On Saturday, the Morocco Desert Challenge 2025 got underway. The participants left Agadir and headed south towards Plage Blanche. After a 32 km connection, a stage of about 85 km followed by another 145 km connection stage followed. All four Feryn Dakar Sport vehicles took an excellent start.
Koen Wauters and Tom De Leeuw drove the 15th time overall, good for 5th place in their class. Afterwards, Koen showed himself very satisfied. “Well, the head is off and to be honest it was about time. Over the past few days, I have driven a lot of laps during the shakedown which made me come to the start of the first stage with a good feeling. I felt very comfortable and knew what to do. We drove hard without going over the line in the process. When navigating, we ran into trouble after about ten kilometers. There was a lot of dust and there were a lot of possibilities in that place, multiple slopes. We probably missed something there that caused us to leave about 3-4 minutes. With Tom, that caused the first curses of the race. I take some of the responsibility for that because maybe I rode a little too fast there. We agreed after the ride that when several situations follow each other quickly that he would tell me in time so I could adjust my speed giving him a little more time to watch. But the appetite was so great. Apart from that little mistake, we can't be anything but satisfied with our stage,” said Koen Wauters.
The moment Pascal Feryn and Kurt Keysers crossed the finish line, they were followed mere seconds later by Koen Wauters and Tom De Leeuw. It provided the first pinpricks between the two drivers. “We can be satisfied with this first stage. The car was good and the navigation also went smoothly,” said Pascal Feryn. “Once we ran into trouble when two cars in front of us blocked the path and we had to swerve. Just at that spot the sand was very loose so we had to use the automatic jack system in combination with the sand plates. I did get quite a shock from the cars driving in T1+. They are lightning fast. If you even think about following such a car it has already made a gap of tens of meters.”
Among the trucks, Cédric Feryn, Alexander Peeters and Bjorn Burgelman (Mercedes) finished 7th out of 8 participants. In the “vintage” class, the trio finished second. For Cedric, it was his very first competition mileage as a driver. “It was work day as they sometimes say. Driving through the dunes with such an old truck is quite a job. It was a bit of a search, especially when shifting gears. Added to that you also have to learn to read the track. It's a lot of things you actually have to discover at the same time. But it was very instructive and especially fun. Towards the end of the stage it went much smoother.”
Like Cedric, brother Nicola Feryn also rode his first race kilometers. Nicola drove the 34th time, being the fastest in the 'vintage' category among the cars. “It was a very instructive day that started well. At the start they had told us to lower the tire pressure in the dunes. The focus was on driving so we forgot to lower the pressure and got famously stuck in the sand in those dunes. With the help of a local we were able to continue riding after which we rode smoothly towards the finish. These were my first race miles and you basically have to figure everything out and experience. We also start at the back so there are a lot of tracks. But it was cool.”
Source: Feryn Dakar Sport
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