Rallye du Maroc Stage 3: Wednesday October 9
The Dacia Sandriders has banked its second stage win of Rallye du Maroc with Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin completing the longest day of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship season finale with the fastest time.
Competing against the clock for the first time in Morocco, The Dacia Sandriders followed up on its debut stage win on Monday for Nasser Al-Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger with another standout performance.
With two stages left to run before Friday’s finish, Al-Attiyah and Boulanger lead overall by 4m45s with Loeb and Lurquin climbing to third position.
Al-Attiyah and Loeb reported no mechanical issues during Wednesday’s hugely demanding route from Zagora to Mengoub, which totalled 685 kilometres.
Following an electrical issue and to avoid further damage to their Dacia Sandrider, the decision was taken to retire Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno from the day to allow The Dacia Sandriders team to fully investigate the cause of the problem and to restore the #212 entry to full working order in the hope a restart on Thursday is possible.
With The Dacia Sandriders using Rallye du Maroc primarily as a test event for January’s Dakar, the issue for Gutiérrez will provide important data for the team’s expert engineers.
Thursday’s penultimate stage starts and finishes from the Mengoub bivouac and runs to the west of the facility over a timed distance of 315 kilometres.
KEY QUOTES
Tiphanie Isnard, Teéam principal, The Dacia Sandriders : « A second stage win in three attempts clearly underlines the high performance level of the Dacia Sandrider on our first rally-raid event. Given the distance covered today, the result is also a clear demonstration of the strength and reliability of the Dacia Sandrider on some very demanding terrain. At the same time, the first retirement for the team will provide crucial data during what remains a test event and can only help us going forward towards January’s Dakar. »
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar), driver, the Dacia Sandriders : « Today was really good. We started second, we catch Lucas Moraes in the Toyota and then we stay alone to the dunes. Then Séb was behind us. We decide to keep the pace, not really a crazy push and the car was working very well. I’m happy with the performance because we try to control the championship and the rally. We have two days to go, we are in a good way and I’m happy. »
Cristina Guttierez (Spain), driver, the Dacia Sandriders : « It was not easy today because we had an issue in the electrical system. We speak with the team and decide to stop to not have more damage in the car. It was a good decision because, like this, we can know exactly what is going on in the car and we can try to restart tomorrow. It’s not what we wanted but we are here to learn and get ready for the Dakar. »
Sébastien Loeb (France), driver, the Dacia Sandriders : « It was a really good day, we had no problems with the car and the car was really good to drive so I could push hard all the stage, keeping the rhythm all along the stage. I caught Nasser in the dunes making a line and for sure we were a bit slow together in the dunes making the lines. After that I passed him and tried to push to the end of the stage. Two stage wins out of three for The Dacia Sandriders is really good for us. The car is really nice to drive and I really enjoy driving in the twisty parts because it’s quite agile. It’s looking good. »
RALLYE DU MAROC STAGE 3 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL) – Zagora-Mengoub, October 9
Stage distance: 325km Liaison distance: 360km Total distance: 685km
1st: Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 3h17m57s
3rd: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA), 3h21m53s
DNF: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP)
RALLYE DU MAROC OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER STAGE 3 (UNOFFICIAL)
1st: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA), 8h37m12s
3rd: Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 8h47m43s
Retired: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP)
RALLYE DU MAROC: THE BIG NUMBER
685: Covering a total distance of 685 kilometres from Zagora to Mengoub,
Wednesday was Rallye du Maroc’s longest day.
THE DAY AHEAD: Stage 4: Mengoub-Mengoub, October 10
A predominantly gravel stage with sections on dirt tracks, on sand and in sand dunes is in store on Thursday as Rallye du Maroc, round five of the 2024 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, continues.
Stage distance: 315km Liaison distance: 62km Total distance: 377km
Linda Hirvonnen,