Rallye du Maroc - Prologue: Already Trouble for Loeb!

Sébastien Loeb broke a suspension wishbone on the 25km Prologue. The fastest time was set by Guerlain Chicherit in a new Mini. Carlos Sainz took his Ford to 3rd place.

Published 06/10/2024 à 13:58

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Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) had problems this Sunday. Photo DPPI / Julien Delfosse

Ranking Rally Morocco 2024 – Prologue:

The 2024 Rallye du Maroc began this Sunday, October 6, with a 25 km Prologue north of Marrakech. While it has no effect on the general classification, it does allow competitors to calibrate themselves and determine their starting position for the first special stage scheduled for Monday.
This short run-in was still eventful for Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (Dacia). On their new 4x4 Sandrider developed by the Romanian manufacturer and Prodrive, the Franco-Belgian duo broke a front right suspension triangle against a bleed. A trap that also took the Prodrive Hunter of the Brazilian Marcos Baumgart by surprise:

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Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin were able to repair their Dacia and finished almost 23 minutes behind the day's winners, Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq. The crew is breaking in the new Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i, the 4x4 freshly developed by X-Raid by swapping the usual diesel engine for a turbo petrol unit.
The virtual podium is completed by the Portuguese rookie Joao Ferreira (Mini JCW) and the Spaniard Carlos Sainz. "El Matador" demonstrates here the potential of its new Ford Raptor T1+, also a 4x4 which is making its first competitive outing on the occasion of the Rally of Morocco.
At Dacia, the best representative is the Spaniard Cristina Gutiérrez (winner of the Challenger class on the Dakar 2024). She sets the 6th time, between Mathieu Serradori (SRT) and Lucas Moraes (Toyota). The third Dacia driver, Nasser Al-Attiyah, only got the 28th time but lost only 1'30" on Chicherit-Winocq.