Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi & Timo Gottschalk finish 4th overall & 3rd in FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) after Rally of Morocco
Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk finished fourth overall and third of the registered crews for the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) after a punishing five stages of the Rally of Morocco.
Difficult weather conditions affected the early stages of the event in North Africa but the Toyota crew claimed one stage win and held second place for a time before finishing fourth. The result was enough to confirm the runner-up spots for the crew in the Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championships.
With Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz coming home in fifth place, Toyota Gazoo Racing also retained the W2RC Manufacturers’ Championship.
Al-Rajhi said: “Congratulations to everyone in the team. Thanks to Timo for a nice season and all his hard work. We finished second in the championship and Toyota won the Manufacturers’ Championship. This season second and next season we will be first…”
Overdrive Racing’s Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished eighth after a storming last stage and Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and his Spanish co-driver Daniel Oliveras fought back from early delays to finish 10th in the third Overdrive Hilux.
Hernan Garces made the transition from the side-by-side categories to drive an Overdrive Racing Toyota alongside Juan Pablo Latrach. The Chilean finished 22nd. Pole Martin Kaczmarski and his French co-driver Xavier Panseri retired the last of the Overdrive Toyotas.
Toyota Gazoo Racing entered a second car for Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón. The duo claimed one stage win before falling back to an eventual 14th after a throttle pedal breakage.
The 25.45km Prologue stage only determined the starting order for the opening Zagora loop stage but the rocky terrain caused its fair share of problems with punctures hampering several drivers, including Al-Rajhi. As a result, Moraes led the way for the Toyotas in fifth, with Krotov and Quintero in 10th and 11th. Martin Kaczmarski was 21st, Garces held 24th, Al-Rajhi was 31st and Yacopini was down in 66th.
Flash flooding had affected the road section between the start and Prologue in Marrakech and the transfer section to the night halt in Zagora. Many competitors arrived late to the bivouac as a result and race officials were left with no option other than to rearrange the schedule. The route of stage two through the M’hamid region was used for stage one and shortened to 177.17km and the opening stage was used for stage two.
Al-Rajhi shadowed stage winner Al-Attiyah to the finish to move into second place, a mere 1min 39sec behind the Qatari. Moraes and Yacopini were ninth and 11th and Quintero and Krotov came home in 18th and 19th.
Gottschalk said: “We had a good rhythm and made it a bit careful in the beginning in the rocks. Then, at the descent in the dunes and the off-piste, we were speeding up a bit and catching up some time on Nasser. It was a tough stage and really hot in the car, demanding for body and car.”
Stage two looped through the famous Chegaga dunes and sandy terrain around Zagora for 266.42km. Moraes claimed his fifth W2RC win of the season by just 13 seconds from Al-Attiyah and climbed to third in the rankings behind the Qatari and Guillaume de Mévius. Al-Rajhi lost over 11 minutes to the leaders and slipped back to sixth. Quintero and Krotov were ninth and 12th overall and Yacopini held 16th.
The route then headed from Zagora to Mengoub-Bouârfa for a third stage of 324.23km, where large lakes were evident amongst the dunes after intense recent rainfall.
Moraes opened the road after his stage win but stopped for over an hour with a broken throttle pedal after 128km. Sébastien Loeb claimed the fastest time and Al-Rajhi, Quintero and Krotov came home in ninth, sixth and eighth with the Saudi climbed a place to fifth and Quintero and Krotov moving up to sixth and seventh in the general classification after another pass through the Chegaga dunes.
Stage four looped around the dunes and desert terrain near Mengoub-Bouârfa for 315.05km. Al-Rajhi was the fastest of the W2RC drivers to claim the stage win and the five bonus points to maintain fifth overall.
The Saudi reduced Al-Attiyah’s unofficial W2RC Championship lead to 32 points with 35 at stake on the final day. Quintero and Yacopini held sixth and 11th but Krotov slipped back to 12th.
The final stage meandered through desert terrain around Mengoub-Bouârfa for 271.82km. Al-Rajhi opened the road, did enough to secure fourth place after late problems for one of his rivals and sealed the runner-up spot in the championship on a stage where Quintero, Krotov and Moraes were second, third and fourth quickest.
2024 Rally du Maroc – final result (top 20):
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider 14hr 26min 34sec
2. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider 14hr 31min 44sec*
3. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0D 14hr 40min 19sec
4. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 14hr 50min 04sec
5. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (DEU) Toyota GR DKR Hilux 14hr 56min 05sec
6. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor RS 15hr 13min 50sec
7. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Alex Haro (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 15hr 14min 11sec
8. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ANA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 15hr 21min 19sec
9. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Taurus T3 Max 15hr 24min 02sec
10. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 15hr 24min 57sec
11. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Mini JCW Rally 3.0D 15hr 30min 20sec
12. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 15hr 41min 32sec
13. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentina Pertegarini (ARG) Taurus T3 Max 15hr 43min 55sec
14. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota GR DKR Hilux 15hr 47min 39sec
15. Marcos Baumgart (BRA)/Kleber Cincea (BRA) Prodrive Hunter 15hr 50min 14sec
16. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) Taurus T3 Max 15hr 55min 43sec
17. Rui Carneiro (PRT)/Ole Floene (NOR) G Rally Team OT3 16hr 11min 31sec*
18. Isidre Esteve Pujol (ESP)/José-Maria Villalobos (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 16hr 11min 38sec*
19. João Dias (PRT)/João Miranda (PRT) G Rally Team OT3 16hr 36min 49sec*
20. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) G Rally Team OT3 16hr 41min 25sec*
22. Hernan Garces (CHL)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 16hr 46min 08sec*
Martin Kaczmarski (POL)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive DNF*
*denotes not registered for W2RC
