Despite flooding, Baja Morocco to proceed as scheduled

As Morocco is hit by historic levels of rain and flooding, the latter of which has killed at least eleven people, the Baja Morocco is still scheduled to proceed on 23–27 September. Of course, race officials plan to tweak the roadbook to account for the environmental developments.

The race’s main bivouac is located in Merzouga, located by Erg Chebbi in eastern Morocco and a common host site for the World Rally-Raid Championship’s Rallye du Maroc. The village and erg were heavily impacted by flooding from the torrential downpours that began on 6 September, resulting in a very unusual landscape for the region with massive lakes and rivers.

The flooding has been described as some of the worst the country had faced. South of Merzouga, the dry lake at Iriqui National Park was filled with water, a very uncommon occurrence since the Draa River was dammed in the 1970s. At least eleven have been killed by the floods while nine more are missing, and additional deaths have been reported in neighbouring Algeria as well. Much of the flash flooding can be attributed to infrastructure that is not able to withstand the heavy rainfall, mainly because of how rare it is in the desert.

Given the circumstances, Baja Morocco’s leadership has been busy at work to get everything ready in time.

“It has been a very tough, very difficult two days,” said race director Sébastien Delaunay. “I got stuck for almost forty-eight hours, but I’m now back and what I can tell you is that we are already working to reopen everything and the situation is going on the right direction now. Most of the river bed is becoming dry and the government is working to reduce the roads so we are not worried at all for the event. Baja Morocco will be there. I’m in contact also with local authorities, local people to help them.

“We are sure in two weeks everything will be ready to welcome you and you will have a very nice track, I’m sure of that. Maybe I have to modify some sections, but from what I saw till now, all the parts of the plateau mountain are just a little bit more damaged but not broken. All the parts on the riverbed will be dry. We will work on it to make it ready for Baja Morocco.”

It is not the first time Baja Morocco has had to deal with natural disasters. The 2023 edition took place a month after the strongest recorded earthquake in the country’s history, a magnitude 6.9 quake that killed at least 2,960 people. Officials from Baja Morocco, Rallye du Maroc, and the Morocco Desert Challenge assisted in humanitarian efforts by donating warm clothing and blankets for the winter.

The race will span five stages with 1,226 kilometres in Selective Sections and 42 km on the road, making it a 1,268-km event. Merzouga will serve as the start and finish for each leg.

Baja Morocco is an amateur rally overseen by the same organisers as the Carta Rallye in March. Founded in 2021 as the Baja SSV Morocco for side-by-sides only, it has since expanded to include bikes and cars.