2023 Rallye du Maroc: Cambier, Mickus survive in Open category

Two cars and six side-by-side vehicles entered the Rallye du Maroc as Open entries that do not meet FIA regulations, which would have otherwise allowed them to race alongside the World Rally-Raid Championship. Not even half of them reached the finish.

Jérôme Cambier was already in position to win the Open Auto class when Patrick Prot, the only other entrant in the category, retired on the very first stage. Prot and co-driver Roger Audas had run the Dakar Rally in January in a T1 for Sodicars Racing, where they were set back by stage retirements but at least reached the finish. Even with his competition out, Cambier still needed to complete the rally if he wanted to be the winner.

Racing an MD Optimus from MD Rallye Sport alongside Pascal Delacour, Cambier set the fastest time of all Open entries in the final three stages, and his final total time beat Open SSV winner Tomas Mickus by twenty-one minutes. MD Rallye Sport also fielded three cars in the W2RC’s T1 class at Morocco with Simon Vitse scoring a top ten overall.

Mickus and Algirdas Talutis, representing the Lithuanian BRO Racing team, were the only Open SSV finishers. Issues struck Mickus quickly when his Can-Am Maverick X3 lost its power steering before the Prologue; diagnosing it as being due to the engine, he and navigator Darius Leskauskas attempted to find a replacement motor in the bivouac to little success, while the only available version was in Spain and they were unable to fly it to Morocco in time. The duo eventually received a replacement power steering system from a Renault Mégane that they installed in the morning before the rally began.

Despite operating on just two hours of sleep, Mickus won the Prologue and Stage #1. Talutis responded by taking the next two legs before Mickus closed it out with the win. Adomas Gančierius, who finished third overall in the Quad category at the W2RC’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, served as co-driver for Talutis.

Charif Guessous and Sofia Skiredj, local racers competing for the Africa Rallye Team organised by the Rallye du Maroc, had a tumultuous race as they ran out of fuel and their headset batteries failed during the first stage, then rolled their Maverick down a dune in Stage #3.

Open overall results

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SSV

Open class winners

Overall winners