Rallye du Maroc, Morocco – October 10th-17th, 2024   

2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), round 5

SECOND PLACE IN MOROCCO EARNS TOYOTA’S LUCAS MORAES THE 2025 W2RC DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Armand Monleón finishes as runner-up in Navigators’ Championship
  • Overdrive Racing’s Garces reaches finish of North African grueller

ERFOUD (MOROCCO) – Saturday, October 18: Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes followed up the team’s W2RC Manufacturers’ Championship title by winning the Drivers’ Championships when the 2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship reached a dramatic conclusion at the Rally of Morocco on Friday.

Separated from defending champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah by just two points heading into the final desert stage around Erfoud, Moraes carded the seventh quickest time to confirm second in the overall standings behind winner Sébastien Loeb.

When Al-Attiyah was handed a time penalty after the final stage, it pushed the Qatari down the rankings and Moraes was able to win the title by 11 points. His Spanish navigator Armand Monleón finished as the runner-up in the Navigators’ Championship.

Moraes said: “I am so happy to be able to finish this rally after fighting with my two idols, Nasser and Seb. I have been watching them on television for a long time and also on the Dakar in South America. It’s really tricky when it comes down to penalties and to regulations, but it is what it is on the road, on the politics of the championship. We fought until the end and won the World Championship and I’m really happy to deliver this to Brazil as well. It’s an honour for me to represent my country.”

Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings had been in contention for the title at the start of the week in the second of the Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC entries receiving logistical and service support from Overdrive Racing. But a time-consuming rear differential issue cost them dearly and the South African duo finished the event in 13th overall and third in the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships.

Lategan said: “It was my first Rally of Morocco. It was a bitter-sweet race for us. We broke a diff and had to finish over 100km of mainly dunes with front-wheel drive. That was very difficult. On a positive side, we finished the race and did all the kilometres. We put the Hilux through its paces properly. I am obviously disappointed that we couldn’t fight for the win and the overall championship. We have had a great season.”

Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk continue to get back up to speed after injury before the defence of their Dakar Rally title in January. They too suffered time losses early in the rally but were not able to complete the final stage.

The Chilean duo of Hernan Garces and Juan Pablo Latrach guided the second of the Overdrive Racing cars to the finish in 38th overall.

The Italian duo of Francesco Dracone and Alessandro Verna enjoyed their first outing in the desert with an Overdrive Racing Toyota but were sidelined when Verna began suffering pain from the constant bombardment from the rocky and undulating surfaces.

Dracone said: “This was the first off-road race in my life. My background was primarily single-seaters. I raced IndyCar and the Le Mans series up to the LMP2 category. I had a break for two years and decided to get into motorsport off-road in the desert with a co-driver.

“Unfortunately, we had to stop in the middle of nowhere. Alessandro had a horrible day. I had to stop and call for a helicopter. I think for a driver it’s easier because you are attached to a steering wheel and pedals. The co-driver is set with his neck bent and twisted pretty much all the time.”

A Prologue of 18.82km, near Fez, determined the starting order for the first of the desert stages and Moraes finished as one of the strongest of the Toyota drivers in eighth place. Quintero was ninth, Lategan was down in 14th, Al-Rajhi was 28th, Garces was classified in 47th and team-debutant Dracone stopped the clocks in 71st.

Stage one featured in a long run south from Fez to Erfoud and ran for 298.51km. Moraes came home in third ahead of Lategan but Quintero, Al-Rajhi and Garces were down in 13th, 19th and 25th positions. Dracone was not able to complete the stage and incurred a fistful of penalties.

Competitors reached the first real sand dunes during the second loop stage around Erfoud that featured 305.68 competitive kilometres. Al-Rajhi stopped briefly after the start with front suspension issues and eventually dropped half an hour and Quintero summoned the aid of his technical crew after stopping after 200km. He then returned to the bivouac with a fistful of penalties to follow.

Lategan hit transmission trouble in the Erg Chebbi and dropped 48 valuable minutes in two-wheel drive but it was a strong day for Moraes with the third fastest time. He held second overall, just 47 seconds behind leader Joan Roma.

Lategan said: “Everything was going well at the start, then our rear differential started playing up before giving up completely before one of the big dune sections. We deflated the tyres to find a way through the biggest ones. It was a nightmare and we lost a lot of time.”

Stage three was the second of the Erfoud loops that crossed the Merzouga dunes and ran for 322.96km. Lategan set the quickest time from Quintero and Loeb with Moraes’s pace in ninth keeping him in second overall, 3min 25sec behind leader Loeb. Lategan and Al-Rajhi held 18th and 19th overall.

The third quickest time on the penultimate stage of 282.98km enabled Moraes to close to within two points of Al-Attiyah in the battle for the Drivers’ Championship. The second-placed Brazilian said: “What a crazy championship is has been these past four days in Morocco. Two points behind Nasser. I was a bit cautious on this stage with the car over the rocks. I could have pushed a bit harder but, when the fight is close, you’re always thinking about the car. The Power Selective Section could be decisive!”

Lategan came home in fifth with Quintero and Al-Rajhi in 18th and 21st. Lategan, Al-Rajhi and Garces were 18th, 19th and 43rd in the overall classification.

The last stage of the season ran for 215.92km with an additional Power Selective Section of 30.94km. Quintero topped the times on the first part from Lategan with Moraes and Al-Attiyah both out of the points in sixth and seventh.

Try as he could, Moraes was unable to make in-roads into Loeb’s overall lead and had to settle for second overall but the penalty for Al-Attiyah handed the Brazilian the title. Toyota also earned the final stage win for Seth Quintero, who had lost his place in the overall battle earlier in the week.

2025 Rally of Morocco  – final result:

  1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider 15hr 11min 40sec*
  2. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota Hilux 15hr 17min 23sec*
  3. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor 15hr 17min 55sec*
  4. Joāo Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo                    15hr 17min 59sec*
  5. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE) Ford Raptor 15hr 19min 09sec*
  6. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 15hr 38min 23sec*
  7. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) Ford Raptor                                       15hr 39min 00sec*
  8. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux 15hr 39min 13sec*
  9. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP) Dacia Sandrider 15hr 56min 26sec*
  10. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux 16hr 03min 09sec*
  11. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor 16hr 10min 46sec*
  12. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 16hr 13min 12sec*
  13. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota Hilux 16hr 19min 01sec*
  14. Brian Baragwanath (RSA)/Leonard Cremer (RSA) Century CR7 16hr 23min 55sec
  15. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider 16hr 24min 36sec*
  16. Michal Goczal (POL)/Diego Ortega (ESP) Toyota Hilux 16hr 33min 21sec*
  17. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0D 16hr 51min 30sec*
  18. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Jan Rosa (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 17hr 21min 14sec*
  19. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentia Pertegarini (ARG) Taurus T3 Max 17hr 21min 43sec*
  20. Laia Sanz (ESP)/Maurizio Gerini (ITA) Ebro S800 17hr 33min 47sec

*denotes registered for W2RC

Ends

For further information:

Jean-Marc Fortin (E-mail: jmf@overdriveracing.be), Overdrive S.A., rue de L’Enterprise 1, 4530 Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium, Tel: + 32 475 762 391. www.overdriveracing.be, Facebook: Overdrive Racing, Twitter: @OverdriveToyota

 

 

 

Published On: 17 October 2025