From Marrakech To The Oriental Region

Press Releases Rally Raid

June 10, 2024

Kilian Hamlin

Key information:

The route of the 24th Rallye du Maroc, which will be run from 4 to 11 October 2024 under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, was presented today by David Castera.
The press conference, which was held in Casablanca, gave details of the 2,492 kms, including the 1,517 kms of special stage, which will make up the final of the 2024 FIM-FIA World Rally-Raid Championship.
Vibrant Marrakech will be the start town and prologue location. The next 5 stages will stop off at 2 different bivouacs. The first in Zagora, the second in Mengoub-Bouarfa, in the far east of the Oriental region.

Today in Casablanca, in the presence of representatives of major partners Afriquia, Maroc Télécom, OCP and numerous Moroccan competitors, David Castera lifted the veil on the route format for the next edition of the Rallye du Maroc.

GREEN LIGHT FROM THE RED CITY
The international caravan, made up both of illustrious W2RC champions and amateurs always ready to answer the call of the Moroccan deserts, will set up camp in Marrakech from October 2. The flags of competitors, from all over the world, will form a mosaic of colours, just like the dyes used by the tanners in the medina, an iconic image of one of the most visited cities in the world.
The traditional administrative and technical scrutineering will take place at the Grand Stade de Marrakech on 4 and 5 October. A giant concert will be held in the famous Place Jemaâ El-Fna, so that the excitement of the start can be shared with the people of Marrakech in the heart of the Red City.
The race itself will get under way the following morning with the prologue taking place just a few kilometres from the ramparts, before a transfer section to Zagora, on the edge of the Drâa Valley. To get there, the competitors and their teams will head south across the High Atlas following the famous green palm groves, just like the caravans returning from Marrakech in days gone by.
The bivouac on the outskirts of early autumn Zagora will take on the colours of the competitors’ race suits and vehicles as they prepare to discover stages 1 and 2, which will be run in loops from the bivouac. The dunes of Erg Chegaga will be on the programme for the first two specials.

A NOMADIC ROUTE AND DAKAR SPIRIT
Stage 3, run in a line, will cross the orange dunes of Merzouga to finish at Mengoub, the mineral setting for the second bivouac, between the towns of Boudnib and Bouarfa. The monochrome beauty of the Rekkam Plateau will be explored on stages 4 and 5. It’s an opportunity for the race’s regulars to discover new tracks and offer them navigation challenges in keeping with what awaits some of them a few weeks later on the Dakar. The finish of the race will be held in the heart of the bivouac so that the competitors can share their emotions with the whole caravan. Those Moroccan and African competitors selected to be part of the Africa Rallye Team and supported by the Rallye du Maroc’s major partners, will be awaited there by their assistance and fans. The day after the prize-giving ceremony, the competitors will be able to take advantage of a quick flight back to Europe from this small corner of the Moroccan Desert. A return flight from Errachidia, 220km from the final bivouac, is planned by the organisers, so as to spread the still-warm light of Morocco to the four corners of the world.

David Castera, Race Director:
“This year’s route will take us back to the basics of the Rallye du Maroc. Thanks to the Chegaga and Merzouga dunes, where the car and bike routes will be split, but also thanks to the care we’ve taken in selecting tracks that combine driving pleasure and safety. The 100% bivouac profile frees us from the logistical constraints of accommodation and leaves us free to focus 100% on sport, our absolute priority. Stages 4 and 5 will be a good example of this, as they will enable us to discover new, more remote areas, where navigation will be of primary importance, with numerous tracks that are not easy to see and which will require competitors to follow compass headings, just like on the Saudi Dakar. In fact, the road book will be written in the same vein as next January’s event, which I know many people come to prepare for every year on the Rallye du Maroc, the second biggest rally in the world”.

Programme:

– 2 October: service park opens (14:00)
– 2-3 October: private tests
– 4-5 October: administrative and technical scrutineering in Marrakech
– 6 October: Prologue (total: 83 km / special: 26 km / liaison: 57 km) / transfer to Zagora (372 km)
– 7 October: Stage 1 – Zagora-Zagora (total: 496 km / special: 268 km / liaison: 228 km)
– 8 October: Stage 2 – Zagora-Zagora (total: 476 km / special: 318 km / liaison: 158 km)
– 9 October: Stage 3 – Zagora-Mengoub (total: 676 km / special: 321 km / liaison: 355 km)
– 10 October: Stage 4 – Mengoub – Mengoub (total: 374 km / special: 312 km / liaison: 62 km)
– 11 October: Stage 5 – Mengoub – Mengoub (total: 387 km / special: 272 km / liaison: 115 km)