ZAGORA (MOROCCO): Overdrive Racing’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah stormed into the outright lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings of the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies with a convincing victory in the Rally of Morocco.
Overdrive Racing-run Toyotas completely locked out all the podium places and Ronan Chabot’s fourth Hilux made it an emphatic 1-2-3-4 finish for the Belgian team on one of the world’s most demanding cross-country rallies.
Driving the older specification Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux, the Qatari teamed up with French navigator Matthieu Baumel to seal his sixth personal success on Africa’s premier off-road rally by the margin of 15min 58sec.
Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Ulster co-driver Michael Orr won one stage and pushed the triple Dakar Rally winner hard. Punctures cost the Saudi some time but he also stayed well in contention for the FIA World Cup title with a comfortable second position.
Dutchman Erik van Loon and French co-driver Sebastien Delaunay were not eligible to score points and be classified in the official results in Morocco on this occasion. The crew used Toyota’s latest Hilux T1+ Ultimate in a course opening capacity and several competitive stage times would have put them in third place at the finish in Zagora.
“This car is a big improvement,” said Delaunay. “We have to learn a lot because there is a big difference. The size of the tyres is different, the gearbox and the speed we arrive at the dangers and the way we cross the dunes.”
Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez also remains firmly in FIA World Cup title contention after bringing his Overdrive Racing Toyota home in third place with Spanish co-driver Armand Monleón. The winner of Rally Kazakhstan trails Al-Attiyah and Al-Rajhi in the race for the title and moves clear of Sweden’s Matthias Ekström.
The French crew of Ronan Chabot and Gilles Pillot crewed the fourth Overdrive Racing Toyota and held fourth place for much of the rally. They slipped to fifth on the penultimate day and then climbed back to fourth position to the finish.
Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Alejandro Yacopini lost time early in the rally with technical issues but recovered strongly to bring the fifth Toyota home in 10th overall.
Cristina Gutierrez and French co-driver François Cazalet controlled the FIA T3 category for four days in their Red Bull-backed OT3, only to lose the lead with transmission problems on the penultimate day. merica’s Seth Quintero teamed up with Germany’s Dennis Zenz in a second Overdrive OT3 but early fuel pump issues and time penalties ruined his chance of taking the win.
Overdrive Racing began strongly and Al-Attiyah beat Al-Rajhi by one second to win the 11.11km Qualifying Stage. Alvarez, Chabot and Yacopini slotted into ninth, 10th and 12th positions, but the meat of the action started with the opening selective section last Saturday.
That timed desert section was split into two sections of 225.52km and 40.19km with a neutralisation zone between the two parts in a loop near Zagora. Al-Attiyah continued his winning ways, despite starting from 10th on the road, and the Qatari increased his advantage over Al-Rajhi to 4min 17sec, with Chabot running well to snatch third place and give Overdrive Racing a 1-2-3 in the general classification.
“We start 10th position, but it was not a good position because there was a lot of dust. But I was happy to win the stage,” said Al-Attiyah. “I overtook six cars but it was not easy in the dust.”
Alvarez held sixth but Yacopini dropped around 40 minutes and slipped to 25th.
