Al Attiyah and Brabec win the prologue of the Morocco Rally

Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah (Dacia)in the car, and the American Ricky Brabec (Honda)on the bike, They won the prologue stage of this Sunday’s Morocco Rallywhich begins this Monday with the first stage between Fez and Erfoud, with a total of 780 kilometers and a special 300 kilometers.

Qatar set the best time in the 19km prologue (11 minutes 56.8 seconds), beating the Portuguese by 11 seconds. Joan Ferreira (Toyota) 2nd place, 17th place to Frenchman Sebastian Loeb (Dacia), 3rd place.

Before the start of the actual competition, Al Attiyah sent a clear message, mainly to the Toyota squad, reaffirming his intention to win his fourth world title in the final scoring competition, although everything is still up in the air.

The Qatari pilot thus signed. W2RC 48th victoryjust one step away from the iconic 50 wall that can be reached in the same Morocco Rally. This is already his ninth victory as a Dacia driverThis is the manufacturer with which he made his debut exactly one year ago at the Moroccan race, and with which he intends to claim the 2025 World Champion title once he arrives in Erfoud on October 17th.

Similarly, Al Attiyah, who scored 140 points in the classification, leads the Toyota driver and the South African driver. Henk Lategan and brazil Lucas Moraes131 points and 130 points respectively.

However, everything remains unresolved and depending on how this final test plays out, other drivers could reach the top and win the world championship.

Among them, the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ford), Nani Roma (Ford), or Laia SanzIn addition to competitive classic athletes such as Loeb and Dakar 2025 winner Yazeed Al Rajhi of Saudi Arabia, there will also be athletes making their debuts at the Ebro. This Sunday, Roma and Sainz finished 6th and 7th. Al Attiyah was 20 seconds behind, and Laia Sanz was 1 hour and 18 minutes behind.

Carlos Sainz, who has never won the Morocco Rally, continues to fine-tune the Raptor he will use in the Dakar. “Morocco is a mythical race for all of us because it is obviously the last test before the Dakar. “This is an important test, because in a sense it is the moment when we draw conclusions and have a clear vision about the competition and the evolution of the car,” said the Madrid native.

“Therefore, it’s a very important race in preparation for the Dakar. I think we’ve done well this year and it’s time to confirm that,” he explained to the organizers.

On a motorcycle, brabec He won in the prologue with a time of 12:48.3, beating his Spanish teammate by 1.5 seconds. Tosha Shalayna. Australia’s Daniel Sander (KTM) came in 3rd place with a difference of 5 seconds.

Argentina’s Luciano Benavidez finished in the top four by 10 seconds, with the two Hondas ahead of the two KTMs. It was Brabec’s first win at the Morocco Rally since the fourth stage of the 2022 event.

Ricky Brabec led a rally raid for the first time since winning the 2024 Desafio Ruta 40.

The first stage of the Morocco Rally begins this Monday and will run until October 17 next year over five stages, totaling 1,478km. As a novelty, the ‘Power Stage’, a short section of the final sprint that awards prizes to the fastest five drivers, will be introduced and will be included in all World Championship events from 2026.