Barring catastrophe for both of them, the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship‘s SSV category will be a duel between Sebastián Guayasamín and Yasir Seaidan at the season-ending Rallye du Maroc. The two are separated by just six points in the closest points battle of the seven W2RC classes.
Seaidan had led the standings during the first half of the season by being the highest-finishing SSV driver at the Dakar Rally and Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge who was registered for points. He was third at Dakar behind Xavier de Soultrait and Jérôme de Sadeleer followed by runner-up in Abu Dhabi to Mansour Al-Helei, none of whom are signed up for the championship which therefore earned him the maximum 50 points for winning among W2RC drivers.
Guayasamín was 59 points back following Abu Dhabi, but rapidly closed the gap over the next two rounds as Seaidan was knocked out of both by mechanical failures. This comes despite not being the W2RC winner in either event, finishing twelfth (fourth among points drivers) at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid due to his own vehicle problems and second at the Desafío Ruta 40. Reaching the end while Seaidan did not erased the margin entirely, leaving Guayasamín with 161 points to Seaidan’s 155 entering Morocco.
Naturally, Guayasamín can secure the championship by simply beating Seaidan. On the other hand, Seaidan will need a bit of luck; even if he wins to get 30 points, Guayasamín finishing second nets him 25 points. This also applies if they finish second and third, while the gap is even slimmer between third and fourth at three points, and so on. Thus, Seaidan would also need to bank on winning stages while other points-earning drivers finish between him and his rival.
One thing Seaidan has going his way is that the Rallye du Maroc mainly takes place in a desert, which the Saudi star is more than familiar with despite not running the 2023 race. At Dakar, which has a similar profile to Morocco, he finished second to Guayasamín’s sixth. Moroccan outlet Sport7 described Seaidan as “one of the top contenders” owing to his “previous experience and knowledge of the terrain, particularly the challenging sand dunes of Erg Chebbi in Merzouga and Erg Chigaga in M’Hamid El Ghizlane.”
In the opposite corner of the ring, Guayasamín needs to play it smart and don’t crack under pressure. The Ecuadorian was frank about going into the finale with the right mindset too. He finished tenth in class in the 2023 edition.
“We’ve been waiting for several months since the last race, and the anticipation has been building up,” he explained. “My coach and psychologist tell me, ‘Sebastián, stay calm. We’ve done this for many years.’
“This race is the most important I’ll do in my life, a World Championship final and competing for a world title. It’s super important, but the idea is to enjoy the race. So, in these last three days, we’re easing up on the intensity of the training to arrive with a fresher mindset for the competition.”
While the focus is on Guayasamín and Seaidan, Ricardo Ramilo and Rebecca Busi are still mathematically in contention even if their chances are slim. Ramilo was the W2RC victor in Portugal and Argentina, but poor finishes at Dakar and Abu Dhabi leave him trailing Guayasamín by 20 points. Busi has three straight podium finishes among eligible drivers and is 41 points back.
The SSV co-drivers’ championship is also fairly close as Fausto Mota is ahead of Guayasamín’s partner Fernando Acosta by 11 points. However, Mota is no longer working with Ramilo after spending the first four rounds with him and has instead partnered with Fidel Castillo Ruiz for Morocco.
SSV is the only FIA class where the top two are separated by single digits. Nasser Al-Attiyah leads Yazeed Al-Rajhi by 25 in the premier Ultimate class, while Rokas Baciuška has 44 on Nicolás Cavigliasso in Challenger. The bikes are also enjoying their own shootout as Ross Branch is ahead of Ricky Brabec by just nine points in RallyGP whereas Romain Dumontier is hanging onto an eight-point edge over Bradley Cox in Rally2. The Quad title was clinched by Manuel Andújar in Argentina.
The Rallye du Maroc will take place on 6–11 October.
