The entry list for the 27th edition of the Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc, the 4th round of the championship, which will take place between Agadir and Zagora from September 28 to October 3, has revealed a total of 245 FIA-FIM vehicles, including 183 championship entries, broken down as follows: 131 FIM (8 RallyGP, 110 Rally2, 10 Rally3 and 3 Quads) and 48 FIA (32 Ultimate, 4 Stock, 6 Challenger and 6 SSV). In both the motorcycle and car categories, the gaps between the top three in the standings have narrowed considerably after Argentina. Everything is up for grabs again ahead of the finale, with their points totals almost reset.
In the motorcycle category, after two consecutive RallyGP victories, reigning world champion Daniel Sanders is now neck and neck with Tosha Schareina (-3 points). But Luciano Benavides, the Dakar winner, is only 6 points behind the leader. In Rally2, Martim Ventura holds a 4-point lead over Toni Mulec, with the other Honda rider, Preston Campbell, sandwiched between them. In Rally3, Murun Purevdorj and Alan Eduardo are separated by just one point. In the Quads, Antanas Kanopkinas, the defending winner of the race with his CF Moto, leads the championship and starts as one of the favourites.
In the car category, Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al Attiyah will also arrive separated by just 3 points, ahead of Seth Quintero (-13 points), winner of the previous round. All three manufacturers entered in the championship (Dacia, Toyota and Ford) will be at full strength. In Stock, Stéphane Peterhansel, winner in Argentina, has closed the gap to 29 points behind his Defender teammate Rokas Baciuska. In Challenger, another duel is expected between Puck Klaassen’s KTM X-Bow and Alexandre Pinto’s Taurus from the BBR stable (-9 points), while the same 9-point gap separates Jeremias Ferioli’s South Racing Can-Am and Mindaugas Sidabras’ Izoton-liveried machine in SSV.
FIM: SANDERS-SCHAREINA, THE REMATCH?
In RallyGP, all three manufacturers competing in the championship are planning to field all their riders fit to start in Agadir.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (131 manufacturer points) with Daniel Sanders, Luciano Benavides and Edgar Canet. Monster Energy Honda HRC (126 manufacturer points) with Tosha Schareina, Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren. Hero Motosports (52 manufacturer points) with Ignacio Cornejo.
The top four in the championship (Sanders, Schareina, Benavides and Brabec) are also the four standout riders from the last two editions in Morocco. Sanders and Schareina battled for victory, with the Australian prevailing in 2024 and the Spaniard last year. Behind them, Benavides made the podium two years ago and Brabec last year. For the American, this will notably be his “last dance” in Morocco. Ricky has announced that the 2027 Dakar will be his final motorcycle race.
Conversely, for Skyler Howes, the last American to win the event (2022), the Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc will mark a new beginning. For him, but also for ZX Moto, the Chinese manufacturer already involved in Supersport and now making its debut in rally-raid.
In Rally2, the factory teams entered include Hero Motosports with Michael Docherty and India’s Shlok Ghorpade, Monster Energy Honda HRC with Martim Ventura and Preston Campbell, Sherco TVS with Harith Noah, and Kove with Sunier Sunier and Neels Theric. ZX Moto is also entering the second division with the returning Tobias Ebster.
Michael Docherty, who crashed on his Hero debut in Argentina, is no longer in contention for the championship. The South African, runner-up in Rally2 here last year (behind Edgar Canet, who has since moved up to RallyGP), will be eager to bounce back. The same applies to Duust rider Konrad Dabrowski, third in 2025, who finds himself in a similar situation. Tobias Ebster finished fourth at the time. But HRC factory riders Ventura (69 points) and Campbell (52 points) were discovering Morocco back then. They have since gained valuable experience and are already challenging Mulec (65 points), the privateer BAS World KTM rider who won Rally2 at the Dakar.
FIA: DACIA, THIRD TIME LUCKY?
In Ultimate, as in the motorcycle category, all three manufacturers entered in the championship will field their full line-up of factory drivers. The Dacia Sandriders (315 manufacturer points) with Sébastien Loeb, Nasser Al Attiyah and Lucas Moraes; Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC (250 manufacturer points) with Henk Lategan, Seth Quintero and Akira Miura; Toyota Gazoo Racing SA with Joao Ferreira, Saood Variawa and Guy Botterill; Ford Racing (175 manufacturer points) with Carlos Sainz, Nani Roma, Mattias Ekstrom and Mitch Guthrie.
Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel will represent X-raid in a Mini after their podium finish here in 2024. Century Racing will be able to count on its factory driver Mathieu Serradori. Yazeed Al Rajhi, the last driver to win the race for Toyota (2023), will lead the charge for Overdrive Racing.
Behind the battle for the championship podium, five drivers are separated by just 7 points in the fight for fourth place. Nani Roma, who finished on the podium in Morocco in 2025, has 59 points. He leads Lucas Moraes (57 pts), Henk Lategan (56 pts), Mattias Ekstrom (53 pts) and Joao Ferreira (52 pts).
Among the notable moves in the car categories, Eryk Goczal and his father Marek Goczal have switched to Ford Raptors. Two Saudi drivers who have been prominent in Challenger and SSV will also move up to the car categories. Dania Akeel will contest her first World Championship race in Ultimate with Overdrive Racing. Yasir Seaidan, the 2024 SSV champion, will move to the Stock category with Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body.
Dacia has a special history with the Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc. It was at this event that the Sandrider made its rally-raid debut in 2024, making an immediate impact with victory for Nasser Al Attiyah. Sébastien Loeb followed that up in 2025 with his first victory in the event. At the same time, the Qatari, a record seven-time winner of the race, lost his bid for the world championship title in the final timed section, handing Lucas Moraes his first crown… just before the Brazilian, then racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC, joined The Dacia Sandriders for 2026. Dacia remains unbeaten in Morocco and will arrive in Agadir with two cars occupying the top two positions in the championship. The Brazilian, fifth in the championship, finished second overall here last year. Everything is in place for Dacia to make it three wins in a row.
