With his team one step closer towards a SCORE International World Desert Championship, Carter Klein will spend the two-month break in Morocco trying his hand at the World Rally-Raid Championship. The Rallye du Maroc will be his first time competing in the series, doing so in the Rally2 category.
The younger brother of 2022 W2RC Rally2 champion and Dakar Rally competitor Mason Klein, he has been enjoying a breakout career in desert racing. The 20-year-old won the bike overall at SCORE’s Baja 1000 in 2023 as part of the #1X team led by Juan Carlos Salvatierra.
He moved to HERO Racing for the 2024 SCORE season, where he is sharing the #11X Honda with Ciaran Naran and Rider of Record Arturo Salas Jr. Although HERO is new to the premier Pro Moto Unlimited category, the #11X won in its class début at the San Felipe 250 then added another win at the Baja 500. The team came up just short at last Saturday’s Baja 400 where they finished runner-up, though they still have the advantage in the Pro Moto Unlimited standings going into the season-ending 1000.
Outside of SCORE, Klein won Best In The Desert’s inaugural 399 Pro title in 2020 and the 2022 AMA National Hare and Hound Championship in Pro 250. He and Mason have shared a bike in BITD competition, winning the Open Pro class at the 2023 Laughlin Desert Challenge.
Morocco will not be his first foray outside North America as he frequently supports Mason in the Brazilian Cross-Country Rally Championship and Sertões Series, where the elder Klein is a Honda factory rider. In August, the brothers went to Ecuador to compete in the Baja Manta Enduro Rally, where they finished 1–2 with Carter ahead.
The Rallye du Maroc, the final leg of the W2RC, is scheduled for 6–11 October. Once the rally is out of the way, Klein’s focus will turn towards clinching the SCORE Pro Moto Unlimited title at the Baja 1000 on 12–17 November.
