With the buzz and excitement descending on Marrakesh for the 25th edition of the Rallye Du Maroc, the final round of the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship, the rally proper has got underway with the prologue.
Riders set off from the bivouac on the 33km road section out of Morocco’s fourth largest city to the start of the day’s timed loop where 25km against the clock was waiting for them on fast, rocky terrain.
Tosha Schareina could be mooted as the prologue king as since taking the top spot in last year’s prologue, he has claimed the win at every World Rally-Raid Championship round he has competed in since. Today was going to be no different for the Spaniard as he made light work of the opener to clock 16 mins 54 secs, the only rider to finish in under 17 minute ahead of Ross Branch and Australian Daniel Sanders.
“Today the prologue was pretty gnarly, it was sketchy in some parts of the track as there were narrow, rocky sections. But it was really good for us with the first place and we’ll have to get a good position in the starting order for tomorrow and be ready for the race,” Schareina said.
Ross Branch was happy to be back racing and with second place.
“It was fantastic to be back on the track after four long months!” Branch said. “I’ve really missed it, and being back with my rally family feels great! The 25 km prologue today was a lot of fun—thanks to the organizers for a well-executed stage. It was nice to go full throttle, and get ready for the week. I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting week!”
Daniel Sanders, now with KTM, was up to speed taking the third fastest time.
Ricky Brabec is one of three riders in the title chase and finished the prologue in fourth, 21 seconds down from Tosha, but most importantly just three seconds behind current championship leader and arch rival, Ross Branch.
Pablo Quintanilla, who won this rally back in 2021 so with a fifth place finish today he will get to choose his starting position for tomorrow’s stage by virtue of being in the top 10.
Once returning to the Marrakesh bivouac, everything was packed up before a long 372km road transfer on the Tizi n’Tichka pass across the imposing Atlas Mountains towards Zagora. Familiar to the riders as it featured in last year’s rally, the secluded town in the Draa River Valley will be the bivouac for the teams for the next two stages as Monday’s action will see a total 500km.
The first big test of this 2024 showdown is 273km of special stage as the route heads in a South Westerly direction out of Zagora.
