Rally Raid
Find out why Rallye du Maroc is the Dakar Rally's desert proving ground
If you want to conquer the Dakar, then first get to grips with Rallye du Maroc, a week-long race over the dunes of the Sahara Desert. These two famous off-road endurance events have plenty in common.
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The fastest way to prepare for the famed Dakar Rally is to go racing on the dunes. In the desert you'll find that the path to Dakar success intersects with the Rallye du Maroc. That’s why the brand-new Ford Raptor T1+ and the Dacia Sandrider will race on the sands of Morocco this month ahead of their Dakar debuts in January.
As well as similarly treacherous terrain, Rallye du Maroc and the Dakar share lots more common ground. Both rallies have been conquered by the same teams, machines, drivers and bikers in the past and over the years there's been no better route to Dakar glory than mastering its Moroccan spin-off. Read on to explore parallels between these two famous rallies and also find out where they turn in opposite directions.
27 min
Rallye du Maroc
Watch highlights from the final round of the 2023 W2RC Championship – the 24th edition of the Rallye du Maroc.
01
An historic showdown: Rallye du Maroc vs Dakar Rally
Ever wondered how rally-raid competitors find their way through such perilous terrain? The Dakar Rally is a motorsport event that challenges navigational skills just as much as the ability to hit top speed. With ever-changing landscapes and challenging routes, it's no surprise that "How did we get here?" is a common question at the race. After all, it's now nearly two decades since it last visited the Senegalese city that gave the rally its name!
So, if the Dakar Rally doesn't come any closer than 6,000 kilometres to Dakar, is the Rallye du Maroc even in Morocco? Yes it is, even if its first-ever edition in 1982 was called Paris–Agadir. That debut edition spanned 2,000km of Moroccan desert over six days in June, while the Paris–Dakar in January of that year covered 6,500km over 20 days; travelling through France, Algeria, Mali and Senegal. The main difference between these two rallies has always been scale.
The Dakar has evolved since coming into existence 45 years ago and so has it's Moroccan-based relation. What started as Paris–Agadir later became the Atlas Rally. At the dawn of the new millennium it was five-time Dakar winner Cyril Neveu who changed the name again, this time to Rallye du Maroc.
Rallye du Maroc is a classic African Rally Raid race
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Morocco selected as World Rally-Raid Championship finale
For 25 years the Rallye du Maroc has existed in its current format, with some slight modifications allowing it to go from strength-to-strength. It's now raced later in the year and running the rally in October positions it as the ideal warm-up event for January's Dakar Rally. The six-day Moroccan rally is also the concluding round of the World Rally-Raid Championship. This prime positioning on the rally-raid calendar guarantees that the big players always come to Morocco.
In recent years it's been first place at Rallye du Maroc that has put Nasser Al-Attiyah and Stéphane Peterhansel on course for victory on four wheels at the Dakar. The same is true on two wheels, with Toby Price backing up his win at the 2018 Rallye du Maroc with another bike title at the Dakar a few months later. Success is earned the same way even if the deserts are different, because these two rallies have plenty in common.
"Rallye du Maroc is one of the toughest races in the world," says six-time winner Al-Attiyah. "I always pick up a lot of good things in Morocco to bring to the next Dakar."
Nasser Al-Attiyah gets into gear for Dakar success with a win in Morocco
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Rallye du Maroc is one of the toughest races in the world
02
Navigating the desert: rallies built on shifting sands
The history of the Dakar is full of adventurous tales that took place on the sands of the Sahara Desert. From 1979 until 2007 it was the arid terrain of North Africa that dominated the route with trips to Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania and Tunisia. Over the years, the Rallye du Maroc's focal point has been a wind-swept chain of dunes on the far western edge of the Sahara known as Erg Chegaga, located near the oasis town Zagora.
The starting pistol for the 2024 Rallye du Maroc will be fired in Marrakesh on October 6 for a Prologue Stage held just outside the city walls. Then, the convoy will cross the Atlas Mountains ahead of five desert stages on the dunes of Zagora, Errachidia and Mengoub. The final two stages, bivouacked at the Saharan outpost of Mengoub, will mirror of the desert conditions found in Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter.
Morocco is one of few places to really prep for Saudi Arbai's Empty Quarter
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
The Empty Quarter is home to 250m-high dunes
Since the Dakar Rally left the Sahara behind and subsequently waved goodbye to the Atacama in South America, it's now set up shop in Saudi Arabia. The 2025 Dakar will be the sixth edition to be hosted by the Kingdom and the jewel in the crown of the rally these days is the Rub' al Khali, otherwise known as the Empty Quarter Desert. Covering a distance of 650,000km2 and featuring 250m-high sand dunes, this is where the modern Dakar is won and lost.
"When you go to the Empty Quarter, it's like nothing you've ever seen before," Al-Attiyah confesses. "At the 2024 Dakar we had the 48-hour Chrono Stage and that was two days of 100 percent sand. It was something that we really needed to bring back to the Dakar."
03
Beyond the wheel: it's not just machines that get chewed up
We've now established why the Rallye de Maroc is a perfect dress rehearsal for the convoy of desert vehicles entered into the Daka, but it's not only the machines that will be pushed to the limit on the dunes. All Dakar competitors (and their support crews) take an immense hit to body and mind more akin to a two-week-long boxing match than motorsport.
Seth Quintero got his Toyota drive thanks to a Rallye du Maroc win
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
When Toyota Gazoo Racing were searching for a replacement for Nasser Al-Attiyah, they went looking in Challenger class. Brash upstart Seth Quintero had been making waves and had set the record for the Dakar's youngest-ever stage winner. However, there was still something Toyota needed to know. Did Quintero have the mental stamina to stay on the pace for a whole week, for two weeks… for an entire season?
Meeting the mental demands of top level rally-raid
Quintero arrived at the 2023 Rallye de Maroc ranked third in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) Challenger class. The 21-year-old needed the drive of his life to clinch the title at the season finale in Morocco and he brought it all home on the last stage of the championship. The Californian won the title and convinced Toyota to give him a shot at driving in the Dakar's Ultimate class.
"That championship felt like a long time coming, because we'd been on the cusp of it for so long," Quintero reflects. "That year we had so many ups and downs along the way, so the challenge was as much about mentality as anything else. In Morocco we knew we just had to go for it."
Quintero is one of four Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team drivers to have graduated to the Ultimate class after cutting their teeth at races such as the Rallye du Maroc. Further exciting link ups between Mitch Guthrie Jr. and Ford, Cristina Gutiérrez and Dacia plus Guillaume De Mevius and Mini promises to breathe new life into the elite category of rally-raid.
Cristina Gutiérrez brings her driving talent to Dacia's new Dakar project
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
04
The Dakar Rally's proving ground: a final tune-up in Morocco
There's two epic storylines that will dominate coverage of the 2025 Dakar Rally and they both feature brand-new cars chasing glory in the Ultimate class. Lining up in the elite car category for their Dakar debuts in January will be the Ford Raptor T1+ and the Dacia Sandrider. The dunes of Rallye du Maroc are the perfect setting to give these machines a final tune-up before racing them in Saudi Arabia.
This rally always serves as great preparation for Dakar as the terrain is so similar
Ford and Dacia bring brand-new cars to Rallye du Maroc
Ford Performance have pushed design and capability to the limit to give their Raptor the best possible shot of succeeding in the desert. They've also recruited some serious driving talent, with reigning Dakar champion Carlos Sainz behind the wheel as their lead driver. Sainz will race his Ford Raptor T1+ for the first time at Rallye du Maroc as part of the team's R&D program ahead of their inaugural Dakar.
Also revving up for its first-ever taste of competitive racing is the brand-new Dacia Sandrider. Following extensive testing in Europe, it's now time to bring Dacia's challenger to the dunes and that means Rallye du Maroc's 2,400km of desert terrain. Dacia's trio of world class driving talents – Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez – are all entered into the upcoming North Africa rally. "I've found the Sandrider easy to drive, fast and strong," Al-Attiyah reveals. "We're in a good way for the next phase of testing with Dacia and I can't wait to race in Morocco."
It's not just on four wheels that Dakar prep goes down in Morocco. Bike race heavyweights Red Bull KTM Factory Racing have recruited Daniel Sanders and Luciano Benavides for their next assault on the Dakar. Daniel and Luciano will be getting to grips with their new ride before linking up with Luciano's older brother Kevin Benavides to race the next Dakar. "We're super motivated to race the Rallye du Maroc," Sanders explains. "This rally always serves as great preparation for Dakar as the terrain is so similar."
Kevin Benavides is targeting more success with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Fine-tuning your machine for success in the desert
An entire convoy of desert racing contenders are heading back to the Sahara to contest the 2024 Rallye du Maroc from October 6-11. The challenging terrain found in North Africa closely mirrors what competitors will find in Saudi Arabia when the 2025 Dakar Rally gets underway on January 3 in Bisha. The goal for every rally-raid team between now and the Dakar's Prologue Stage is to fine-tune their setup for success in the desert. The Rallye du Maroc has proven itself time and again to be perfect place to perform this process.
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