A week before the Rallye du Maroc, João Ferreira sat down with The Checkered Flag to discuss his new home at South Racing Can-Am, having made the unorthodox jump from T3 to T4 for the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship finale and 2024 season. While Morocco was his first time racing in the class and in a Can-Am Maverick, he already had lofty goals of doing his best to win, explaining he wanted “to have fun, get used to the car. It’s the first preparation for Dakar which is our main goal. We’ll give our best to learn together with the team, the car everyday, me and Filipe (Palmeiro). I really hope in the final stage we can win Morocco.”
Thirteen days later, he lived up to his word as he and navigator Palmeiro were Morocco winners.
Despite a slow start due to an early mistake followed by a broken door latch, Ferreira took the overall lead with a fourth in Stage #2. From there, he battled for the win with South Racing team-mate Sara Price, another TCF interviewee who made her début as a W2RC driver after winning the Sonora Rally’s non-FIA Open class in April to qualify for the 2024 Dakar Rally.
Price won Stages #2 and #3, beating Ferreira in the latter by just twenty-four seconds, before Ferreira returned the favour by triumphing in the final two legs. The two were separated by just twenty-one seconds in Stage #4. Leading Price by 11:49 entering the final day, Ferreira sealed the deal as he beat her by 42:32.
Stage #1 winner Enrico Gaspari suffered a pair of engine failures, including one during pre-rally shakedown, before retiring altogether after rolling his Polaris in Stage #4. While his Xtremeplus team was certainly disappointed with how the rally ended, they were perhaps more livid with his co-driver Ricardo Torlaschi who criticised the engine reliability on social media.
In a letter published shortly after the rally, team manager Marco Piana accused Torlaschi of sabotaging the engine used in testing by disconnecting the front differential drain plug before pouring sand through the filler cap. Piana claimed this was done in retaliation for Torlaschi refusing to pay their local mechanics following the Desafío Ruta 40 in September and instead requested for the team to do so, only for the team to provide the money to them directly without his involvement.
“I allow myself to say that before making comments in bad taste about the Polaris, creating many problems for Xtremeplus, Mr. Torlaschi should think carefully and sweep his house clean,” concluded Piana’s letter. “Because the truth is that in the bivouac many teams or drivers who hired him regretted it because they had to deal with a person who created many inexplicable situations for them.
“The last word is if, as Mr. Torlaschi writes, the Polaris is unreliable, etc., he even more so and should be avoided like the plague.”
Rokas Baciuška, who clinched his second consecutive T4 championship prior to Argentina, entered Morocco in T3 as did Dakar Rally T4 winner Eryk Goczał. DR 40 victor Gustavo Gallego also did not take part as he was an Argentina-only entrant not competing for points, while that race’s W2RC winner Shinsuke Umeda finished third among eligible drivers in Morocco.
Umeda had already secured second in the T4 championship prior to the finale.
“I’m not sure why I started this kind of thing, but I think it started after I raced in the Gobi Desert at Rally Mongolia and thought I’d like to run in deserts around the world,” recalled Umeda. “In that sense, I feel like I accomplished my goal by running in Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, and Mongolia, all of which hosted the Dakar Rally. So next year, I’d like to return to a humble life, focusing on modest work, without buying a car or running motorsport (from a distance).”
Souad Mouktadiri retired from the race after a massive accident in Stage #1 with the T1 of Magdalena Zajac, though nobody was hurt. Rebecca Busi retired on the final day when her T4 caught fire in the closing thirty kilometres. Eduard Pons, who dominated in Argentina before being taken out by a mechanical issue, also bowed out in Stage #5 when he suffered a broken gearbox while vying for a top five finish.
T4 overall results
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 403 | João Ferreira | Filipe Palmeiro | South Racing Can-Am | 18:26:24 | Leader |
| 2 | 410 | Sara Price* | Jeremy Gray | South Racing Can-Am | 19:20:45 | + 54:21 |
| 3 | 419 | Juan Manuel Maña* | Giovanna di Blasi | Rasante Sport | 20:11:35 | + 1:45:11 |
| 4 | 418 | Victor Étienne* | Valentin Sarreaud | YDEO Competition | 21:23:54 | + 2:57:30 |
| 5 | 420 | William Grarre* | Julien Vincent | Team Horizon Off-Road | 21:50:39 | + 3:24:15 |
| 6 | 416 | Jeremie Renou* | Nicolas Larroquet | YDEO Competition | 23:03:19 | + 4:36:55 |
| 7 | 409 | Sebastien Caille* | Max Feldino | Team BTR Caille | 23:45:04 | + 5:18:40 |
| 8 | 414 | Pascal Henon* | Nicolas Charlier | Drag’on Rally Team | 24:29:09 | + 6:02:45 |
| 9 | 412 | Robert Szustkowski* | Jarosław Kazberuk | Xtremeplus | 26:56:34 | + 8:30:10 |
| 10 | 402 | Sebastián Guayasamin | Fernando Matias Acosta | FN Speed Team | 36:13:35 | + 17:47:11 |
| 11 | 411 | Grzegorz Brochocki* | Grzegorz Komar | Overlimit | 42:50:48 | + 24:24:24 |
| 12 | 407 | Adrien Choblet* | Laurent Magat | Team Casteu | 43:53:29 | + 25:27:05 |
| 13 | 400 | Shinsuke Umeda | Maurizio Dominella | Xtremeplus | 44:14:27 | + 25:48:03 |
| 14 | 408 | Robin Szustkowski* | Albert Gryszczuk | Xtremeplus | 56:11:00 | + 37:44:36 |
| DNF | 401 | Rebecca Busi | Sergio Lafuente | FN Speed Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 405 | Eduard Pons* | Marc Erra Jove | South Racing Can-Am | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 406 | Enrico Gaspari* | Ricardo Torlaschi | Xtremeplus | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 415 | Souad Mouktadiri* | Delphine Delfino | Mouktadiri Racing Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 417 | Hervé Guillaume* | Maxime Guillaume | BTR-Driverspark | DNF | N/A |
T4 stage winners
| Stage | Driver | Time |
| Prologue | João Ferreira | 12:20.3 |
| Stage #1 | Enrico Gaspari* | 4:00:27 |
| Stage #2 | Sara Price* | 3:45:27 |
| Stage #3 | Sara Price* | 3:48:26 |
| Stage #4 | João Ferreira | 4:13:33 |
| Stage #5 | João Ferreira | 2:10:31 |
Overall winners
| Class | Number | Competitor | Team | Time |
| T1 | 201 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 14:49:09 |
| T2 | 251 | Ronald Basso* | Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body | 22:14:17 |
| T3 | 315 | Marek Goczał | EnergyLandia Rally Team | 16:22:12 |
| T4 | 403 | João Ferreira | South Racing Can-Am | 18:26:24 |
| T5 | 506 | Michiel Becx* | Team de Rooy | 21:32:34 |
| RallyGP | 8 | Toby Price | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 15:56:43 |
| Rally2 | 32 | Bradley Cox | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 17:06:37 |
| Rally3 | 164 | Cheikh Yves Jacquemain | Africa Rallye Team | 23:42:39 |
| Quad | 186 | Alexandre Giroud* | Drag’on Rally Team | 21:07:24 |
| Open Auto | 601 | Jérôme Cambier* | MD Rallye Sport | 21:21:46 |
| Open SSV | 653 | Tomas Mickus* | BRO Racing | 21:42:23 |
| Road to Dakar Bike | 71 | Toby Hederics* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 19:11:16 |
| Road to Dakar SSV | 420 | William Grarre* | Team Horizon Off-Road | 21:50:39 |
W2RC T4 standings
Drivers’ standings
| Rank | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Rokas Baciuška | 189 | Leader |
| 2 | Shinsuke Umeda | 160 | – 29 |
| 3 | Eryk Goczał | 86 | – 103 |
| 4 | Pau Navarro | 73 | – 116 |
| 5 | Sebastián Guayasamin | 69 | – 120 |
| 6 | Marek Goczał | 67 | – 122 |
| 7 | João Ferreira | 54 | – 135 |
| 8 | Michal Goczał | 50 | – 139 |
| 9 | Rebecca Busi | 45 | – 144 |
| 10 | Yasir Seaidan | 35 | – 154 |
| 11 | Bruno Conti de Oliveira | 30 | – 159 |
| 12 | Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira | 27 | – 162 |
| 13 | Molly Taylor | 20 | – 169 |
| 14 | Nicolás Cavigliasso | 13 | – 176 |
| Michele Cinotto | 0 | – 189 |
Co-drivers’ standings
Some co-drivers have worked with drivers in other categories. Those do not count for this championship nor are they mentioned below. Co-drivers also do not earn points if their driver is not competing for the W2RC.
| Rank | Co-Driver | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Oriol Vidal Montijano | Rokas Baciuška | 189 | Leader |
| 2 | Oriol Mena | Eryk Goczał | 86 | – 103 |
| 3 | Maurizio Dominella | Shinsuke Umeda | 81 | – 108 |
| 4 | Aku Facundo Jaton | Shinsuke Umeda | 79 | – 110 |
| 5 | Maciej Marton | Marek Goczał | 67 | – 122 |
| 6 | Filipe Palmeiro | João Ferreira | 54 | – 135 |
| 7 | Szymon Gospodarczyk | Michal Goczał | 50 | – 139 |
| T-8 | François Cazalet | Pau Navarro | 45 | – 144 |
| T-8 | Sébastien Delaunay | Rebecca Busi | 45 | – 144 |
| 10 | Fernando Matias Acosta | Sebastián Guayasamin | 42 | – 147 |
| 11 | Alexey Kuzmich | Yasir Seaidan | 35 | – 154 |
| 12 | Pedro Bianchi Prata | Bruno Conti de Oliveira | 30 | – 159 |
| 13 | Michaël Metge | Pau Navarro | 28 | – 161 |
| T-14 | Ricardo Torlaschi | Sebastián Guayasamin, Enrico Gaspari* | 27 | – 162 |
| T-14 | Maykel Justo | Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira | 27 | – 162 |
| 16 | Andrew Short | Molly Taylor | 20 | – 169 |
| 17 | Valentina Peregarini | Nicolás Cavigliasso | 13 | – 176 |
| Sergio Lafuente | Rebecca Busi | 0 | – 189 |
