Stage 1 Agadir → Zagora
Today we have the first real racing stage of this edition and will travel from Agadir to Zagora.
Route info
Meanwhile our crew has already started to move our mobile workshop to the ‘Bivouac de Zagora’. Where will stay for the remainder of the race.
Bad luck ruins good results
Friday the thirteenth is often spoken of as an unlucky day, but this time the unlucky devil seems to have taken advantage of a day later to assert his whims.
Becx
Michiel Becx, Edwin Kuijpers and Wuf van Ginkel were allowed to start as the second truck in the first stage. After an energetic start by Becx Competition Team De Rooy FPT, things unfortunately went wrong in dunes with very soft sand.
Edwin Kuijpers: “It went well. Everyone broke tires except us. I think we were first for a long time until km 230. Then unfortunately we got stuck in a sharp dune pan and lost about 50 minutes there.”
“Fortunately, Janus was able to help us by pulling us loose after a few attempts. Then at the end I had to take it easy due to a deflating right front tire. Unfortunately, at the point where we were stuck, we navigated on the wrong track, causing us to miss a waypoint.”
“Unfortunately, but we have learned a lot, which was also the intention for us in this rally.” With this putting conclusion into perspective, the team will once again optimally prepare for the test that awaits tomorrow. It remains to be seen whether any teams have found all the waypoints. Without any penalty time, the time loss to winner Martin Macik was still considerably limited to 5 minutes and 19 seconds.
More bad luck follows
One minute after colleague Becx, Janus van Kasteren started as the third truck. It was not a nice day for the team of ‘Boss Machinery Team De Rooy FPT’. After forty kilometers, two shock absorbers on the left broke. From that moment on, it was only possible to drive at 70%.
“After the broken shock absorbers, it was the chassis on the bumper stops and spring leaves against the chassis all the time. Just blows from behind. That’s not fun to drive. The rear brakes were also damaged by the broken shock absorbers.”
When the dust from this first intense stage has settled, it will become clear how great the loss of time will be. For the time being, the team with starting number 500 lost half an hour to Martin Macik, who, just like yesterday, is the fastest of the day.
A lot of dust and stones cause problems at Ladies Team de Rooy FPT
The Rallye du Maroc starts differently than Anja van Loon had expected in advance.
Anja starts well, the differences are small, but in the last part she loses a lot of time. The Iveco has been on its side for a while, but the truck still drives without any problems.
After more than 220 kilometers without any problems and with the fourth fastest time in sight, Anja’s truck falls on its side. As a result, the women’s team loses approximately 1.5 hours. “That’s a shame, it happened in a split second. Fortunately, we can continue as normal, but it is a shame. There was only a few minutes between 4th and 8th place, so it was very exciting. We’re going to check the truck thoroughly tonight and then we can drive again tomorrow. I’m glad we got to the finish line.”
The second stage is a lap around Zagora and again covers many tracks with stones and gravel, but there are also sand and dunes on the program.
The test covers 296 kilometers, the first car starts at 12:00 UTC
Hopefully ‘the unlucky devil’ will soon crawl back into his box and stay there for the next few days.
With a bit of luck we can look forward to better results in the remainder of the rally.
Stage 1 Results
311km Special Stage
Agadir -> Zagora
397km Connecting route
| Stage Rank | Number | Driver | Time | Gap to first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 501 | Martin Macik | 4h49m14s | – |
| 3 | 508 | Michiel Becx | 4h54m43s | +5m29s |
| 7 | 500 | Janus van Kasteren | 5h20m57s | +31m43s |
| 8 | 507 | Anja van Loon | 8h33m30s | +3h31m22s |
Tracking
#500 Boss
#506 Becx
#507 Ladies
Overall ranking
After stage 1
| Stage Rank | Number | Driver | Equipe | Time | Gap to first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 501 | Martin Macik | MM Technology | 5h02m08s | – |
| 3 | 508 | Michiel | Becx Competition Team de Rooy FPT | 5h09m16s | +7m08s |
| 6 | 500 | Janus Jr. | Boss Machinery Team de Rooy FPT | 6h34m38s | +1h32m30s |
| 8 | 507 | Anja | Ladies Team de Rooy FPT | 8h33m30s | +3h31m22s |
Photos
Photographers Fotop & MMPhoto uploading now…
Videos
Ladies Team de Rooy FPT & van Loon Racing
Extended highlights from orga
