When Frédéric Baudry fell off his bike in what was ultimately a fatal accident on Monday, Manuel Andújar was the first competitor to come to his aid. For lending his assistance, the FIA removed over twenty minutes from Andújar’s Stage #1 time.
Baudry, a Rally2 rider, crashed roughly ninety-seven kilometres into the first leg of the Rallye du Maroc and was knocked unconscious. As Andújar approached the scene, he was contacted by the race’s medical team to stop and provide help, which he and co-driver Bernardo Graue obliged.
“We spent 25 minutes at the scene trying to help doctors stabilise the driver,” Andujar explained on social media. Although he usually provides daily updates, he opted to wait until Tuesday after Stage #2 out of respect for Baudry’s family. The drivers and doctors then loaded Baudry onto the helicopter and he was flown to hospital in Zagora. From there, Andújar and Graue returned to their Can-Am Maverick R to continue the stage.
Unfortunately, by the time they finished the stage, Baudry had died from his injuries. A Leetchi was launched on Tuesday to raise money to support his family.
“When we arrived, we learned that the driver didn’t make it and passed away at the hospital in Zagora. The entire rally deeply mourns this loss,” Andújar continued. “All my respect and condolences to the family.”
He had finished Stage #1 with a time of 3:08:53, good for fourth among Experimental UTVs. The FIA approved his time credit on Tuesday, slashing it down to 2:48:44 and promoting him up to second in class for the day.
He is currently second overall after two stages, trailing Francisco López Contardo.
Andújar is in his World Rally-Raid Championship début as a side-by-side driver, having switched classes after winning the W2RC’s Quad title in June. Morocco is only his third race as a whole in an SSV after winning the Rally Raid San Juan as a navigator then finishing runner-up at the Rally Raid San Rafael in the driver’s seat. He made the jump in the wake of the Amaury Sport Organisation dropping Quads from the Dakar Rally for 2025, which he won in January.
