Rally Raid
This is why Rallye du Maroc remains a highlight of the off-road calendar
The only stop of the World Rally-Raid Championship with Saharan dunes is the perfect tune-up for each Dakar. Discover what keeps bringing the world’s top off-road racers back to Rallye du Maroc.
Part of this story
After a full season of off-road racing, bringing the convoy over perilous terrain in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, South Africa and Portugal, the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) was still on the line heading into the final round. Even after a week spent driving 2,000 kilometres through the dunes of the Moroccan Sahara, there was nothing to separate Ultimate class rivals Nasser Al-Attiyah and Lucas Moraes. All that remained before the curtain came down on the season was the final 31-kilometre Power Stage of the 2025 Rallye du Maroc.
On the massive Moroccan dunes of Erg Chebbi, it was the Brazilian Moraes who prevailed as Al-Attiyah suffered a time penalty. The final result of the final stage of the season saw Moraes secure his maiden W2RC title and end Al-Attiyah’s run of three consecutive World Championships. Once again, Rallye du Maroc had highlighted its amazing ability to spring a surprise and keep everyone guessing until the dust had finally settled.
A year on from the dramatic contest between Moraes and Al-Attiyah, both drivers and the rest of the W2RC convoy are heading back to Morocco. Find out below why Rallye du Maroc remains an off-road race you simply can’t miss.
01
What makes Rallye du Maroc so magical?
Moraes celebrated winning the overall title in style in Morocco
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
For half a century now, the appetite of off-road racers to test increasingly durable machinery in the harshest conditions has been on the rise. What began in the late 1970s when the first Dakar Rally departed Paris, setting a course for Senegal via the Sahara Desert, has now become a worldwide phenomenon.
While the Dakar has since left Africa and is now hosted by Saudi Arabia, it’s Rallye du Maroc that remains as the W2RC’s Saharan outpost.
So what else does the W2RC’s annual trip to Morocco provide the convoy aside from the unforgettable sensations of driving over the Sahara’s vast plains and towering dunes?
A crucial tune-up before taking on the rigours of the Dakar? Check. The chance to score precious World Championship points? Check. The opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the greatest-ever cross-country rally racers? Check.
And above all else, the chance to experience and enjoy the camaraderie of the rally-raid convoy as you take on this challenge together, something truly unique to this most adventurous discipline of motorsport.
02
Discover what's in store for the 2026 edition
The honour of hosting the start of the 27th Rallye du Maroc falls to the city of Agadir for the sixth time. Sitting between the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlas Mountains, Agadir offers breathtaking scenery wherever you look. Motorsport fans will be treated to shakedowns and a Prologue Stage on Monday, September 28, as over 250 race vehicles get into gear for the rally.
Nasser Al-Attiyah has a record seven wins at Rallye du Maroc
© Pawel Starzyk/Red Bull Content Pool
On Tuesday, September 29, the convoy heads east for the first of five timed special stages. The remaining four days of racing start and finish in the Saharan oasis town of Zagora. A total distance of 2,000 kilometres – over half of this against the clock – must be navigated before the finish line comes into view on Saturday, October 3.
The vast majority of racing will take place within Morocco’s two largest ergs (dune fields) – Chegaga and Chebbi.
A wide variety of vehicles feature on the stacked entry list of the upcoming Rallye du Maroc. The FIA-sanctioned classes are Trucks, Ultimate, Stock, Challenger and SSV, while bikers are divided into FIM-governed categories. The quad category makes a return in 2026 and a Classics class is introduced following its success at recent editions of the Dakar.
Daniel Sanders won the Rallye du Maroc in 2024
© Pawel Starzyk/Red Bull Content Pool
03
A springboard towards rally-raid’s biggest prize
What links Dakar bike race champions Cyril Despres, Sam Sunderland, Matthias Walkner and Daniel Sanders? They all used winning Rallye du Maroc as a springboard for claiming their first Dakar title.
There’s no other rally on the calendar that comes so close to matching the skill set required for success at the Dakar. That’s why you see bikers battle through injury to take their place at Rallye du Maroc, because if you can win this one then you can win them all.
Over on four wheels, there’s also symmetry to be found between triumph at the Dakar and in Morocco. It’s no coincidence that Al-Attiyah’s six Dakar wins have come during the same timeframe as his record seven wins at Rallye du Maroc.
04
Saharan dunes are the perfect testing ground for new machinery
Racing a brand-new vehicle through the Saharan Desert for a week is not something to be taken lightly. Even if the fundamentals are on point, you can guarantee that tweaks will be required once rubber hits the road.
Dacia Sandriders made their competitive debut in Morocco
© Florent Gooden/DPPI/Red Bull Content Pool
That’s why it’s become a time-honoured tradition for manufacturers to bring their new cars to Rallye du Maroc before taking on the Dakar. Victorious desert chargers such as Peugeot’s 2008 DKR, Audi’s RS Q e-tron E2 and Dacia’s Sandrider all made their competitive rally-raid debut in Morocco before winning the Dakar.
05
Even after 2,000km, this rally throws up razor-thin winning margins
Nobody who tuned into the 2025 Rallye du Maroc is going to forget the epic World Championship tussle between Al-Attiyah and Moraes in a hurry. Moraes arrived at the season finale trailing his Qatari rival by 10 points in the W2RC rankings. The Brazilian had managed to claw back some, but not all of the deficit going into the final stage of the season.
When Al-Attiyah received a time penalty at the end of the Power Stage, it was confirmed the Moraes had won his first World Championship. In the same race, Chaleco López won the SSV category by a single second!
Another outstanding Rallye du Maroc moment came in 2023 when Seth Quintero put the hammer down on the final stage. The American’s blistering pace over the Saharan dunes won Rallye du Maroc’s Challenger class and sealed his W2RC title.
Seth Quintero will be chasing the W2RC Ultimate class title
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
This victory was key to securing Quintero’s seat in the Ultimate class for the following edition of the Dakar. His amazing progression has continued at top speed as the 23-year-old arrives at the 2026 Rallye du Maroc looking to take Moraes’s W2RC Ultimate class title.
Rallye du Maroc through the years
Sam Sunderland rides to victory in 2015
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Thumbs up from Matthias Walkner on his way to winning in 2017
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Giniel De Villiers celebrates his victory in 2019
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Stéphane Peterhansel puts his Audi RS Q e-tron E2 through its paces in 2022
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
06
An ever-present on the World Rally-Raid Championship calendar
The inception of the World Rally-Raid Championship in 2022 revolutionised the motorsport Governed by both the FIA and FIM, the W2RC has been serving up top-class cross-country racing across the globe since that inaugural season.
Rallye du Maroc has been an ever-present on the W2RC calendar, a claim that’s only shared by the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and of course, the Dakar. Next year’s W2RC schedule has already been released, delighting racers and rally-raid fans by moving Rallye du Maroc back to its traditional spot as the season finale.
07
The Rallye du Maroc route is the work of two Dakar winners
Dakar winner Luc Alphand has helped design the Rallye du Maroc route
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Luc Alphand, Dakar winner on four wheels in 2006, and Marc Coma, five-time Dakar winner on two wheels, are the brains behind the latest Rallye du Maroc route. This duo’s extensive experience as rally-raid champions and sporting directors provides unmatched expertise in off-road event management.
With sporting challenges as well as competitor safety paramount, Coma believes that they’ve come up with a route that will tick every box at the upcoming edition.
“The bike and car routes will often be split; we saw that this worked well on the last Dakar,” Coma explains. “During the recce, we visited regions the race has already passed through but found some new elements. We looked for sandy sections to minimise the stones where possible, and we also selected technical sections where some of the stories of the next edition will no doubt unfold.”
08
There's no shortage of Saharan dunes for Rallye du Maroc to explore
Sébastien Loeb currently leads the World Rally-Raid Championship standings
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Rallye du Maroc will allow desert racers to explore the dunes, plateaus, mountain ranges and coastal routes for years to come. The four key rally hubs since the turn of the millennium are the cities of Agadir, Zagora, Erfoud and Fez.
Each of these locations and their surrounding environs have helped to shape the rally over the years, offering landscapes that are as beautiful as they are challenging to cross in rally-raid conditions.
With the W2RC now visiting locations all over the globe, it’s Rallye du Maroc that brings cross-country racing back to the dunes of the Sahara Desert year after year.
About the author
Part of this story