2023 Rallye du Maroc: From The Checkered Flag’s Newsroom

The World Rally-Raid Championship‘s second season has come to close with the Rallye du Maroc. The field of over 260 competitors entered Morocco hoping to make last-ditch charges at championships, use it as a final dress rehearsal for the 2024 Dakar Rally, get used to their new rides ahead of next season. For the final time in 2023, The Checkered Flag had the privilege of covering the rally from long before it began to the final stage.

Missed any of our coverage? We’ve got you covered below!

Pre-race stories

24 November 2022: 2023 Road to Dakar races include W2RC legs, South Africa 20 January: TCF‘s Dakar Rally newsroom 16 February: Martin Macík Jr. forgoing Abu Dhabi, returning in Morocco 7 March: TCF‘s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge newsroom 13 March: 2023 Rallye du Maroc route revealed 15 March: Javier Campos plans 2024 Dakar Rally début, may run Morocco 3 June: Mathieu Dovèze joins BAS World KTM Racing Team 6 June: Apache unveils APH-01 T3 17 June: Ford Ranger T1+ to tackle Baja Aragón and Rallye du Maroc 20 June: 2023 Rallye du Maroc to span 2,240 km 22 June: Toby Hederics’ road to 2025 Dakar Rally includes W2RC stops 22 June: Amine Echiguer moves up to Rally2 for Rallye du Maroc 23 June: Searles brothers enter Rallye du Maroc in Dakar 2025 journey 28 June: Borja Pérez plans Rallye du Maroc entry for Dakar 2024 4 July: Anja van Loon entering Rallye du Maroc, first race for all-female crew 5 July: BBR Motorsport partnering with MCE-5 24 July: Bahrain Raid Xtreme confirms no Argentina, focusing on Morocco and Dakar 2024 28 July: Dakar-bound Sébastien Herbet heading to Rallye du Maroc 4 August: Africa Rallye Team reveals 2023 Rallye du Maroc lineup 16 August: Maxime Pouponnot to run Rallye du Maroc in 2025 Dakar Rally campaign 21 August: Nasser Al-Attiyah to finish 2023 W2RC season with TGR 4 September: TCF‘s Desafío Ruta 40 newsroom 5 September: Sebastian Halpern forgoing Rallye du Maroc, 2024 Dakar Rally 13 September: Xavier Flick joins Kove Moto factory programme 16 September: Romain Bouzigon running Rallye du Maroc in 2025 Dakar Rally quest 19 September: Abu Dhabi winner Tobias Ebster to make Rallye du Maroc début 20 September: Marshall Meplon to race Rallye du Maroc 20 September: Rallye du Maroc to proceed in support of earthquake relief 20 September: Skyler Howes joins Monster Energy Honda Rally Team 20 September: Samuel Fremy returning to Rallye du Maroc 24 September: Fabien Domas switches to GasGas for Morocco, Dakar 2024 2 October: Guillaume de Mévius to race Toyota Hilux T1+ at Rallye du Maroc 3 October: 136 riders make up FIM grid 4 October: 102 on FIA entry list, 9 comprise Open entries 8 October: MD Rallye Sport reveals “radical” Optimus EVO 5 9 October: INTERVIEW: Joao Ferreira “really, really looking forward” to new life at Can-Am 12 October: Lukas Lauda on W2RC début: “I expect not much but (will) try to learn a lot and finish” 12 October: Joaquim Rodrigues out after shakedown crash 12 October: Kevin Benavides sitting out Morocco to focus on Dakar

Mid-race stories

13 October: BAIC ORV loses all W2RC points for not entering enough races 16 October: INTERVIEW: Austin Jones discusses “really hard” T3 championship battle 16 October: Pau Navarro on T1.1 vs. T1+: “We had a touch of reality when Nasser passed me” 16 October: W2RC Next Gen Tryouts to take place after Rallye du Maroc 18 October: Martin Macík Jr. disqualified 18 October: Eryk Goczał, team reprimanded for rescue fire

Overall winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Time	Recap
T1	201	Yazeed Al-Rajhi	Toyota Gazoo Racing	14:49:09	Recap
T2	251	Ronald Basso*	Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body	22:14:17	Recap
T3	315	Marek Goczał	EnergyLandia Rally Team	16:22:12	Recap
T4	403	João Ferreira	South Racing Can-Am	18:26:24	Recap
T5	506	Michiel Becx*	Team de Rooy	21:32:34	Recap
RallyGP	8	Toby Price	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	15:56:43	Recap
Rally2	32	Bradley Cox	BAS World KTM Racing Team	17:06:37	Recap
Rally3	164	Cheikh Yves Jacquemain	Africa Rallye Team	23:42:39	Recap
Quad	186	Alexandre Giroud*	Drag’on Rally Team	21:07:24	Recap
Open Auto	601	Jérôme Cambier*	MD Rallye Sport	21:21:46	Recap
Open SSV	653	Tomas Mickus*	BRO Racing	21:42:23	Recap
Road to Dakar Bike	71	Toby Hederics*	BAS World KTM Racing Team	19:11:16	Recap
Road to Dakar SSV	420	William Grarre*	Team Horizon Off-Road	21:50:39	Recap

* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

Stage recaps

Stage	Date	Overall Cars Winner	Overall Bikes Winner	Recap
Prologue	13 October	Mattias Ekström	Tosha Schareina*	Recap
Stage #1	14 October	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ross Branch	Recap
Stage #2	15 October	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Tosha Schareina*	Recap
Stage #3	16 October	Mattias Ekström	Tosha Schareina*	Recap
Stage #4	17 October	Stéphane Peterhansel	Luciano Benavides	Recap
Stage #5	18 October	Orlando Terranova	Pablo Quintanilla	Recap