Due to an injury he sustained earlier in the year, Amine Echiguer will have to follow his home country’s World Rally-Raid Championship round from the sidelines.
Echiguer has struggled with injuries since 2023 when he broke his collarbone at the Morocco Desert Challenge. He expressed hope of being back on the bike in July, though he found he was still not in shape to race.
Rally Raid Spirit reported his withdrawal from the Rallye du Maroc on Wednesday, which Echiguer confirmed shortly after.
In 2022, he won four of five stages in Rally3 at the Rallye du Maroc. A third at the season-ending Andalucía Rally clinched him the inaugural W2RC Rally3 title.
The Moroccan mainly focused on national rallies in 2023 before entering the 2024 Africa Eco Race in January. After taking the Over 450cc class lead early on, he was forced to retire three days in when the rear wheel and shock broke on his bike. Mechanical issues also knocked him out of the MDC in April. He won the Carta Rallye between the AER and MDC.
Echiguer was one of eight riders entered in Rally3 for the Rallye du Maroc. The class is reserved mainly for enduro bikes such as his KTM 450 EXC-F, which he has noted struggles in rallies compared to bikes intended for the discipline like those in Rally2, as evidenced by the aforementioned exits.
The 2024 Rallye du Maroc will take place on 6–11 October.