Toby Hederics’ quest to make the 2025 Dakar Rally has already tossed him a major bone in the form of free registration after he and William Grarre won the Rallye du Maroc’s Road to Dakar.
Jérôme Cambier and Tomas Mickus were among just four Open cars that completed the Rallye du Maroc of nine entrants.
With Martin Macík Jr.’s disqualification, Janus van Kasteren escaped with the last World Rally-Raid Championship for trucks while Michiel Becx won the Rallye du Maroc.
Marek Goczał claimed the Rallye du Maroc overall in his family’s maiden start in the T3 category, while Seth Quintero was the last one standing in the three-man fight for the World Rally-Raid Championship.
João Ferreira’s new life at South Racing Can-Am is already off to a great start as he won the Rallye du Maroc in T4. Rokas Baciuška already clinched the T4 title and raced Morocco in T3.
Alexandre Giroud began 2023 by winning the Dakar Rally and ended it by winning the Rallye du Maroc, while Laisvydas Kancius took home the title for Quads.
Bradley Cox hit his stride in the second half of the World Rally-Raid Championship by winning the last two rounds, but it was too little too late as Romain Dumontier claimed the Rally2 title.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, J.J. Yeley’s car will have the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews for humanitarian efforts. Interestingly, it’s not the first time Yeley had a pro-Israel livery.
7× Senegal Cross-Country Champion Cheikh Yves Jacquemain added a World Rally-Raid Championship victory on début, while Ardit Kurtaj added a Rally3 championship.
Ronald Basso went two-for-two in 2023’s World Rally-Raid Championship T2 class as he won the Dakar Rally and the Rallye du Maroc over his fellow Toyota Land Cruiser partner Akira Miura.
Although Toby Price ended the season by winning the Rallye du Maroc, Luciano Benavides’ runner-up finish was enough to beat Price for the RallyGP world championship by 4 points.
While Nasser Al-Attiyah had already clinched the World Rally-Raid Championship for himself and Toyota, Yazeed Al-Rajhi won the Rallye du Maroc to make the Hilux five-for-five in 2023.
The newly renamed FIA World Baja Cup, European Baja Cup, and Middle East Baja Cups will respectively run eight, five, and four races in 2024.
The FIA has dropped the formula-style naming system for World Rally-Raid Championship classes (e.g., T1 is now Ultimate) while the 3 Cross-Country Bajas Cups are now simply Baja Cups.
Want to race for the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship? Registration is now open, running from 19 October through 15 December.
Season 2 of the World Rally-Raid Championship is officially in the books with the fifth and final stage of the Rallye du Maroc.
Eryk Goczał and co-driver Oriol Mena have received a reprimand from the FIA for lighting a bush fire, illegal under Moroccan law, to signal for help during the Rallye du Maroc.
