The 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) has already visited Saudi Arabia, Portugal and Argentina this season and the popular round in North Africa precedes the year’s finale at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in late November. 

Frenchman Sébastien Loeb and his navigator Edouard Boulanger head into the penultimate round attempting to defend a slender three-point cushion over their team-mates Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in the W2RC Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships. 

Al-Attiyah triumphed at the Dakar Rally and Loeb picked up maximum points in Portugal. Their individual successes mean that the Dacia Sandriders team heads to North Africa with a 65-point lead over the Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC operation with Ford Racing a further 80 points adrift in third. 

Toyota’s Seth Quintero and Andrew Short won round three in Argentina and are their closest challengers. They trail Loeb by just 13 points heading to the start of the Moroccan desert event in Agadir. 

Spaniard Joan ‘Nani’ Roma and navigator Alex Haro missed the second round in Portugal but lead the way for Ford Racing in fourth in the rankings, just two points clear of Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz in the third of the Dacias. 

Competition will be fierce in the Ultimate category with 32 of the 56 entrants registered for the W2RC. A dozen Ford Raptors are chasing W2RC points. Veteran Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Dani Oliveras line up alongside Roma in a Ford Racing entry along with the Swedish duo of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist. 

There are also Raptors for Frenchman Romain Dumas, Czech Martin Prokop, the Polish father and son Energylandia Rally Team duo of Marek and Eryk Goczal, American Mitch Guthrie and additional privateer entries for Denis Krotov, Kees Koolen, Jourdan Serderidis and Mark Mustermann.

Quintero’s Toyota challenge will be ably supported by the South African pairing of Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings in a TGR Hilux GR and Yazeed Al-Rajhi and a returning Timo Gottschalk in their Yazeed Racing entry run by Overdrive Racing. They are nominated to score Manufacturers’ points for Toyota. 

Overdrive Racing is also running registered Toyota Hilux GRs for Japan’s Akira Miura, Chilean privateer Hernán Garcés and Saudi Arabia’s Dania Akeel. Toyota’s challenge is further boosted with Toyota Gazoo Racing SA and SVR entries for Guy Botterill, Saood Variawa, Marcos Baumgart, Lucio Alvarez and the in-form João Ferreira. All are chasing both overall and Ultimate category points. 

Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel crew the sole registered petrol-engined X-Raid Mini JCW. There are also a pair of Century Racing CR7s for Lionel Baud and Mathieu Serradori, an Optimus MD Rallye in the hands of Jean-Luc Ceccaldi and Laia Sanz at the wheel of an Audax Motorsport Ebro S800 XRR. 

The large number of non-registered Ultimate drivers include former two-time Dakar motorcycle winner Kevin Benavides (2021 and 2023) in an Overdrive Toyota, recent Dacia factory driver Cristina Gutiérrez in her new Santana and Argentina’s Sebastian Halpern in an X-Raid Mini. 

Puck Klaassen and Augusto Sanz look to defend slender Challenger leads

Only six of the 26 crews entered in the Challenger category are chasing W2RC points in Morocco. Puck Klaassen and Augusto Sanz currently lead the standings by just nine points in their KTM X-Bow Lab Team G Rally Team G-ECKO. The Dutch girl, who resides in South Africa, has picked up consistent points from all three events so far.

Her closest rivals are the Portuguese duo of Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira in an Odyssey Academy by BBR Taurus T3 Max. They picked up maximum points from the last two rounds in Portugal and Argentina. 

Neither Pau Navarro nor Yasir Seaidan are competing in the Challenger class in Morocco and defending champion Nicolas Cavigliasso has switched to the Ultimate category for the first time with an SVR Toyota, although he is not registered for the W2RC on this occasion. 

This means Paul Spierings has a golden opportunity to move up the leaderboard in his Taurus. The Dutchman currently holds sixth in the rankings. 

Other registered Challenger drivers in Morocco are Portugal’s Rui Carneiro (Taurus), Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QMMF Can-Am) and Germany’s Daniel Schröder (BBR Odyssey). 

Can-Am’s Ferioli and Rinaldi lead the registered SSVs

Can-Am Maverick Rs dominate the registered machines in the SSV section, although only six of the 18 entries in SSV are chasing W2RC points. 

The series-leading Portuguese crew of João Monteiro and Nuno Morais are conspicuous by their absence. That has opened the door for the Can-Am Factory Team’s Argentinian duo of Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli and Gonzalo Rinaldi to seize the momentum. They only trail the absent Portuguese by 11 points. 

Kyle Chaney is also missing in Morocco and that should enable Lithuania’s Mindaugas Sidabras and Ernestas Česokas and the Spanish duo of Juan Piferrer and Xavier Blanco to take full advantage. They are currently third and fifth in the points’ standings with Chaney sandwiched between them in fourth.

The South Racing Can-Am Team is also running registered Maverick Rs for Saudi Arabia’s Hassan Jameel and Italy’s Eugenio Amos. Former Dakar-winning motorcycle rider Matthias Walkner is also chasing SSV points in a third South Racing Can-Am. 

Competition for the Defender Rally Team from Toyota

The Defender Rally Team has dominated proceedings in the Stock category this season with Defender Dakar D7x-Rs in the hands of Lithuania’s Rokas Baciuška, multiple Dakar champion Stéphane Peterhansel and American Sara Price holding the top three places in the rankings with their respective navigators, Oriol Vidal, Michael Metge and Sean Berriman. Baciuška leads the Drivers’ Championship by 29 points. 

But Toyota has entered the event in Morocco and regular Challenger competitor Yasir Seaidan has made the switch to drive a Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport entered by Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body with French navigator Jean-Michel Polato.

This year’s Moroccan event starts in Agadir and finishes in Zagora. It will be fought out over five desert selective sections of approximately 1,575km (subject to final route checks) in a route of 2,524km. 

The opening leg takes teams from Agadir to Zagora. The event will then be based at a centralised bivouac in the desert with four further selective sections looping through the dunes and sandy and rocky desert trails around Zagora. 

2026 Ola Energy Rally of Morocco  – entry list:

Ultimate 

201. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER)                                                                   Toyota Hilux GR                              

202. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA)                                                                       Toyota Hilux GR

223. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER)                                                                             Dacia Sandrider

225. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Dani Oliveras (ESP)                                                                                Ford Raptor

299. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL)                                                         Dacia Sandrider

203. Seth Quintero (USA)/Andrew Short (USA)                                                                         Toyota Hilux GR

215. Saood Variawa (RSA)/Charan Moore (RSA)                                                                        Toyota Hilux IMT Evo

218. Romain Dumas (FRA)/Anthony Pes (FRA)                                                                           Ford Raptor 

219. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA)                                                               Dacia Sandrider

221. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE)                                                                           Ford Raptor

222. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA)                                                          X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0i   

226. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE)                                                                    Ford Raptor

227. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP)                                                                                        Ford Raptor 

228. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA)                                                                           Ford Raptor 

233. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentina Pertegarini (ARG)                                                    Toyota Hilux*

204. Akira Miura (JPN)/Armand Monleón (ESP)                                                                         Toyota Hilux GR

205. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL)                                                                Ford Raptor

206. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL)                                                                         Ford Raptor

207. Jean-Luc Ceccaldi (FRA)/Christophe Crespo (FRA)                                                             Optimus MD Rallye 

208. Lioned Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA)                                                                                   Century Racing CR7

210. Hernán Garcés (CHI)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHI)                                                                  Toyota Hilux GR

214. Laia Sanz (ESP)/Maurizio Gerini (ITA)                                                                                  Ebro S800 XRR

216. Guy Botterill (RSA)/Henry Köhne (RSA)                                                                              Toyota Hilux IMT Evo

217. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (KGZ)                                                                   Ford Raptor

211. Mathieu Serradori (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA)                                                                 Century Racing CR7

224. Marcos Baumgart (BRA)/Kleber Cincea (BRA)                                                                    Toyota Hilux IMT Evo  

230. Kees Koolen (NED)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED)                                                                      Ford Raptor

231. Lucio Alvarez (ARG)/Bernando Graue (ARG)                                                                      Toyota Hilux IMT Evo

232. Isidre Esteve (ESP)/José-Maria Villalobos (ESP)                                                                 Toyota Hilux Evo

238. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA)                                                                    Toyota Hilux Evo

240. Joāo Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR)                                                                         Toyota Hilux IMT Evo

247. Wlodzimierz Grajek (POL)/Jacek Czachor (POL)                                                                 Toyota Hilux GR*

269. Jourdan Serderidis (GRE)/Lucas Cruz (ESP)                                                                        Ford Raptor 

234. Mark Mustermann (AUT)/Michael Zajc (AUT)                                                                   Ford Raptor

212. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Marc Solà (ESP)                                                                            Santana 400 T1+*

235. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR)                                                                       Toyota Hilux IMT Evo*

236. Sebastian Halpern (ARG)/Edu Pulenta (ARG)                                                                     X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0i*

237. Jayden Els (RSA)/Johannes Swemmer (RSA)                                                                      Century Racing CR7*

239. Rik Van Den Brink (NED)/Gydo Heimens (NED)                                                                 Century Racing CR7*

241. Kevin Benavides (ARG)/Lisandro Sisterna (ARG)                                                                Toyota Hilux*

242. Gintas Petrus (LTU)/Álvaro De Haro (ESP)                                                                          Toyota Hilux*

244. Tomas Baranowski (POL)/Konrad Dudzinski (POL)                                                            Toyota Hilux GR*

245. Urvo Männama (EST)/Kuldar Sikk (EST)                                                                              Toyota Hilux GR*

246. Daniel Beecroft (GBR)/Philip Gillespie (GBR)                                                                     Red-Lined Revo T1+*

248. Michael van Eikeren (NED)/Jasper Riezebos (NED)                                                           Toyota Hilux*

249. David Beecroft (GBR)/Fraser Parish (GBR)                                                                          Red-Lined Revo T1+*

250. Rients Hofstra (NED)/Wouter de Graaf (NED)                                                                   Red-Lined Revo GTR*

253. Gertjan Van Der Walk (NED)/Branco de Lange (NED)                                                       Toyota Hilux*

255. Markus Walcher (GER)/Stephan Stensky (GER)                                                                 Nissan Navara*

256. Vic Flip (AUT)/Stefan Henken (GER)                                                                                    Toyota Hilux*

258. Benoît Fretin (FRA)/Cédric Duplé (FRA)                                                                              Century Racing CR6*

260. José Maria Cami (ESP)/Cristian Cami (ESP)                                                                         Optimus MD Rallye*

262. Benoît Maurice (FRA)/Yannick Collongues (FRA)                                                               Optimus MD Rallye*

263. Phillip Lambilliotte (BEL)/Paul Durame (FRA)                                                                     Optimus MD Rallye*

264. Alberto Morganti (ITA)/Massimiliano Catarsi (ITA)                                                           Century Racing CR6*

265. Nathan Hayashi (CAN)/Shane Hairsine (CAN)                                                                    Ford Bronco Raptor *

Challenger 

301. Alexandre Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR)                                                               Taurus T3 Max

308. Manuel Andujar (ARG)/Andrés Frini (ARG)                                                                        Taurus Evo Max*

302. Puck Klaassen (NED)/Augusto Sanz (ARG)                                                                          G Rally Team G-ECKO

304. Paul Spierings (NED)/Kala Senders (NED)                                                                           Taurus Evo Max

306. Rui Carneiro (POR)/Fausto Mota (POR)                                                                              Taurus T3 Max

307. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Xavier Panseri (FRA)                                                               Can-Am Maverick R Challenger 

314. Daniel Schröder (GER)/Leonard Cremer (RSA)                                                                   Odyssey CR-X

309. Roger Grouwels (NED)/Rudolf Meijer (NED)                                                                      Can-Am Maverick R Challenger*

310. Lex Peters (NED)/Arjan Van Tiel (NED)                                                                               G Rally Team G-ECKO*

311. Mohammed Al-Marri (QAT)/Pierre Delorme (FRA)                                                           Can-Am Maverick R Challenger*

312. Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Max Delfino (FRA)                                                                       Can-Am Maverick R Challenger*

315. Jedidia Favre (FRA)/Antoine Lecourbe (FRA)                                                                     MMP T3 Rally-Raid*

316. Rodrigo Varela (BRA)/Carlos Sachs (BRA)                                                                           Odyssey CR-X*

317. Adam Kuś (POL)/Maciej Giemza (POL)                                                                                Taurus Evo Max*

318. Martin Benko (SVK)/Jiri Kalat (CZE)                                                                                     Taurus T3 Max*

319. Benjamin Favre (FRA)/Thibaud Darroux (FRA)                                                                   MMP T3 Rally-Raid*

320. Grzegorz Brochocki (POL)/Grzegorz Komar (POL)                                                             Taurus Evo Max*

321. Gérald Blanco (FRA)/Gaidella Thomas (FRA)                                                                      Can-Am-Maverick X3*

322. Pal Lonyai (HUN)/Aleksei Kuzmich (RUS)                                                                            Taurus T3 Max*

323. Philip McVay (GBR)/Willem Avenant (RSA)                                                                        Taurus Evo Max*

324. Raúl Delgado (ESP)/José Luis Rosa (ESP)                                                                            Herrator Inzane 901*

325. Pavel Andreev (RUS)/Dmitry Pavlov (RUS)                                                                         Taurus T3 Max*

326. Loïc Bonnevie (FRA)/Kevin Delcros (FRA)                                                                           Taurus T3 Max*

327. Edward Ruszczyc (POL)/Krzysztof Kubiś (POL)                                                                   Taurus Evo Max*

329. Kevin Jimenez (FRA)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA)                                                                       MMP T3 Rally-Raid*

330. Hugues Lacam (FRA)/Delphine Delfino (FRA)                                                                     MMP T3 Rally-Raid*

SSV 

401. Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli (ARG)/Gonzalo Rinaldi (ARG)                                                   Can-Am Maverick R

403. Hassan Jameel (KSA)/Xavier Flick (FRA)                                                                              Can-Am Maverick R

404. Eugenio Amos (ITA)/Paolo Ceci (ITA)                                                                                  Can-Am Maverick R

412. Matthias Walkner (AUT)/Oriol Mena (ESP)                                                                        Can-Am Maverick R

402. Mindaugas Sidabras (LTU)/Ernestas Česokas (LTU)                                                          Can-Am Maverick R

410. Juan Piferrer (ESP)/Xavier Blanco (ESP)                                                                              Can-Am Maverick R

406. Tomas Kubiena (CZE)/Miroslav Losos (CZE)                                                                       Can-Am Maverick R*

407. Juraj Varga (SVK)/Radovan Schneider (SVK)                                                                      Polaris RZR Pro R*

411. Helder Oliveira (POR)/Carlos Santos (POR)                                                                        Can-Am Maverick R*

414. Juan Miguel Fidel (ESP)/Javier Ventaja (ESP)                                                                     Polaris RZR Pro R*

415. Benoît Lepietre (FRA)/Rodrigue Relmy-Madinska (FRA)                                                   Can-Am Maverick R*

416. Aurélian Bouchet (FRA)/Elisa Huguenin (FRA)                                                                   Can-Am Maverick R*

417. Fabien Domas (FRA)/Axelle Domas (FRA)                                                                           Can-Am Maverick R*

418. Jorge Cano (MEX)/Abelardo Ruanova (MEX)                                                                     Can-Am Maverick R*

419. Souad Mouktadiri (MAR)/Vincent Ferri (FRA)                                                                    Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS*

420. Abdulaziz Al-Saud (KSA)/Meshal Al-Shammeri (KSA)                                                        Polaris RZR Pro R*

421. Andréa Deldossi (FRA)/JérémyTricaud (FRA)                                                                     Can-Am Maverick R*

422. Eufrasio Anghileri (ITA)/Antonio Anghileri (ITA)                                                                Polaris RZR Pro R*

Stock

500. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Michael Metge (FRA)                                                          Defender Dakar D7X-R

502. Rokas Baciuška (LTU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP)                                                                               Defender Dakar D7X-R

504. Sara Price (USA)/Sean Berriman (USA)                                                                               Defender Dakar D7X-R

505. Yasir Seaidan (KSA)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA)                                                                   Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport 

*denotes not registered for W2RC 

Timetable of events

Saturday, September 26

Administration checks                                                        09.30-19.00hrs – Agadir Royal Bay Resort 

Scrutineering                                                                        11.00-21.00hrs – Agadir

Sunday, September 27

Administration checks                                                        08.00-15.30hrs – Agadir Royal Bay Resort

Scrutineering                                                                        11.00-21.00hrs – Agadir

Pre-event press conference                                               18.00hrs – Agadir Royal Bay Resort

Monday, September 28

Shakedown                                                                           09.55hrs - Agadir

Tuesday, September 29

Stage 1 – 266km                                                                  TBA, Agadir – Zagora 

Wednesday, September 30

Stage 2 – 300km                                                                  TBA, Zagora – Zagora 

Thursday, October 1           

Stage 3 – 364km                                                                  TBA, Zagora – Zagora                                                   

Friday, October 2

Stage 4 – 384km                                                                  TBA, Zagora – Zagora

Saturday, October 3 

Stage 5 – 259km (including 65km transfer)                    TBA, Zagora – Zagora

Press conference                                                                  18.00hrs – Zagora bivouac

Prize giving                                                                            19.30hrs – Zagora bivouac

Ends