The Dacia Sandriders switched to competition mode for the first time on Rallye du Maroc today (Monday) – but with a difference – and with a debut stage win.
Following torrential rain on Sunday, which caused significant delay for a large number of crews to reach the bivouac in Zagora last night, event organisers brought forward the running of Stage 2 – which had been planned for Tuesday – to Monday, albeit over a reduced timed distance of 180 kilometres.
Fresh from Sunday’s Prologue east of Marrakech, The Dacia Sandriders’ all-star driver line-up of Nasser Al-Attiyah, Cristina Gutiérrez and Sébastien Loeb set about tackling the first kilometres of Rallye du Maroc to count towards Friday’s final result.
Despite the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship season finale marking the competition debut for The Dacia Sandriders, the team excelled with Edouard Boulanger navigating Al-Attiyah to stage victory number one from their starting position of 28th.
Even though they were hampered by their higher starting order of seventh, Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno impressed on their first competitive start in Ultimate T1+ category machinery, ending Stage 1 with the eigth fastest time.
After getting stuck in a ditch during Sunday’s Prologue, Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin were the 121st crew to line up for Monday’s opening timed action.
Unfortunately, contact with an SSV car required Loeb and Lurquin to stop and change a damaged steering arm. Nevertheless, they completed Stage 1 tenth quickest.
The Dacia Sandriders team remains stationed at the Zagora bivouac tonight prior to tackling Stage 2 west of Zagora tomorrow (Tuesday).
KEY QUOTES
Tiphanie Isard, Team Principal, the Dacia Sandriders : « It was a great start for The Dacia Sandriders but it’s vital we keep our feet on the ground because there is still a long way to go and Rallye du Maroc is already proving to be very challenging. But we must also not lose sight of the fact that this is essentially a test event as part of our preparations for January’s Dakar and beyond. However, a stage win is still a stage win so we have to be happy tonight with the performance of the Dacia Sandrider straight out of the box and the great work done by our team. »
Nasser Al-Atiyah (Qatar), driver, The Dacia Sandriders : « I’m really so happy, it’s a great feeling. We had a good pace even though from inside I didn’t feel like I was pushing. But the time was there, we don’t make any mistake and Edouard made a good navigation. The heat was a problem for everyone but we could manage and finish the stage and to win the stage for the championship. »
Cristina Guttierez (Spain), driver, the Dacia Sandriders : « It was a nice stage for us. It was not easy because we start very near the first places so it was super-difficult to manage. After that with the heat and everything we passed during the stage it was hard inside the car and also the car feels a little bit hot. But we are happy, we are in a good position, with a good pace. Pablo did an amazing job because it’s the first time we did a proper stage in the T1+ category. And the team is super-nice to work with. »
Sébastien Loeb (France), driver, Team Dacia Sandriders : « The day was not too bad. For sure we started very far back so the road was quite destroyed. It was really tough for the car, particularly the dampers, and we had to take it a bit easy in some places. But, overall, the car worked well, we just had an issue with a steering arm at the end following a little contact with an SSV car. We broke it and had to stop and change. Except for this it was a clear stage. »
RALLYE DU MAROC STAGE 1 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL)
Zagora-Zagora, October 8
Stage distance: 180km Liaison distance: 198km Total distance: 378km
1st: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA), 2h10m09s
8th: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), 2h21m24s
10th: Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 2hh22m56
Linda Martins,