Carlos Santaolalla, Jan Rosa win 2024 RallyClassics Africa

In January, Carlos Santaolalla and Jan Rosa Viñas won the Dakar Classic in their Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80. Eight months later, they continued their winning ways in the deserts of Morocco when they crushed the RallyClassics Africa.

The duo recorded the lowest average score to beat fellow Land Cruiser driver and Dakar Classic competitor Asier Duarte by nearly 200 points. Santaolalla won the first stage before Carles Bracons in his own Land Cruiser topped Stage #2, then the former claimed the last leg to finish the job.

Defending winner Antonio Rius broke up the Land Cruiser party with a Stage #3 victory in his SEAT Toledo Marathon, though he finished seventeenth. Nevertheless, the Spanish marque joined Santaolalla and Duarte on the overall podium courtesy of Jose Enrique Ruiz Perez.

The SEAT entries were prepared by SEAT Históricos, the manufacturer’s historic car collection and restoration programme. Isidre López Badenas, the head of the division, finished twenty-first in a SEAT Ateca.

Rafael Lesmes and his pink Mercedes-Benz 1844 AK, nicknamed Elefante Rosa (“Pink Elephant”), overcome an early navigation error to place fourth. He was the highest finishing truck, just as he was at Dakar.

“This Africa Classic is like a mini Dakar, but much more comfortable,” Lesmes described. “We faced terrains that are no less challenging than those in Saudi Arabia, with spectacular dunes that allowed us to train for about 100 kilometres, which is crucial for Dakar 2025.

“If someone had told me before coming here that we’d be among the top five or six, I would have signed up for that. This rally has been essential training for Dakar 2025, where we hope to repeat last year’s success.”

Dirk Van Rompuy, who was fourth at Dakar, rounded out the top ten in his Land Cruiser. Meanwhile, former Paris–Dakar Rally racer Jorge Pérez Companc rebounded from his 2024 Classic exit with a sixteenth.

2021 and 2022 Classic competitor Amy Lerner, who spoke with The Checkered Flag two years ago, scored an eighth in her Can-Am Maverick. Side-by-sides and vehicles built after 2005 were permitted in an otherwise historic rally as part of the Open class, which was won by the Polaris RZR of Isaac Ciurana De Arcos. López’s SEAT, along with other Atecas, was also an Open entry.

Much of the course was impacted by the historic downpours that plagued Morocco, resulting in severe, deadly flooding. The weather prompted the Baja Morocco, which began a week after RallyClassics Africa, to modify their own itinerary.

Overall results

Finish	Number	Driver	Co-Driver	Team	Vehicle	Category	Group	Points	Margin
1	2	Carlos Santaolalla Milla	Jan Rosa Viñas	Factory Tub	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80/3	Classic	Pre-1997	401	Leader
2	3	Asier Duarte	Luis Barbero	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Classic	Pre-1997	595	+ 194
3	102	Jose Enrique Ruiz Perez	Aran Sol I Juanola	SEAT Históricos	SEAT Ateca 2.0 TDI 150 Xperience DSG	Open	4×4	633	+ 232
4	201	Rafael Lesmes	Tabatha Romón Hera, Albert Casabona Vilaseca	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Mercedes-Benz 1844 AK	Classic	Truck	722	+ 321
5	112	Isaac Ciurana De Arcos	Sandra Iniesta Arenas	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Polaris RZR XP 1000	Open	SSV	791	+ 390
6	4	Carles Bracons Manonellas	Jordi Bustins Costabella	Escuderia Mediterrania	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Classic	Pre-1997	822	+ 421
7	8	Matías Rodríguez Martín	Sandra Guasch Planells	Pedregà Team	Toyota Land Cruiser KZJ90	Classic	Pre-2005	1,132	+ 731
8	111	Amy Lerner	Sara Bossaert	AL Rally	Can-Am Maverick X3 Turbo	Open	SSV	1,192	+ 791
9	11	Lluis Pedrals	Silvia March	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Mercedes G320	Classic	Pre-1997	1,227	+ 826
10	7	Dirk Van Rompuy	Chris Goris	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Classic	Pre-1997	1,229	+ 828
11	12	Christophe Berteloot	Jean-Marc Piret	Team Pevele Aventure	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Classic	Pre-1997	1,276	+ 875
12	16	Antonio Ricciari	Simona Morosi	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Mitsubishi Pajero	Classic	Pre-1997	1,401	+ 1,000
13	114	Judit Florensa Mingote	Rosa Romero Font	371 Racing Team	Polaris Ranger RZR XP	Open	SSV	1,458	+ 1,057
14	9	Vincent Tourneur	Laurent Bovis	Ralliart Off Road Classic	Mitsubishi L200	Classic	Pre-2005	1,617	+ 1,216
15	104	Ramiro Mansanet Sirvent	Antonio Angulo Garcia	SEAT Históricos	SEAT Ateca 2.0 TDI 150 Xperience DSG	Open	4×4	1,631	+ 1,230
16	5	Jorge Pérez Companc	Cristobal Pérez Companc	Madpanda Motorsport	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Classic	Pre-1997	1,663	+ 1,262
17	1	Antonio Rius	Carles Jiménez Valls	SEAT Históricos	SEAT Toledo Marathon	Classic	Pre-1997	1,779	+ 1,378
18	15	Josef Unterholzner	Franco Gaioni	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Mitsubishi Pajero	Classic	Pre-1997	1,892	+ 1,491
19	21	Damiano Lipani	Cesare Rickler	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Mitsubishi Pajero Evo	Classic	Pre-2005	2,979	+ 2,578
20	22	Ludovic Nicolas Bois	Julia Laetitia Colman	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Mitsubishi Pajero Evo	Classic	Pre-2005	2,982	+ 2,581
21	106	Isidre López Badenas	Josep Capsada Frutos	SEAT Históricos	SEAT Ateca 2.0 TDI 150 Xperience DSG	Open	4×4	3,005	+ 2,604
22	109	Ali Oubassidi	Hanane Amraoui	Nour Rallye	Toyota Land Cruiser	Open	4×4	3,665	+ 3,264
23	115	Brahim Ettaiek Laamim	Said Ahnana	Xaluca Maroc	Polaris RZR XP 1000	Open	SSV	3,697	+ 3,296
24	101	Jawhara Bennani Guessous	El Amine Guessous	Guessous Racing	Toyota Hilux	Open	4×4	4,253	+ 3,852
25	107	Juan Pablo Cardama Frias	Marc Escoda Abella	SEAT Históricos	SEAT Ateca 2.0 TDI 150 Xperience DSG	Open	4×4	4,262	+ 3,861
26	19	Raúl Pascual Campanario	Marco Antonio Cabrera	Cordal Sport	Toyota Land Cruiser KZJ95	Classic	Pre-2005	4,923	+ 4,522
27	105	Jeffrey Gamroth	Muammer Kiraner	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Porsche Cayenne	Open	4×4	5,114	+ 4,713
28	10	Manuel Pérez Latre	Raul Romero Galan	KMC	Mitsubishi Montero	Classic	Pre-1997	5,124	+ 4,723
29	113	Jose Ignacio Gayoso Estrada	Javier Ramiro Pichel	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Polaris RZR XP Pro	Open	SSV	5,174	+ 4,773
30	20	Daniel Pycock	Francisco Goméz Espigares	Waypoint 3	Mitsubishi Pajero	Classic	Pre-1997	7,815	+ 7,414
31	14	Maarten Buitenhuis	Jeanette Buitenhuis	Ralliart Off Road Classic	Mitsubishi Pajero	Classic	Pre-2005	9,227	+ 8,826
32	103	Telva Somoza Vázquez		SEAT Históricos	SEAT Ateca 2.0 TDI 150 Xperience DSG	Open	4×4	10,166	+ 9,765
33	202	Alberto Herrero Gonzalez	Gustavo Ibeas Perez	TH-Trucks Rally Team	MAN TGA 6×6	Classic	Truck	11,128	+ 10,727
34	23	Carlos Efren Flores	James Manning	TH-Trucks Rally Team	Porsche Cayenne	Classic	Pre-2005	13,140	+ 12,739
35	6	Marcel Quirós Subirats	Albert Brunat Espuña	BXS MotorSport	Lada Niva	Classic	Pre-1997	16,508	+ 16,107
36	110	Jordi Gené Guerrero	Raquel Cecilia Jimena	SEAT Históricos	SEAT Ateca 2.0 TDI 150 Xperience DSG	Open	4×4	17,974	+ 17,573