Ola Energy Rally of Morocco – September 28th-October 3rd, 2026   

2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, round 4

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC’S QUINTERO AND SHORT TAKE W2RC CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD WITH VICTORY IN MOROCCO

ZAGORA (MOROCCO) – Saturday, October 3: Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC’s Seth Quintero and Andrew Short claimed an emphatic win at the Ola Energy Rally of Morocco and stormed into the lead of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) with one round remaining.

The American Toyota Hilux GR crew finished 4min 23sec ahead of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro and a further 19 seconds in front of third-placed South African team-mates Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings after five punishing days of incessant action across the deserts of North Africa.

Toyota duly claimed a seventh win on the Moroccan event and a first since 2023 with Quintero becoming the first American ever to win the rally.

Quintero said: “I ended up getting the win here and it feels amazing against the talent that I am up against. It feels good to come away with the win and the championship lead and there’s a good buffer in there. One more race and there is everything to fight for. We were inside the top five almost every day and scoring points. Guys were playing the flip-flop, going front to back and that wasn’t my game. We didn’t get passed by any cars, passed a bunch of cars and just did my whole thing.”

Chilean Hernán Garcés teamed up with navigator Juan Pablo Latrach and delivered an impressive performance to reach the finish in Zagora in 16th overall, two places ahead of the

Estonian pairing of Urvo Männama and Kuldar Sikk, who ran an Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux GR for the first time in Morocco.

Japan’s Akira Miura and his Spanish navigator Armand Monleón crewed the third of the Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC GRs. They finished 28th.

Dania Akeel made her W2RC debut in the Ultimate category with the Overdrive Toyota and navigator Sébastien Delaunay sitting alongside. The Saudi was set for a top 13 finish until she endured a gearbox breakage on the last stage.

Akeel said: “We were driving normally but, very sadly, something broke on the car. We heard a vibration and stopped to check it out. Seb saw there was something not quite correct. It’s a shame. The car has been fantastic all week. A week of learning and we had good speed.”

Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Dennis Zenz overcame costly suspension delays on stage two and set competitive times before succumbing to transmission problems 122km into the fourth stage.

Two-time Dakar motorcycle winner Kevin Benavides teamed up with Overdrive Racing for the second time and ran a Toyota with navigator Lisandro Sisterna. They showed a competitive pace from the outset but a high-speed accident put the Argentine pairing out of the event on the second day.

Benavides said: “I was happy to be back behind the wheel. I hadn’t been able to get back in one until I arrived in Morocco and we had some good days of training with the team. Being competitive (in my first race in Argentina) was a surprise to me too; I really enjoyed it and felt comfortable from the very first kilometre. The accident here was disappointing but we showed we have the pace to match those at the front.”

After an opportunity to test the cars for the last time at a nearby Shakedown, the opening selective section ran for 271.72km between Agadir and Zagora. Leading entrants began the stage in the order of their current championship positions.

Quintero started the stage from third on the road and finished seventh, just 3min 28sec off the overall lead. Lategan, who punctured, and Al-Rajhi were 10th and 11th, Benavides reached Zagora in 15th, Miura was 18th and Akeel was 25th. Garces and Männama were 27th and 32nd.

The first of four loop stages through the deserts around Zagora ran for 299.93km. Lategan held off a fierce challenge from Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Eryk Goczal to claim the stage win and moved up to second overall behind Lucas Moraes. Benavides and Quintero were fifth and 10th and held 13th and ninth in the general classification.

Suspension issues forced Al-Rajhi out of the stage prematurely but there were strong finishes for Miura and Akeel. Benavides suffered a high-speed end-over-end accident after 197km and was not able to continue.

Day three included the longest stage of the event at 359.78km. Quintero set the third quickest time and closed to within 3min 20sec of the outright lead. Al-Rajhi and Lategan finished seventh and 12th but the South African slipped to fifth overall. Akeel, Garces and Männama were classified in 13th, 17th and 22nd.

The penultimate Zagora loop ran for 318.88km. Al-Rajhi stopped and withdrew with transmission woes after 122km but Quintero delivered a solid display to finish sixth on the day and grab an overall lead of 2min 45sec over team-mate Lategan to take into the final stage. Akeel, Garces and Männama held 13th, 18th and 21st overall, the latter overcoming a couple of flat tyres on the day.

The final Zagora loop tested crews for 257.20km. Akeel lost 13th overall with gearbox issues but Quintero and Lategan safely negotiated the final kilometres to seal first and third overall with the sixth and 10th quickest times.

The FIA World Rally-Raid Championship concludes with the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on November 22nd-27th.

2026 Ola Energy Rally of Morocco – result (unofficial @ 17.50hrs):

  1. Seth Quintero (USA)/Andrew Short (USA) Toyota Hilux GR 16hr 34min 05sec
  2. Joāo Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 16hr 38min 28sec
  3. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota Hilux GR 16hr 38min 47sec
  4. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor 16hr 41min 06sec
  5. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) Ford Raptor 16hr 42min 28sec
  6. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Dani Oliveras (ESP) Ford Raptor 16hr 43min 30sec
  7. Mathieu Serradori (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) Century Racing CR7 16hr 47min 58sec
  8. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Ford Raptor 16hr 52min 58sec
  9. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Marc Solà (ESP) Santana 400 T1+ 17hr 12min 19sec*
  10. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor 17hr 18min 28sec

*denotes not 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: 3 October 2026