A LOOK BACK ON THE 26^ème RALLY MAROC CLASSIC
16-22 MARCH 2019

MARRAKECH – AGADIR – FOUM ZGUID – OUARZAZATE – TAROUDANT – MARRAKECH

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Saturday, March 16, 2019, it was under a radiant sun that the day of checks took place inside the most beautiful palace in the world, La Mamounia in Marrakech, chosen as the place of departure and arrival of this 26th edition of the Morocco Classic Rally – The Route of the Heart. This unprecedented departure for the 28 participating crews made it possible to leave the “red city” in the direction of the foothills of the Atlas, snow-covered in the distance, for a first regularity test in the Agafay desert, before the lunch break organized in this area. desert dominated by the giants of the Atlas. The rest of the course was a winding and fast playing field, before a second regularity test presenting several changes of direction and which was to confuse some competitors. The Porsche 911 of the 2018 winners will unfortunately not go any further and the MEZIANE & CHEMAO crew will have to give up, with great regret. The Atlantic Ocean, the end of this first leg, loomed in the distance, while the machines, pilots and co-pilots were now “up to speed” to face the rest of the Rally. The MARIS couple, at the wheel of their flying Aston Martin DB6, took the lead in the general classification with a second and a third place in the special. The second stage, a loop around Agadir, also completely new, gave pride of place to the “valley of paradise” whose road winds along the meanders of a wadi nestled in the middle of arid mountains, with sometimes vertiginous cliffs , with three regularity tests not far from the Immouzzer waterfalls. Lunch in Taghazout, with your feet in the sand, offered the possibility of going close to the waves of the ocean. The inexhaustible rallying resources of the region made it possible to organize another special stage in the afternoon where the only female crew of the rally, BENAMOUR & HIRIART, offered us a superb spin at the wheel of their Morgan, before returning to Agadir for a deserved rest. The RAYNAL & FIGARET crew won two special stages and took control of the event, while the GHISTELINCK & DAVID crew moved up to third position by also winning two regularity stage victories. For the third stage, the longest of the rally, it is the route of a stage that has already spiced up the rally in the past which was chosen to launch the competitors towards Tafraoute and its huge round rocks. The Ferrari of the VERZELE & YEKNABACHI crew will then be the victim of a radiator problem and will have to leave the competition at midday on the site of the “painted rocks”. The ROCHE & RENAUDAT crew, with an adjusted tripmaster, won the eighth special at the wheel of their Alpine A110 and could be delighted with their success. An astonishing journey of more than 200km then awaited the participants, towards lands inhabited by countless pebbles and stones, acacias and palm groves, to reach Foum Zguid and spend the night in the dunes, in a luxury bivouac. . The AC Cobra of the LEVAUX couple will win the two special stages contested during the afternoon and therefore remain in ambush in the general classification. The evening was then festive for all the participants, around the campfire. In the “Prestige” category, the OUVIER couple proved to be astonishingly consistent and continued their harvest of special stage victories. La cinquième étape vers Taroudant faisait figure de « classique » pour quitter Ouarzazate, la « porte du désert » vers l’Ouest en direction de Tazenakht, connu pour être le plus grand centre de tissage de tapis berbère du Royaume. C’est dans cette région que les concurrents ont disputé consécutivement deux épreuves de régularité avec l’ascension du Tizi N Bachkoum et ses célèbres épingles à cheveux. A Taliouine était organisé un déjeuner avec vue panoramique sur la vallée du safran avec la possiblité d’acquérir quelques grammes de l’or rouge (le safran étant l’épice la plus chère au monde). Les concurrents ont participé ensuite à l’ultime épreuve spéciale de la journée avant de rejoindre Taroudant, la petite Marrakech, comme se plaisent à la nommer les marocains, et qui accueillait une arrivée d’étape, grande première depuis la création du rallye. L’équipage RAYNAL & FIGARET est parvenu à creuser l’écart dans des épreuves taillés pour leur monture. Leur Shelby Cobra pointe toujours en tête. v The fifth stage towards Taroudant was a “classic” to leave Ouarzazate, the “gateway to the desert” towards the West in the direction of Tazenakht, known to be the largest Berber carpet weaving center in the Kingdom. It is in this region that the competitors competed consecutively in two regularity tests with the ascent of Tizi N Bachkoum and its famous hairpins. In Taliouine was organized a lunch with a panoramic view of the saffron valley with the possibility of acquiring a few grams of red gold (saffron being the most expensive spice in the world). The competitors then took part in the final special stage of the day before reaching Taroudant, the little Marrakech, as the Moroccans like to call it, and which hosted a stage finish, a first since the creation of the rally. The RAYNAL & FIGARET team managed to widen the gap in events tailored for their mount. Their Shelby Cobra is still in the lead. In the “Classic” category, the RAYNAL & FIGARET crew takes their Shelby Cobra to the top step of the podium, after having dominated the event and are finally rewarded after several participations overwhelmed with bad luck. GHISTELINCK & DAVID, in Mercedes 280 SE, great fans of “regularity” will have tried everything to win a new victory and had to defend their 2nd place against the crew MARIS & MARIS (Aston Martin DB6 Volante) who then completed the final classification.
On the prestige side, the OUVIER & OUVIER couple won the rally for the second consecutive year by preventing 17 special stage victories out of the 21 possible, at the wheel of a BMW Z4 3.5i, while the LUCCHITI & LUCCHITI crew climbed on the 2nd step of the podium, on their Mercedes AMG, without being equipped with navigation instruments. The TRIPER couple (Porsche Boxter S) who discovered “regularity” also took 3rd place in the final special stage!

Daily reports, stage by stage

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Final overall classifications

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2019 edition in pictures

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