A failure of the auxiliary belt tensioner at kilometre 160 of the fourth special prevented Laia Sanz and Maurizio Gerini from continuing.
The Spanish team will return tomorrow for the fifth and final stage, aiming to add more kilometres and gather further data from the EBRO s800 XRR ahead of Dakar 2027.
“The main objective in Morocco was to test the car. Everything that has happened here has to be a lesson that helps us improve.”
The penultimate stage of the Rallye du Maroc once again tested the perseverance of EBRO Audax Motorsport. After repairing the car and rejoining the rally on Friday, Laia Sanz and Maurizio Gerini were forced to stop during the fourth special due to a mechanical issue at kilometre 160, although the team will work to return to the start tomorrow.
The Spanish-Italian pairing began the day focused on adding more mileage and testing different configurations on the EBRO s800 XRR. Once again, suspended dust made progress difficult, although Sanz and Gerini maintained a solid and competitive pace through the splits, fighting for a place inside the top 20.
However, at kilometre 160 of the special, the auxiliary belt tensioner failed and forced the car to stop. With the necessary repairs impossible to carry out during the stage, the team decided to return to the bivouac.
“Today was a difficult day. We were doing a good job despite starting quite far back, and we were catching the drivers who had started ahead of us. Apart from a small navigation mistake, things were going well until kilometre 160, when we had a problem with the belt tensioner and could not continue. In the end, the main objective in Morocco was to test the car. Everything that has happened here has to be a lesson that helps us improve ahead of the Dakar. We have to take the learning from it and keep working”, said Laia Sanz.
Back at the bivouac, the EBRO Audax Motorsport mechanics focused on preparing the EBRO s800 XRR for Saturday’s fifth and final stage of the Rallye du Maroc, which will feature a 259-kilometre special, with the team continuing to prioritise the collection of valuable data ahead of Dakar 2027.
Source: EBRO Audx Motorsport
