Stage 4 Foum Zguid – Foum Zguid | Morocco Desert Challenge

Stage 4 Foum Zguid – Foum Zguid

Stage 4

All media is added and page finished on april 27 2023 13:30 UTC

Stage info

Today we travel a round trip in ‘Foum Zguid’ and race a special stage of 275km.

Anja van Loon returns strongly with a third fastest time

During the fourth day of the Morocco Desert Challenge, Anja van Loon will show what she is capable of.

With another third time, she is fast and holds her own in the Iveco Powerstar. She got stuck twice in the dunes, but she quickly got free. She is therefore very satisfied.

“It went really well,” says Anja. “Yesterday we had a bad day, of course, but I’m glad everything is going well again.

Today we also come straight back with the third fastest time, just half an hour behind the winner of the day. It also went well in the dunes, the truck is really a beast! This is fun though.”

The fifth stage of the rally goes from Foum Zguid to M’hamid over a stage of 335 kilometers.

Navigation is very important here and iconic old Dakar routes are driven. The stage ends with a dune section through the Erg Chegaga and zigzagging through the camel grass.

Extreme heat and first dunes

Today half of the Morocco Desert Challenge is over. It seems like a long time since all participating vehicles were photographed on the beach near Agadir.

After an overwhelming start by Boss Machinery Team De Rooy, the team had to settle for second place behind Vick Versteijnen today, just like yesterday. Driver Janus van Kasteren, mechanic Darek Rodewald and navigator Marcel Snijders could soon forget a flawless stage. A gap was not seen in time and the impact that followed broke two spring leaves at the rear. Later, a front spring leaf also broke. To get to the finish, you had to drive very conservatively.

After the mandatory “sandwich break” halfway through the special stage, problems arose with the cooling. One of the batteries that should help with this had failed. Cause: the extreme heat. And it’s going to get even hotter. A point of concern for the service team.

The nights are also warm with temperatures above twenty degrees and hardly give any chance for real cooling. It will be a few degrees warmer in the coming days. A mix with the Dutch weather would give an ideal temperature. The professionals of Team De Rooy are capable of a lot, but they have no control over the weather. It is therefore a matter of learning how to deal with the circumstances as well as possible.

Today brought the participants over fast paths with stones, but on the other hand, a first batch of dunes had to be conquered over a distance of forty kilometers. Despite today’s malheur, the team of Boss Machinery Team De Rooy finished just behind winner Versteijnen.

Mechanic Darek Rodewald puffed a few more times afterwards: “I’ve only had it this hot once before when we drove in China. Really really hot!” The mercury rose well above forty degrees Celsius again today. In a cabin that quickly means a temperature of fifty to sixty degrees. Incredibly tough for the participants. Overheating is always lurking.

This day it was not only the heat that was a topic of conversation in the bivouac. Unfortunately, the rally was overshadowed by a fatal accident in which a buggy collided and caught fire. One of the two occupants of the buggy lost their life. Tomorrow the rally caravan will continue as usual, but everyone is more aware of the fact that off-road rally sport is not a game without dangers. Tomorrow’s fifth stage will take the participants from Foum-Zguid to M’Hamid on the edge of the desert. Hopefully all participants will arrive there safely.