Rally of Morocco – Virtual champion, Lucas Moraes confident of his strength for the W2RC title

The battle for the world championship title rally-raid (W2RC) concerns Lucas Moraes more than ever (Toyota). On the evening of the second stage of the Rally of Morocco, the official Toyota Gazoo Racing driver occupies 2nd place in the general classification, just 47 seconds behind the leaders Roma-Haro Ford). Above all, he is almost 10 minutes ahead of the leader of the W2RC, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia).

As things stand, Lucas Moraes would virtually be crowned champion. The Brazilian started the final 10 points behind Al-Attiyah. However, the 25 points for 2nd place overall would allow him to overtake the Qatari, who would only score the 11 points for 7th place. The gap would be 4 points in Moraes' favor. This calculation does not take into account stage points (points awarded to the top 5 drivers: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1). In this case, Lucas Moraes would still be crowned champion, but with a larger margin: 5 points. Of course, the Rally of Morocco hierarchy will evolve over the three remaining stages.

This doesn't stop Lucas Moraes from smiling at the Erfoud bivouac. “The battle for the title is more present than ever, and we will continue in the same way. I am focusing on the race day by day, without thinking about the state of the championship. In any case, the Rally classification and the championship are linked in the quest for the title. We will have to finish among the leaders. We discuss strategies with the staff every evening. And now, Nasser (Al-Attiyah) is forced to catch up with us. So, we are in an advantageous situation."

Especially since Nasser Al-Attiyah will open the third special stage scheduled for Wednesday, which usually makes it more difficult to set the best time. "We'll be starting in third place again, which is positive. The second stage went better than the first, despite appearances. We started in third place in the starting order, and we finished in the same position. This proves that the pace is there, and that's important. The special went smoothly."

The Brazilian experienced some difficulties in the final sector of Stage 2, which he approached when the sun was at its zenith. Reading the terrain in the dunes was difficult. "It was tough because there was no shade, and visibility was poor. Also, as I was in third place in the dunes, there were almost no tracks to find my way around."

“The Rally of Morocco is a very demanding event. We must be extra vigilant to avoid wasting a great opportunity for a result. I am sorry for what happened to Henk (Lategan) and Seth (Quintero) and their mechanical problems.”

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