The World Rally-Raid Championship‘s T3 points battle was one of the tightest for any category since its inception as the top three—all Americans racing for Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team—was separated by nine points entering the season-ending Rallye du Maroc. Mitch Guthrie held just a three-point edge over Austin Jones with Seth Quintero in tow.
Jones spoke with The Checkered Flag shortly after the trio swept the Stage #2 podium, calling the championship fight “really hard” as “every stage matters, every day matters, every kilometre matters.” Unfortunately for him, he was unable to complete every kilometre as he one of many victims in an attrition-filled Stage #4 with his car breaking down twenty kilometres in. Guthrie, who won Stage #2, was eliminated from contention the day prior for the same reason.
Entering the final stage, Guthrie needed a “little bit of a miracle” if he wanted any shot at the title, but it never came despite winning the leg. As the last man standing of the trio, Quintero went on to finish second overall to clinch his maiden title by just five points over Guthrie.
“This championship feels like a long time coming,” said Quintero. “We’ve been on the cusp of it in previous years. Even this year, we had so many ups and downs along the way and we came into this last round third overall. We knew we just had to go for it and that’s what we did.”
With his fellow Americans out of the picture, Quintero’s main rivals for the rest of the rally were the Goczał family of EnergyLandia Rally Team, who was making their début in T3. Eryk Goczał, the family’s scion and Dakar Rally T4 winner, did not take long to adjust to his new ride as he won the Prologue and Stage #1. However, his overall lead was dashed the next day when he broke both differentials and was left stranded in the desert, prompting him to start a fire to signal for help which led to a reprimand from the FIA. He retired for good after a Stage #3 engine failure.
While Eryk’s maiden T3 rally was cut short, his father Marek and uncle Michał kept the family effort going strong. Marek took the overall lead after a runner-up to Francisco Lopéz Contardo in Stage #3 followed by Michał winning Stage #4 and placing second behind Guthrie on the final day. A pair of mechanical issues on the second and third days relegated Michał to last among finishers, while Marek held off Quintero to win the overall.
The win was Marek’s first since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in T4. He was the only T3 winner in 2023 not from the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team as Jones won in Dakar, Quintero claimed Abu Dhabi, and Guthrie went back-to-back at the Sonora Rally and Argentina.
“We still think it’s an early project, we need to do some more work,” Eryk told Cross-Country Rally News. “As it showed on myself, I didn’t finish two of the stages, which means we could not continue the rally, but it’s something we test before Dakar. That’s why we’ll come back here in a week to work on the cars, to improve it even more before Dakar. I am very happy, because we managed to claim the second vice-world champion title in T4 from only winning the Dakar, so I think that’s a huge surprise to me because I just checked the results, I didn’t even anticipate that it could have happened so it’s a great surprise.
“I think we can celebrate now when we come back to Poland, of course from the win of the rally, from the win of the two stages, I think the domination, and we are proud of the surname Goczał.”
The Goczałs were not the only T3 newcomers after graduating from T4. Rokas Baciuška, who won his second straight T4 championship prior to the Desafío Ruta 40, finished fourth in Stage #1 before dropping out with a broken rear suspension arm. His Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing team-mate Lopéz retired a day after his stage win when his front differential broke, though he was already out of the overall with a burned-out fuel pump in Stage #1.
Reigning W2RC T5 champion Kees Koolen scored a top five in his first championship race in a Light Prototype. He finished a spot ahead of Dania Akeel, who was doing her maiden W2RC race in an MCE-5 Taurus T3 Max from Wevers Sport; Claude Fournier, another Taurus T3 convert, was fourteenth.
Lukas Lauda, the son of Formula One legend Niki Lauda, finished thirteenth in just his third career rally raid to beat those like FIA European Cup for Cross-Country Bajas T3 champion João Dias.
T3 overall results
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 316 | Marek Goczał | Maciej Marton | EnergyLandia Rally Team | 16:22:12 | Leader |
| 2 | 302 | Seth Quintero | Dennis Zenz | Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing | 16:37:19 | + 15:07 |
| 3 | 303 | Cristina Gutiérrez | Pablo Moreno Huete | Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing | 16:43:01 | + 20:49 |
| 4 | 318 | Ignacio Casale* | Alvaro Leon | X-raid Team | 17:02:20 | + 40:08 |
| 5 | 309 | Kees Koolen | Wouter Rosegaar | GRallyTeam | 17:15:32 | + 53:20 |
| 6 | 312 | Dania Akeel | Taye Perry | Wevers Sport | 17:18:48 | + 56:36 |
| 7 | 331 | Paul Spierings* | Jan Pieter van der Stelt | Dakar Team Spierings RaceArt | 17:54:46 | + 1:32:34 |
| 8 | 327 | Romain Locmane* | Charlie Herbst | Quad Bike Evasion | 18:53:52 | + 2:31:40 |
| 9 | 320 | Lucas Del Rio* | Bruno Jacomy | South Racing Can-Am | 18:55:39 | + 2:33:27 |
| 10 | 321 | Oscar Ral Verdu* | Xavier Blanco Garcia | Buggy Masters Team | 18:59:16 | + 2:37:04 |
| 11 | 306 | David Zille | Sebastian Cesana | South Racing Can-Am | 19:53:16 | + 3:31:04 |
| 12 | 319 | Hernán Garcés* | Juan Pablo Latrach | South Racing Can-Am | 20:33:47 | + 4:11:35 |
| 13 | 332 | Lukas Lauda* | Stefan Henken | South Racing Can-Am | 21:18:18 | + 4:56:06 |
| 14 | 317 | Claude Fournier | Patrick Antoniolli | BBR Motorsport | 21:24:02 | + 5:01:50 |
| 15 | 324 | João Dias* | João Miranda | Santag Racing | 21:26:11 | + 5:03:59 |
| 16 | 330 | Jorge Segura Vidiella* | Sergi Brugue Carreras | FN Speed Team | 22:00:45 | + 5:38:33 |
| 17 | 337 | Freddy Fast* | Alexander Toril | South Racing Can-Am | 35:36:12 | + 19:14:00 |
| 18 | 335 | William Buller* | Daniel Jordão | Franco Sport | 35:37:11 | + 19:14:59 |
| 19 | 322 | Rui Carneiro* | Manuel Porém | RC Motorsport | 36:03:42 | + 19:41:30 |
| 20 | 301 | Austin Jones | Gustavo Gugelmin | Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team | 36:31:49 | + 20:09:37 |
| 21 | 326 | Luis Portela Morais* | David Megre | GRallyTeam | 37:00:00 | + 20:37:48 |
| 22 | 329 | Gert-Jan Van Der Valk* | Branco de Lange | Arcane Racing | 37:18:51 | + 20:56:39 |
| 23 | 341 | Andre Hort* | Enio Bozzano Junior | BBR Motorsport | 40:35:20 | + 24:13:08 |
| 24 | 334 | Mário Franco* | Rui Franco | Franco Sport | 42:35:22 | + 26:13:10 |
| 25 | 323 | Tiago Reis* | Valter Cardoso | Santag Racing | 49:59:42 | + 33:37:30 |
| 26 | 333 | Lex Peters* | Wouter de Graaff | Arcane Racing | 54:41:41 | + 38:19:29 |
| 27 | 325 | Pal Lonyai* | Filippo Ippolito | X-raid Team | 58:23:03 | + 42:00:52 |
| 28 | 338 | André Van Ginkel* | Tim Rietveld | Arcane Racing | 80:36:37 | + 64:14:25 |
| 29 | 300 | Mitch Guthrie | Kellon Walch | Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team | 83:55:06 | + 67:32:54 |
| 30 | 315 | Michał Goczał | Szymon Gospodarczyk | EnergyLandia Rally Team | 85:51:03 | + 69:28:51 |
| DNF | 304 | Francisco Lopéz Contardo | Diego Ortega Gil | Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 307 | Erik Van Loon | Henrie Verschuuren | South Racing Can-Am | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 308 | Rokas Baciuška | Oriol Vidal Montijano | Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 314 | Eryk Goczał | Oriol Mena | EnergyLandia Rally Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 336 | Roger Grouwels* | Ronald Van Nederpelt | Dakar Team Spierings RaceArt | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 339 | Jean-Denis Piccini* | Stéphane Denécheau | JDV Sports | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 340 | Marcelo Tiglia Gastaldi* | Carlos Sachs | BBR Motorsport | DNF | N/A |
T3 stage winners
| Stage | Driver | Time |
| Prologue | Eryk Goczał | 10:49.6 |
| Stage #1 | Eryk Goczał | 3:33:45 |
| Stage #2 | Mitch Guthrie | 3:10:14 |
| Stage #3 | Francisco Lopéz Contardo | 3:20:18 |
| Stage #4 | Michał Goczał | 3:48:21 |
| Stage #5 | Mitch Guthrie | 1:58:38 |
Overall winners
| Class | Number | Competitor | Team | Time |
| T1 | 201 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 14:49:09 |
| T2 | 251 | Ronald Basso* | Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body | 22:14:17 |
| T3 | 315 | Marek Goczał | EnergyLandia Rally Team | 16:22:12 |
| T4 | 403 | João Ferreira | South Racing Can-Am | 18:26:24 |
| T5 | 506 | Michiel Becx* | Team de Rooy | 21:32:34 |
| RallyGP | 8 | Toby Price | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 15:56:43 |
| Rally2 | 32 | Bradley Cox | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 17:06:37 |
| Rally3 | 164 | Cheikh Yves Jacquemain | Africa Rallye Team | 23:42:39 |
| Quad | 186 | Alexandre Giroud* | Drag’on Rally Team | 21:07:24 |
| Open Auto | 601 | Jérôme Cambier* | MD Rallye Sport | 21:21:46 |
| Open SSV | 653 | Tomas Mickus* | BRO Racing | 21:42:23 |
| Road to Dakar Bike | 71 | Toby Hederics* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 19:11:16 |
| Road to Dakar SSV | 420 | William Grarre* | Team Horizon Off-Road | 21:50:39 |
W2RC T3 standings
Drivers’ standings
| Rank | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Seth Quintero | 201 | Leader |
| 2 | Mitch Guthrie | 196 | – 5 |
| 3 | Austin Jones | 190 | – 11 |
| 4 | Cristina Gutiérrez | 138 | – 63 |
| 5 | Francisco Lopéz Contardo | 104 | – 97 |
| 6 | João Ferreira | 97 | – 104 |
| 7 | Mattias Ekström | 77 | – 124 |
| 8 | David Zille | 69 | – 132 |
| 9 | Claude Fournier | 55 | – 146 |
| T-10 | Jean-Luc Ceccaldi | 41 | – 160 |
| T-10 | Marek Goczał | 41 | – 160 |
| 12 | Aliyyah Koloc | 34 | – 167 |
| 13 | Dania Akeel | 31 | – 170 |
| 14 | Hélder Rogrigues | 22 | – 179 |
| 15 | Annett Quandt | 20 | – 181 |
| 16 | Kees Koolen | 18 | – 183 |
| 17 | Michał Goczał | 17 | – 184 |
| 18 | Erik van Loon | 13 | – 188 |
| Eryk Goczał | 0 | – 201 | |
| Francisco Alvarez | 0 | – 201 |
Co-drivers’ standings
Some co-drivers have worked with drivers in other categories. Those do not count for this championship nor are they mentioned below. Co-drivers also do not earn points if their driver is not competing for the W2RC.
| Rank | Co-Driver | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Dennis Zenz | Seth Quintero | 201 | Leader |
| 2 | Kellon Walch | Mitch Guthrie | 196 | – 5 |
| 3 | Gustavo Gugelmin | Austin Jones | 190 | – 11 |
| 4 | Pablo Moreno Huete | Cristina Gutiérrez | 138 | – 63 |
| 5 | Juan Pablo Latrach | Francisco López Contardo, Hernán Garcés* | 78 | – 123 |
| 6 | Emil Bergkvist | Mattias Ekström | 77 | – 124 |
| 7 | Filipe Palmeiro | João Ferreira | 74 | – 127 |
| 8 | Sebastian Cesana | David Zille | 69 | – 132 |
| 9 | Szymon Gospodarczyk # | Claude Fournier, Michał Goczał | 52 | – 149 |
| T-10 | Maciej Marton | Marek Goczał | 41 | – 160 |
| T-10 | Cédric Duplé | Jean-Luc Ceccaldi | 41 | – 160 |
| 12 | Stéphane Duple | Aliyyah Koloc | 34 | – 167 |
| 13 | Sébastien Delaunay | Erik van Loon | 29 | – 172 |
| 14 | Bruno Jacomy | Hernán Garcés*, Lucas Del Rio* | 26 | – 175 |
| 15 | Manuel Porem | João Ferreira | 23 | – 178 |
| 16 | Gonçalo Reis | Hélder Rodrigues | 22 | – 179 |
| 17 | Arnold Brucy | Claude Fournier | 20 | – 181 |
| 18 | Wouter Rosegaar | Kees Koolen | 18 | – 183 |
| 19 | Sergio Lafuente | Dania Akeel, Diego Martinez | 15 | – 186 |
| 20 | Annie Seel | Annett Quandt | 11 | – 190 |
| 21 | Lisette Bakker | Annett Quandt | 9 | – 192 |
| Diego Ortega Gil | Francisco Lopéz Contardo | 0 | – 201 | |
| Oriol Mena | Eryk Goczał | 0 | – 201 | |
| Xavier Panseri | Fernando Álvarez Castellano | 0 | – 201 |
