Al Attiyah wins stage 2 of the Rallye du Maroc and closes the gap

The battle for the W2RC world championship took a turn in the dunes of Merzouga. Henk Lategan lost over an hour when his rear differential failed in the middle of the 307-kilometer special stage. While Lategan's Toyota was moving with only front-wheel drive, Nasser Al Attiyah won the stage and Nani Roma took over the overall lead of the Rallye du Maroc. Roma now leads Lucas Moraes by 47 seconds, who keeps Toyota's championship hopes alive.

Al Attiyah arrived in Erfoud on Monday in twentieth place, 12'40" behind leader Sébastien Loeb. Twenty-four hours later, he is seventh, 10'26" behind Roma. He started from behind, passed several rivals, and had to stop when a rider blocked a wadi after a fall. "We got out of the car to help her; she was very tired," he explained. He finished 1'30" ahead of Roma.

The stage win gave him five points. Moraes added three by finishing third. Lategan, who had gained a point yesterday, scored nothing. Al Attiyah's lead over Moraes remains at seven points, but Lategan is practically out of the title fight.

Photo By A.S.O

Nani Roma capitalizes without opening the track

Nani Roma had lost 44 seconds to Loeb yesterday. He started fourth this morning and finished second in the stage, enough to displace Loeb from the top spot. "I expected less sun and fewer dunes. At the beginning, it was a bit complicated in the wadis. But we tried not to make mistakes, to stay calm, and the car was really fantastic," Roma commented.

Loeb and Mattias Ekström finished off the stage podium, at 4'03" and 3'42" respectively. Loeb had opened the track and had a puncture during the route. His navigator Édouard Boulanger acknowledged that "it's impossible to do better when opening the stage," but they relinquished the lead they had gained on Monday.

Nightmare for Toyota

Lategan was fifth overall when his rear differential began to fail. "We stopped immediately to check it, but obviously we didn't have a spare," he explained. The decision was to continue. "We deflated the tires and tried to find a way to get through all the different dune sections."

With a two-ton car and only front-wheel drive, the big dunes were impossible. He lost 1h10'26" and dropped to 30th place. His teammate Seth Quintero also had to abandon the special stage when he was running with the third-best time near Merzouga. Quintero returned to the bivouac for repairs.

Toyota's disaster leaves Moraes as the only factory team driver with real options. Joao Ferreira, from the satellite team, is third overall, 3'02" behind Roma.

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Dacia keeps two options open

Al Attiyah and Loeb are seventh and fifth in the overall classification respectively. In 2017, Al Attiyah was 12'51" behind Loeb after the first stage and ended up winning the rally. The current difference is 10'26", smaller than on that occasion.

"Tomorrow we will start in twentieth position and we will try to be fast," Al Attiyah had said yesterday after his mechanical problem. He delivered. Roma will open the track on Wednesday, which could favor the chasers. "Of course, it's always good to win a stage, but having Nasser opening tomorrow isn't bad either," Roma acknowledged.

Klaassen wins in Challenger

Puck Klaassen from G Rally became the first woman to win a stage this week. Klaassen took advantage when Khalifa Al Attiyah, who was leading, stopped 6 kilometers from the finish. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari finished second.

Yasir Seaidan retains the overall lead with a 2'11" advantage over Charles Munster. Seaidan is seeking his eighth stage win in the 2025 W2RC, after winning three specials in the Dakar and three in Abu Dhabi. Pau Navarro is third, 6'17" behind.

Can-Am 1-2-3 in SSV, Macik falls in Trucks

"Chaleco" López won in SSV ahead of his teammates Jeremías Ferioli (+3'21") and Hunter Miller (+13'42"). Ferioli leads the overall standings over Miller (+5'50") and Alexandre Pinto (+12'41").

In Trucks, Gert Huzink ended a streak that seemed unstoppable. Martin Macik had won every special stage from the 2024 prologue until yesterday. Macik finished second, 1'25" behind, but maintains the category lead.

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Merzouga returns on Wednesday

Stage 3 will have 326 total kilometers with 323 timed. The dunes of the Erg Chebbi will appear twice on the route, the second time just before the finish. Marc Coma, the rally director, anticipated that "the navigation will intensify" in the second part of the special stage. Roma will open from the first position. Al Attiyah will start from seventh.