honda's new customer competition bike.
07:59He also made several uncharacteristic errors and ended up seventh in the class.
08:08The week was not the best for me. I had to develop a completely new bike and I did also
08:16a lot of mistakes.
08:22Harriet Noah improved as the week wore on, but he says he needs to get better at starting rallies with
08:28a bang.
08:29You saw it in the Dakar, second week is where everything happened for me. So I kind of know that.
08:35I mean, that's not ideal, obviously. I want to work on my prologues, not finishing, I don't know, 50th.
08:40Well, it was a slightly better than 50th in the end. The Sherco man fourth in Rally 2.
08:49Otherwise, the Bass World KTM team ran riots. Tobias Ebster, the top rookie and the winner of Malimoto at this
08:56year's Dakar, made great strides in navigation as he finished fifth, while his teammates locked out the overall podium.
09:05Mike Doherty came home in third, the South African boosting his confidence after crashing out of the Dakar and the
09:11Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge earlier this year.
09:17In second place was 19-year-old Edgar Canet, a hot prospect for the future. The young Spaniard was quickest
09:24on stage five and he only finished four minutes of the pace overall.
09:38But Canet was unable to overhaul his teammate Bradley Cox, a winner in Morocco for the second year running.
09:45The South African won three of the five stages and even overhauled Dumontier to go home with the W2RC title.
09:53A perfect way for him to round out life in the Rally 2 class before stepping up to Rally GP
09:58at the Dakar.
10:00This week just was a dream and I just kept telling myself when I was a little boy I wrote
10:05in a school book,
10:05one day I want to be a world champion and I achieved that dream today.
10:15Just over 13 minutes separating the final top three of Cox, Canet and Doherty.
10:24Cox winning the W2RC title with exactly 100 points.
10:37The FIM Rally 3 Afrikia Enduro Cup is all about helping new riders to find their feet in Rally Raid
10:44with lighter bikes and a simpler format.
11:06John Modena of Chile secured the Rally Raid World Cup title having taken points at all three rounds this season.
11:18While victory in the rally itself went to local hero Suleiman Adari.
11:23The Moroccan finishing over an hour and a half clear of his nearest challenger Medina.
11:40Adari in a league of his own this week with almost five hours separating the top five.
11:47Medina taking the Rally 3 crown ahead of Eduardo Alain.
11:59There was a big celebration for Antanas Kanokkinas in the quads.
12:03The Lithuanian needed to win this rally to finish on the W2RC podium and that's exactly what he did.
12:09Leap-frogging Kamil Wisniewski after going full throttle on the final day.
12:22Hany Alnumeisi completed the podium but slipped to fourth in the W2RC.
12:29Manuel Andujar had already secured the world title in Argentina back in June.
12:44Now it's on to the FIA classes starting with the big boys in the Ultimates.
12:56The battle between the big three will be super exciting and then the Mini X-Ray is also never to
13:01underestimate.
13:03This year we are coming to this race and we are leading and we try to win the race with
13:07the new brand Dacia.
13:17There were plenty of new cars to look out for this week but also some that are tried and tested.
13:23Martin Prokop who was fifth at this year's Dakar guided his Ford Raptor nicknamed Shrek to sixth place overall.
13:35It was a good week for the Toyota Gazoo racing team as they conquered the W2RC manufacturer's title for the
13:42third straight year.
13:44Lucas Moraes had his share of ups and downs but the Brazilian took the honours on stage too.
13:49He also made history for his country by finishing third overall in the world championship.
13:59Yazeed Al-Rajji came here looking to defend his Morocco title but the Saudi was never really in the frame
14:05for overall victory.
14:07Nevertheless Mr. Consistency came second in the W2RC for the second straight year.
14:18This was a first outing for the new look X-Raid Mini team who were quickly on the hunt.
14:23Guerlain Schicheri took out the prologue although the Frenchman then suffered with illness and ended up retiring on the final
14:29stage.
14:33Unlike Schicheri who was driving the new petrol powered Mini, Guillaume de Mevius was in the older diesel version which
14:40still packs a serious punch.
14:42The Belgian was on course for second place overall, the same result he took at the Dakar.
14:47But a mechanical on the final day dropped him down to third.
14:51For sure today we lost a little bit of time, we have to change the belt so we lost the
14:56second place.
14:57But anyway still on the podium, third, so very happy about that.
15:14Carlos Sainz was another very happy man after stage four which saw him take an emotional victory for the Ford
15:20M-Sport team in their new Raptor.
15:23First victory with Ford, you know, in the first rally, that's mean quite a lot, that's mean we have been
15:28working in the right direction and a long time since I won my last stage with Malcolm.
15:38El Matador began his WRC career with Ford all the way back in 1987 so it's been some journey.
15:45He and Matthias Ekstrom were taking part in a separate experimental class here as their car already meets specs for
15:522025 but not 2024.
15:54There were tougher days with Sainz not even starting stage two but clearly Ford will be a force to be
16:00reckoned with on the Dakar.
16:05And so too will Dacia. They had an absolutely dream debut in Morocco as Nasser Alatia won ahead of Sebastian
16:12Loeb.
16:13The sand riders notching three of the week's five stage wins and showing they really mean business. Loeb took two
16:19of them on stages three and five.
16:23The Frenchman did have a couple of minor mechanical issues as he finished five minutes behind Alatia but overall he
16:30was impressed with the performance of the new car.
16:33It was really a good experience for us. It was important to do a rally like this.
16:43And so it was Alatia wrapping up his seventh overall victory in Morocco.
16:48After back to back world titles with Toyota Gazoo Racing the Qatari is the world rally ride champion for the
16:54third year running.
16:55Having started the season in a ProDrive Hunter and finished the season in a Dacia Sand Rider.
17:01It doesn't matter which car you put Nasser in, he's a born winner.
17:04You can win one time or second time but to win three times is really nice for me, for the
17:13team.
17:14Thanks for Edward, you know, when he came this year with me. We win everything and we are really quite
17:21happy.
17:29Alatia winning the rally by five minutes and ten seconds from Loeb.
17:46The Qatari ended up 42 points clear of Al Raji in the world championship.
18:02Ronald Basso took victory in the stock class.
18:05Apart from a few minor issues on day three, the Frenchman had a very smooth run in his new Toyota.
18:11It's been a good week, a nice rally. It's technical.
18:14We know Morocco is always tricky and it's good training for the Dakar.
18:18There you go.
18:33Dania Akhil finished on the overall podium in the Challengers in third place.
18:38The Saudi continues to gain experience as she alternates between this class and the Ultimates.
18:43She says she's always happy to download more data here in the deserts.
19:00But in truth there was only one name on everybody's lips this week.
19:05Goksao!
19:06The Goksao family showing absolute dominance as they won every single stage of the rally and locked out the top
19:13two overall.
19:14Defending champion Marek Goksao didn't take any victories but he did finish in second place.
19:22His brother Michal won three stages but his overall hopes were dashed on day four
19:27when he accidentally set off his fire extinguisher in the car before the stage and wasn't allowed to take the
19:33start for safety reasons.
19:37That opened the door for his nephew Eric, Marek's son and the 19 year old barrelled right through it.
19:43In the absence of his regular co-driver Oriol Mena he was driving alongside Alex Haro
19:48and they did a superb job to triumph by almost 10 minutes winning the prologue and two stages along the
19:54way.
19:56Former Dakar winner Eric proving that he is truly a generational talent.
20:06I must say it feels amazing, it was not an easy one for sure for all of the team.
20:11The point was to get one, two, three on the podium.
20:14Unfortunately we just missed Miao Berli but that's a good start for the future, maybe for Dakar and we hope
20:20to push more.
20:25Eric Goksa winning ahead of his father followed by Akil Kavigliasso and Guthrie.
20:35Meanwhile Rokas Pachuska claimed the challenger's title in the W2RC.
20:44The Lithuanian was able to take it pretty easy.
20:47He actually had the crown wrapped up by stage three and didn't even make it to the end of the
20:52rally.
20:54Pachuska has now been a world champion in three consecutive seasons but he's still hungry for more.
21:02It's nice you know I drive T4, beat world champion then T3, like SSV, challenger class.
21:09Now you know to be on this like going by step by step and to be the champion.
21:14The target now is like to be ultimate world champion.
21:26Pachuska winning ahead of Kavigliasso whose wife Valentina won the co-driver's title.
21:41In the SSVs it was a memorable week for Alexandre Pinto.
21:45The young Portuguese driver won the prologue and two stages on his way to second place overall.
21:51He and his co-driver Bernardo Oliveira were also the top rookies which meant they earned free entry to Dakar
21:572025.
22:00Meanwhile the battle was raging between Sebastian Guayasamin and Yasir Sayedan to take the W2RC title.
22:07Guayasamin came into the rally with a six point advantage but in the end he missed out by just two
22:12measly points.
22:13It was still a historic performance from the Ecuadorian whose navigator Fernando Acosta won the co-driver's title.
22:24Sayedan had been undone by mechanical issues at the last two rounds and he had a scary moment on stage
22:29four when his wishbone broke.
22:31But he and co-driver Mikael Mech managed to fix everything up properly and complete the stage.
22:36They ended up sealing overall victory in Morocco which earned them just enough points to take the title.
22:50We are pushing the maximum and we were very scared to break the car so the balance was crazy to
22:58push and without having any problem but we're glad we finished it.
23:05A barnstorming finale in the SSVs with Sayedan winning the rally by 10 minutes 38 and taking the championship by
23:13just two points.
23:21There were also six trucks competing in Morocco this week.
23:25Thierre van Baleroy was filling in for Gerrit Zermond who had to stay home for personal reasons and he came
23:31home third overall.
23:34In second place was another Dutchman, Keis Kolen who has competed in practically every vehicle there is in Rally Raid.
23:41The entrepreneur finishing just under an hour back in his MM technology truck prepared in the workshops of Martin Matczyk.
23:51And what do you know it was Matczyk, the reigning Dakar champion who took victory in his new Evo 4
23:58truck.
23:58The Czech star said it was perfect. No teething problems as they won every stage and led from start to
24:04finish.
24:05They also did some useful testing before defending their title in Saudi Arabia.
24:15Matczyk's margin of victory 55 minutes and 28 seconds.
24:30Now it's not just in the bikes that the Rally du Maroc is trying to promote the sport of rally
24:35raid.
24:35The OpenSSV Maroc Telecom is an affordable category and, as the name suggests, it's open to everybody.
24:44This is the perfect stepping stone for those who are keen to compete at world championship level.
25:14This year, victory went to Ali Ubasidi and Hanan Amrawi.
25:19The first of all of them in the world.
25:20It's open to all Moroccan crew to take victory in this class.
25:29And so we reached the end of another sensational Rally du Maroc, which has kept us on the edge of
25:35our seats.
25:39Well, I tell you, it's really, really tough. To be honest, sometimes it's tough within that car in some of
25:44the stages.
26:01Congratulations to all of our winners. Thanks for tuning in and see you again in 2025.
26:18I'll see you again in 2025.
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