By RaceScene Publisher on Saturday, 21 October 2023
Category: The Checkered Flag

2023 Rallye du Maroc: Cambier, Mickus survive in Open category

Two cars and six side-by-side vehicles entered the Rallye du Maroc as Open entries that do not meet FIA regulations, which would have otherwise allowed them to race alongside the World Rally-Raid Championship. Not even half of them reached the finish.

Jérôme Cambier was already in position to win the Open Auto class when Patrick Prot, the only other entrant in the category, retired on the very first stage. Prot and co-driver Roger Audas had run the Dakar Rally in January in a T1 for Sodicars Racing, where they were set back by stage retirements but at least reached the finish. Even with his competition out, Cambier still needed to complete the rally if he wanted to be the winner.

Racing an MD Optimus from MD Rallye Sport alongside Pascal Delacour, Cambier set the fastest time of all Open entries in the final three stages, and his final total time beat Open SSV winner Tomas Mickus by twenty-one minutes. MD Rallye Sport also fielded three cars in the W2RC’s T1 class at Morocco with Simon Vitse scoring a top ten overall.

Mickus and Algirdas Talutis, representing the Lithuanian BRO Racing team, were the only Open SSV finishers. Issues struck Mickus quickly when his Can-Am Maverick X3 lost its power steering before the Prologue; diagnosing it as being due to the engine, he and navigator Darius Leskauskas attempted to find a replacement motor in the bivouac to little success, while the only available version was in Spain and they were unable to fly it to Morocco in time. The duo eventually received a replacement power steering system from a Renault Mégane that they installed in the morning before the rally began.

Despite operating on just two hours of sleep, Mickus won the Prologue and Stage #1. Talutis responded by taking the next two legs before Mickus closed it out with the win. Adomas Gančierius, who finished third overall in the Quad category at the W2RC’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, served as co-driver for Talutis.

Charif Guessous and Sofia Skiredj, local racers competing for the Africa Rallye Team organised by the Rallye du Maroc, had a tumultuous race as they ran out of fuel and their headset batteries failed during the first stage, then rolled their Maverick down a dune in Stage #3.

Open overall results

Auto

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamTimeMargin
1601Jérôme CambierPascal DelacourMD Rallye Sport21:21:46Leader
DNF600Patrick ProtRoger AudasProt.PDNFN/A

SSV

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamTimeMargin
1653Tomas MickusDarius LeskauskasBRO Racing21:42:23Leader
2656Algirdas TalutisAdomas GančieriusBRO Racing23:04:50+ 1:22:27
DNF651Lucas Delmas-MarsaletThomas de SaulieuQuad Bike EvasionDNFN/A
DNF652Joan AlainAxel DutrieDrag’on Rally TeamDNFN/A
DNF654Fabrice MantéPascal PagandFond’cale RacingDNFN/A
DNF657Charif GuessousSofia SkiredjAfrica Rallye TeamDNFN/A

Open class winners

StageAutoTimeSSVTime
PrologueJérôme Cambier12:23.7Tomas Mickus13:32.7
Stage #1Jérôme Cambier5:17:43Tomas Mickus5:12:27
Stage #2Jérôme Cambier4:24:43Algirdas Talutis4:14:27
Stage #3Jérôme Cambier3:57:20Algirdas Talutis4:11:27
Stage #4Jérôme Cambier5:11:14Tomas Mickus5:22:34
Stage #5Jérôme Cambier2:30:46Tomas Mickus2:40:36

Overall winners

ClassNumberCompetitorTeamTime
T1201Yazeed Al-RajhiToyota Gazoo Racing14:49:09
T2251Ronald Basso*Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body22:14:17
T3315Marek GoczałEnergyLandia Rally Team16:22:12
T4403João FerreiraSouth Racing Can-Am18:26:24
T5506Michiel Becx*Team de Rooy21:32:34
RallyGP8Toby PriceRed Bull KTM Factory Racing15:56:43
Rally232Bradley CoxBAS World KTM Racing Team17:06:37
Rally3164Cheikh Yves JacquemainAfrica Rallye Team23:42:39
Quad186Alexandre Giroud*Drag’on Rally Team21:07:24
Open Auto601Jérôme Cambier*MD Rallye Sport21:21:46
Open SSV653Tomas Mickus*BRO Racing21:42:23
Road to Dakar Bike71Toby Hederics*BAS World KTM Racing Team19:11:16
Road to Dakar SSV420William Grarre*Team Horizon Off-Road21:50:39
* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship
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