Rally Morocco, Stage 2 – Al-Attiyah-Lurquin wins, Lategan-Cummings loses big

The second stage of Rally The 2025 Morocco Rally, held around Erfoud this Tuesday, October 14, was not kind to the competitors vying for the title of World Rally-Raid Champion (W2RC). This special offered the first strings of dunes, with the crossing of the Chebbi erg (twice) and its little brother Znaigui. This was enough to shake up the hierarchy.

Struggling following a mechanical failure in Stage 1, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin (Dacia) wanted to get back on track as soon as possible. The comeback took place this Tuesday, and in what style! Starting from a distant 20th place this morning, the reigning triple world champion driver set a very high pace. Clearly not bothered by the dust of his rivals, he finished the special in a blaze of glory to snatch the best time by 18 seconds from Nani Roma-Alex Haro (Ford)! The Spaniards had long held the best intermediate times.

The big loser of the day is the crew of the Toyota Hilux T1+ No. 204, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings. Lacking experience both in Morocco and in the dunes, the South Africans struggled until they lost more than 48 minutes! Arriving in Morocco in 2nd place overall, the 2nd-place finishers in the 2025 Dakar lost extremely valuable time. It now seems more than risky to bet on them to win the Drivers' and Co-drivers' crown, especially since their rivals had a better day.

Also among the disappointments were Seth Quintero-Andrew Short (Toyota Gazon Racing) and Yazeed Al-Rajhi-Timo Gottschalk (Toyota Overdrive). The Americans called for assistance following a mechanical failure. As for the winners of the 2025 Dakar Rally, a driveshaft failure requiring a twenty-minute stop in the first few kilometers caused them to fall down the rankings.

The championship update

Toyota has been in a state of disarray, as only Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon remain in contention for victory in the Rally of Morocco, and therefore in the W2RC. The Brazilian-Spanish crew had a strong stage, finishing in 3rd place. They therefore pocketed 3 championship points, and lost two to Al-Attiyah. The gap is now 9 points in favor of the Qatari.

Loeb and Serradori in good shape

Authors of the best time the day before, Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger (Dacia) were responsible for opening Special Stage 2. The French fully assumed their task over the entire 306 km programmed! Their deficit of almost 5 minutes on Roma-Haro is minimal given their disadvantageous starting position (they had no track to guide them except those of the motorcycles). At Dacia, Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno will prefer to forget this special stage. The Spaniards conceded more than 20 minutes.

On Ford's side, the veteran Carlos Sainz was not the most incisive. Despite benefiting from a good starting position (8th), El Matador finished outside the top 10.

Century Racing Factory Team leaders Mathieu Serradori and Loïc Minaudier are buoyed by their recent success at Baja Morocco. The French team finished in the top five and moved up in the overall standings (6th), facing much stronger factory teams.

Roma puts Ford in the lead

Winner of the Dakar Rally in both the Motorcycle (2004) and Car (2014) categories, Nani Roma is in excellent condition. The Catalan puts his Ford Raptor T1+ "Evo" in the lead of the Rally of Morocco after the second stage. The Spaniard has only a narrow lead over his closest rival, Lucas Moraes (2nd at 47 seconds). The young Joao Ferreira (Toyota SVR) is 3rd, 3 minutes behind. Sébastien Loeb completes the top 5, 4 minutes behind the leader.

Rally of Morocco 2025 W2RC

Ranking Step 2 

General classification after Stage 2

ALSO READ > Carlos Sainz Senior rules out a family duo: "It wouldn't be very good for our relationship."