Morocco Rally, Stage 5 – Yazeed Al-Rajhi big winner, Stéphane Peterhansel stopped

Rally of Morocco 2023 – Ranking Stage 5:

General classification :

• Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk (Toyota) won the 2023 Rally of Morocco this Wednesday, October 18 in Merzouga. The Saudi driver signs his second victory of the season W2RC after the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in February. He secures the place of vice-world champion thanks to this unprecedented performance for a Saudi on the Rally of Morocco:

✌️ Second round win of the season 🤩
🏆 @YazeedRacing and Timo Gottschalk!# W2RC #FIA #RallyOfMorocco #RDM2023 pic.twitter.com/8li5qkCwIY

- World Rally-Raid Championship @ 🏍 (@ OfficialW2RC) October 18, 2023

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• This last stage, traced in the form of a loop around the dunes of Merzouga, once again caused major upheavals in the ranking. Second this morning, 4 minutes from Al-Rajhi-Gottschalk, Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger (Audi) were disillusioned at the first line of dunes following a mechanical problem. Stopped for several hours, the French turned back towards the bivouac.
• Starting again despite several hours of penalty the day after a transmission breakage, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) were again faced with a mechanical breakdown after only 6 km of racing. The double W2RC world champions are stuck and should also turn back.
• Lost for several tens of minutes, Juan Cruz Yacopini and Daniel Oliveiras (Toyota) lost their 3rd place to Nani Roma and Alex Haro. The Spaniards had a remarkable finish, going from 10th to 3rd place in the space of two days! The 2014 Dakar winner's caution paid off for the Ford Ranger T1+'s debut on the W2RC scene.