- The third stage of the 26th edition of the Rallye du Maroc once again took place over a loop around Erfoud, covering 326 kilometers, including 323 kilometers of special stage.
- In the bikes, Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC), yesterday's victor, took the win again today. The Spaniard finished ahead of Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Ricky Brabec's Honda. In the overall standings, Schareina gained only 5 seconds on Sanders, who remains the leader by 38 seconds.
- In cars, Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) ended Dacia's three-race winning streak. But Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders), 3rd on the day, took the overall lead.
- Stage 4 will take place tomorrow over 379 km, including 284 km of special stage, culminating in the magnificent scenery of Djebel Zireg. Follow the action on the Race Center from 7:15 a.m. (UTC +1).
In the motorcycle category, the three leading contenders on this 26th edition of the Rallye du Maroc battled it out again today. By his own admission, Ricky Brabec (+3'13''), winner of the prologue, was unable to challenge Tosha Schareina, who won yesterday, or Daniel Sanders, winner of stage 1 (see Quotes). Schareina pulled off the feat of opening the special stage without being caught by the factory KTM rider who was hot on his heels. The Spaniard therefore pocketed all the bonuses reserved for the opener (2'06''). At the finish, the Australian was beaten by just 5 seconds. A handful of seconds that narrows the gap in the overall standings to 38 seconds in favor of “Chucky”, the winner of the 2024 Rallye du Maroc. Brabec drops to 7'23" in the overall standings.
In the car category, teammates Henk Lategan and Seth Quintero, who were slowed yesterday by mechanical issues, were the strong performers of the day. Starting in 20th and 21st place, the factory Toyota drivers finished in that order with a gap of 46 seconds. The Dacias of Sébastien Loeb (+57“) and opener Nasser Al Attiyah (+1'42”) were the cars that resisted the best. The overall podium, this morning featured Nani Roma (Ford M-Sport), Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) and Joao Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing). This evening only the Brazilian maintains his position. Loeb takes the lead in the Rallye du Maroc ahead of Moraes (+3'25“) and Mattias Ekström (Ford M-Sport, +4'33”). Al Attiyah, 20th the day before yesterday (+12'40"), 7th yesterday (+10'26'‘), has climbed to 5th place tonight (+7'08’'). The winner of the 2024 edition has reduced his deficit by a third and made excellent progress in his quest for a fourth consecutive world title against Moraes, now only 4'08'' ahead of him (see W2RC).
W2RC: THE POINT!
Fourth on the day, Nasser Al Attiyah pockets two stage points in the FIA championship. He does better than his rival for the title, Lucas Moraes (9th), who scores none. The Qatari regains some breathing space over the Brazilian, who is now 11 points behind. Winner of the special stage, Henk Lategan is now 10 points behind Al Attiyah, but his poor position in the overall race standings (16th among the Ultimate cars entered in the W2RC) greatly reduces his chances of winning the title.
