W2RC – Dacia and X-Raid Mini to debut new vehicles because the 2024 season reaches its conclusion in Morocco
Dacia and X-Raid Mini will debut new vehicles when the 2024 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) reaches its conclusion with the Rallye du Maroc on October 4-11.
Of the staggering 125 entrants throughout the Final, Challenger, SSV and Inventory classes, 33 are registered for factors within the W2RC.
Dacia has been growing the Sandrider at the side of the Renault Group and Prodrive for a number of months away from the highlight of worldwide competitors and W2RC Championship chief Nasser Al-Attiyah and his French co-driver Edouard Boulanger will spearhead the workforce’s three-car problem over a Prologue and 5 desert particular levels in North Africa.
The Spanish duo of Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno and nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin will crew the opposite two vehicles however aren’t registered for the W2RC. Al-Attiyah is trying to win the W2RC Drivers’ Championship for a 3rd successive season and can be aiming to defend a 25-point lead on the ultimate spherical.
The Sandrider took inspiration from the Dacia Manifesto idea automobile, runs on artificial gas made by Aramco and is powered by a three-litre, V6 twin-turbo engine.
X-Raid, in the meantime, will debut the brand new Mini JCW Rally 3.0i in Morocco. That is the primary petrol-powered automobile to be developed by the Trebur-based operation and makes use of the RS24 engine that has been examined extensively in Germany, France, Poland, Spain and Morocco since June. As Staff Principal of the X-Raid Mini John Cooper Works Staff Sven Quandt defined: “For a few years, we’ve fielded the Mini with a diesel engine and we’ve been very profitable with BMW diesel engines and received the Dakar Rally six instances. Our improvement groups have spent the final 9 months engaged on the high-performance turbo petrol engine with Alpina.”
French driver Guerlain Chicherit labored with X-Raid on the growing of the unique Mini All4 Racing again within the days of the Dakar in South America and he and Alex Winocq will crew the brand new machine. He stated: “My profession began with X-Raid within the BMW X3 CC. We examined and developed many automobiles collectively. I’ve learnt loads lately and now I’m again once more.”
Belgian driver Guillaume de Mévius introduced a few weeks earlier than the occasion that he had left Overdrive Racing and signed a multi-year cope with the X-Raid workforce and he traces up in North Africa with defending championship-winning co-driver Mathieu Baumel in a diesel model of the Mini JCW Rally. The Portuguese pairing of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro crew a second diesel-engined Mini.
Toyota is ready to subject 9 Hiluxes with Overdrive Racing offering full help for the entrants. Yazeed Al-Rajhi is Al-Attiyah’s closest title challenger and the Saudi groups up with German navigator Timo Gottschalk in a bid to upstage the Qatari and win the W2RC for the primary time. Al-Rajhi received in Morocco final season.
Brazilian driver Lucas Moraes is chasing a prime three end within the Drivers’ Championship and he traces up in one in every of two Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hiluxes with co-driver Armand Monleón. Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz crew the second TGR Toyota. Toyota Gazoo Racing presently leads Nasser Racing by Prodrive by 30 factors within the W2RC Producers’ Championship.
Overdrive Racing can be working Toyotas for Juan Cruz Yacopini, Denis Krotov, Martin Kaczmarski and Hernan Garces, whereas the Mintimes Yunxang Rally Staff fields two Chinese language machines for Guoyu Zhang and Yicheng Wang.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz is a four-time winner of the Dakar Rally and holds fourth place within the W2RC Drivers’ Championship. He and co-driver Lucas Cruz will crew the newest model of M-Sport Ford’s new Raptor in a workforce the place Mattias Ekström will drive a second automobile alongside co-driver Emil Berkvist. These crews received’t rating any level within the W2RC, as they drive automobiles complying with the 2025 technical laws.
Different drivers aiming for Final class success embody the Czech veteran Martin Prokop (Ford Raptor RS), Marcos Baumgart (Prodrive Hunter), Mathieu Serradori (Century CR7-T), Eugenio Amos (MD Optimus) and Pau Navarro (Ford Ranger).
Baciuška on the verge of W2RC Challenger glory
Eleven of the 38 entrants within the Challenger class are registered for W2RC factors however the Can-Am Manufacturing facility Staff’s Rokas Baciuška is a handful of factors away from clinching the W2RC Championship. The Lithuanian arrives in Morocco with an enormous 43-point benefit within the standings and groups up with Spanish navigator Oriol Vidal on this event.
Nicolas Cavigliasso of Argentina is the one rival with a mathematical likelihood of stopping Baciuška from securing the title and he groups up with Valentina Pertegarini within the first of a quartet of Taurus T3 Max machines chasing championship factors.
Marcelo Gastaldi and Dania Akeel are realistically chasing third place within the championship of their Taurus T3s the place in addition they face the likes of Mitch Guthrie and the highly-competitive Polish trio of Eryk, Marek and Michal Goczal of their Energylandia Rally Staff machines.
Collection chief Guayasamin tops bumper SSV subject
Six of the 36 SSV entrants are registered for the W2RC and the entire title contenders are current in North Africa.
Ecuador’s Sebastian Guayasamin presently holds a six-point cushion over Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Saeidan (Can-Am) within the Drivers’ Championship. The BE Racing Can-Am Maverick driver once more groups up with Argentine navigator Fernando Acosta who holds second within the co-drivers’ title race behind Portugal’s Fausto Mota.
4 drivers might probably snatch the title on the ultimate spherical: Spaniard Ricardo Ramilo is third within the standings and solely 14 factors adrift of Saeidan, whereas Rebecca Busi is fourth and a most factors’ rating might see the Italian topping the standings after the final occasion.
Different W2RC-registered contenders embody the fifth-placed Italian Enrico Gaspari (Polaris) and French veteran Claude Fournier (Can-Am).
Many drivers will use the occasion as a pre-Dakar shakedown and there may be energy in depth all through the SSV part. The Can-Am Manufacturing facility Staff has entered a pair of latest Maverick Rs for a number of Dakar winner Francisco Lopez and new American team-mate Hunter Miller.
This 12 months’s Rallye du Maroc begins in Marrakech and heads through Zagora to a end in Mengoub Bouarfa in jap Morocco. A complete of two,468 kilometres are on the agenda, 1,512 km of that are in opposition to the clock.
2024 Rally du Maroc – W2RC rivals:
Final 200. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia Sandrider201. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) – Toyota Hilux Overdrive202. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) – Toyota GR DKR Hilux205. Guerlain Chicherit (FRA)/Alex Winocq (FRA) – Mini JCW Rally 3.0i206. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA) – Mini JCW Rally 3.0D207. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (DEU) – Toyota GR DKR Hilux208. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ANA) – Toyota Hilux Overdrive209. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) – Ford Raptor RS210. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) – Mini JCW Rally 3.0D211. Marcos Baumgart (BRA)/Kleber Cincea (BRA) – Prodrive Hunter214. Mathieu Serradori (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) – Century CR7-T215. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) – Toyota Hilux Overdrive218. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Alejandro Lopez (ESP) – Ford Ranger T1+223. Aliyyah Koloc (SYC)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) – Pink-Lined Revo+229. Eugenio Amos (ITA)/Paolo Ceci (ITA) – Toyota Hilux Overdrive234. Jean-Luc Ceccaldi (FRA)/Delphine Delfino (FRA) – MD Optimus Challenger 300. Rokas Baciuška (LTU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) – Can-Am Maverick X3301. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentina Pertegarini (ARG) – Taurus T3 Max302. Marcelo Gastaldi (BRA)/Carlos Sachs (BRA) – Taurus T3 Max303. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) – Taurus T3 Max304. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) – Taurus T3 Max305. Ricardo Porém (PRT)/Nuno Sousa (PRT) – MMP T3 Rally-Raid306. Mario Franco (PRT)/Rui Franco (PRT) – Yamaha YXZ 1000R Turbo307. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Alex Haro (ESP) – Taurus T3 Max308. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) – Taurus T3 Max311. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) – GRally Staff OT3322. Michal Goczal (POL)/Diego Ortega (ESP) – Taurus T3 Max SSV 400. Sebastian Guayasamin (ECU)/Fernando Acosta (ARG) – Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR401. Yasir Seaidan (SAU)/Michaël Metge (FRA) – Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR402. Ricardo Ramilo (ESP)/Sergi Brugue (ESP) – Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR403. Rebecca Busi (ITA)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) – Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR404. Enrico Gaspari (ITA)/Ricardo Torlaschi (ARG) – Polaris RZR Professional R Sport405. Claude Fournier (FRA)/Serge Gounon (FRA) – Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR
2024 W2RC Drivers’ Championship – after spherical 4:
General (prime 10) 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT), 156pts2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU), 131pts3. Lucas Moraes (BRA), 103pts4. Carlos Sainz (ESP), 100pts5. Guerlain Chicherit (FRA), 69pts6. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL), 65pts7. Rokas Baciuška (LTU), 60pts8. Seth Quintero (USA), 55pts9. Denis Krotov (KGZ), 44pts10. Martin Prokop (CZE), 36pts Challenger (prime 5) 1. Rokas Baciuška (LTU), 209pts2. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG), 166pts3. Marcelo Gastaldi (BRA), 130pts4. Austin Jones (USA), 126pts5. Dania Akeel (SAU), 103pts SSV (prime 5) 1. Sebastian Guayasamin (ECU), 161pts2. Yasir Saeidan (SAU), 155pts3. Ricardo Ramilo (ESP), 141pts4. Rebecca Busi (ITA), 120pts5. Enrico Gaspari (ITA), 75pts
Timetable of occasions
Friday, October 4 Administration checks – Lodge Barcelo Palmeraie (09.00-19.00hrs)Scrutineering – Lodge Barcelo Palmeraie (10.00-20.00hrs) Saturday, October 5 Administration checks – Lodge Barcelo Palmeraie (08.00-18.00hrs)Scrutineering – Lodge Barcelo Palmeraie (09.00-19.00hrs)Pre-event press convention – Lodge Barcelo Palmeraie (18.20hrs) Sunday, October 6 Prologue stage – 25km -Marrakech (TBA) Monday, October 7 Stage 1: Marrakech to Zagora – 268km – TBA Tuesday, October 8 Stage 2: Zagora to Zagora – 317km – TBA Wednesday, October 9 Stage 3: Zagora to Mengoub-Bouârfa – 318km – TBA Thursday, October 10 Stage 4: Mengoub-Bouârfa to Mengoub-Bouârfa – 312km – TBA Friday, October 11 Stage 5: Mengoub-Bouârfa to Mengoub-Bouârfa – 272km – TBAPost-event press convention – Mengoub-Bouârfa bivouac (18.30hrs)Prize giving ceremony – Rallye du Maroc Mengoub-Bouârfa bivouac (20.00hrs)Prize giving ceremony – W2RC Mengoub-Bouârfa bivouac (to comply with above)
