Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc's dramatic off-road odyssey scales mighty dunes of the Sahara Desert
The majestic dunes of the Sahara Desert are shaking things up at the Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc. It’s two stages down, three to go at the penultimate stop of the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship. The drama in the desert has been relentless and there’s still over 1,500 kilometres to cover before we reach Saturday’s finish line.
In the Ultimate class it’s Lucas Moraes leading the rankings following Wednesday’s 300km loop around the Zagora bivouac, described as “one of the toughest stages in the history of Rallye du Maroc”. The Brazilian clinched the W2RC title in Morocco last year and on his return to the Sahara has a race win for Dacia in his sights.
“It was tricky opening in the dunes. We had a puncture about 30km from the finish which cost us some time, but we’re still in the mix.” – Lucas Moraes
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan pushed Moraes all the way for last season’s W2RC title. The South African is currently breathing down Moraes's neck again as the duo are separated by less than half a minute at the summit of the general classification.
“Today the car was performing like a machine and never missed a beat the whole way.” – Henk Lategan
Carlos Sainz has ensured there’s three manufacturers represented on the overall podium after Stage 2. The Spaniard’s Ford Raptor T1+ is within three minutes of Moraes with a trio of challenging desert stages left to race.
“It was a clean stage with no issues, quite OK for us. Every time you finish with no big issues you can have no complaints.” – Carlos Sainz
Sainz has a full pack of Ford team-mates to call on for support as he targets the race win with Mattias Ekström, Nani Roma and Mitch Guthrie Jr. all placed within the Top 10 overall.
Seth Quintero arrived in Morocco sitting third in the W2RC’s Ultimate rankings, but he may end up leaving North Africa in first place. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver is just over five minutes off Moraes and could bag himself a bunch of World Championship points if the remaining three stages of the rally go his way.
“We’re in front of our championship rivals and hopefully we can keep it that way. There are three long days to go.” – Seth Quintero
Meanwhile, Sébastien Loeb who led the W2RC before this penultimate round suffered a mechanical issue on Stage 1 that put him out of contention for serious points in Morocco. On Stage 2, Loeb’s Dacia team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah suffered a similar fate when he lost 45 minutes fixing an issue on his car. Al-Attiyah was towed the final 9km of the stage by his championship rival Loeb.
“We were leading today’s stage, but right near the end the gearbox started to make a noise. Then the car stopped completely.” – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Also taking the rough with the smooth in Morocco have been Ultimate class drivers Guillaume De Mévius (MINI), Cristina Gutiérrez (Santana), Dania Akeel (Toyota) and Laia Sanz (EBRO). After a tough couple of days on the dunes these drivers are still in the race with three stages remaining.
“Stage 2 was a challenging stage and one of the best that I’ve experienced in terms of learning because you had everything at a tough level. It’s a stage that can help you to become a better driver.” – Dania Akeel
Unfortunately for Kevin Benavides his Rallye du Maroc came to a premature end on Stage 2 due to a crash on the loop around Zagora. Both Kevin and co-driven Lisandro Sisterna were shaken by the accident, but both are looking forward to getting back to racing soon.
14-time Dakar Rally winner Stéphane Peterhansel accelerated away from the rest of the Stock class field to take victory on Stage 2. The Frenchman is on target to make a significant dent into the 29-point W2RC advantage that his Defender team-mate Rokas Baciuška previously held over him.
“Just before one wadi there was a lot of fesh fesh so I hesitated and reduced the speed. In that moment we got stuck in the sand. After that I decided to push and go as fast as possible.” – Stéphane Peterhansel
Matthias Walkner has wasted no time getting to grips with his Can-Am Maverick. The 2018 Dakar bike race winner is carrying on a fabulous first season on four wheels in the W2RC. Walkner leads the SSV class ahead of three more huge loop stages around the Zagora bivouac.
“I tried not to risk too much, but at the end we got a puncture on a big rock that we hit. Overall it was a good day, but very intense all the way.” – Matthias Walkner
Missing out on victory at last year’s Rally du Maroc prevented Daniel Sanders from a clean sweep of wins as he took the 2025 W2RC title. The Australian is clearly out to right that wrong on this trip to the Sahara Desert. Sanders followed up his Prologue win with another victory on Stage 2 to take the overall lead of the RallyGP class. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider showed trademark resilience to get back up after a crash at the start of the 300km timed special stage.
“I had a big crash at the beginning at Kilometre 8 because of a missing note. I’m happy with the ride and to make it to the finish line while pushing as much as possible.” – Daniel Sanders
Sanders is joined in the hunt for World Championship points by KTM team-mates Edgar Canet and Luciano Benavides. 21-year-old Canet is currently third overall as he chases down his maiden W2RC podium finish in the RallyGP class.
“I’m satisfied with my performance today. I gave 100 percent from the start until the finish. It was really sketchy in some rocky places.” – Edgar Canet
There was further valuable dune racing experience collected by Benjamin Herrera and Harith Noah in the Rally2 class. Today’s mix of sand and stones is perfect preparation for the challenges that define cross-country rally racing at the elite level.
With so much unpredictability on the timesheets during the opening two stages of the rally, there’s no way of knowing just how the final three stages will play out. The only guarantee is that the W2RC rankings will look very different once the dust finally settles in Zagora on Saturday, October 3. Stay tuned to all Red Bull Desert Wings and Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc channels for all the latest action from the Saharan dunes.
