Stage two of the Rallye du Maroc reshuffled the classifications and produced one of those days when the stage winner was far from being the only major story.
Henk Lategan won in Ultimate, but it was Lucas Moraes who left Zagora at the top of the rally. Daniel Sanders responded to Ricky Brabec and regained control of the bike race, while Martim Ventura won Rally2 again with another performance strong enough to put him among the RallyGP riders.
Along the way, Nasser Al-Attiyah saw an almost certain victory disappear just nine kilometres from the finish, João Ferreira lost the lead he had earned yesterday and several contenders were reminded that Morocco needs very little time to turn a rally upside down.
Lategan wins, but Moraes leaves on top
In Ultimate, the day ended with another Toyota Hilux victory.
Henk Lategan set the fastest time, beating Eryk Goczał by 41 seconds and Carlos Sainz by 1m12s, with both Ford Raptors completing the stage podium.
It was the third consecutive W2RC special won by a Hilux, following Lategan’s victory on the final stage of the Desafío Ruta 40, João Ferreira’s success yesterday and now another win for the South African in Morocco.
Yet the man who may have gained the most from the day was Lucas Moraes.
The Brazilian finished only fourth, 4m46s behind Lategan, but two consistently strong days have put the Dacia Sandrider at the top of the overall classification.
Moraes now leads Lategan by just 28 seconds, with Carlos Sainz third at 2m43s.
It is the first time Moraes has led a rally in the Dacia Sandrider and his first spell at the top of a W2RC overall classification since winning the 2025 Rally-Raid Portugal.
There is another small detail that may matter tomorrow: Lategan will have to open the stage, while Moraes starts further back with several tracks ahead of him.
Nasser loses everything nine kilometres from the finish
If there is one competitor unlikely to forget stage two, it is Nasser Al-Attiyah.
The Qatari appeared to have done almost everything right.
He took the stage lead at kilometre 221 and, at the final time check before the finish at kilometre 276, had built a 1m32s advantage over Lategan. Victory was close and Al-Attiyah was also the virtual rally leader.
Nine kilometres remained.
That was when the mechanics decided to become part of the story.
The Dacia stopped, Al-Attiyah lost tens of minutes and eventually had to be towed to the finish by team-mate Sébastien Loeb.
He finished more than 45 minutes behind the stage winner and dropped to 20th overall.
For a driver who arrived in Morocco with a realistic chance of claiming an eighth victory on the event — and, more importantly, deeply involved in the World Championship battle — it was a huge blow.
Rally-raid has an unpleasant habit of waiting until everything appears settled before proving that it is not.
João Ferreira pays the price for opening the road
The day was also very different from yesterday for João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro.
After winning stage one, the Portuguese crew faced the thankless task of opening the road.
Lucas Moraes eventually caught Ferreira and moved ahead, placing the Brazilian in an equally difficult situation at the front of the field. Moraes, however, managed to turn that position into a sufficiently strong result to take the rally lead.
Ferreira lost around 11 minutes and surrendered the first place he had earned the previous day.
It was certainly not the result he wanted, but after yesterday’s victory the Portuguese challenge in Morocco is far from over.
Sanders hits back and regains the lead
On two wheels, Daniel Sanders wasted little time responding to Ricky Brabec’s stage-one victory.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider caught Brabec near the beginning of the special and the pair spent much of the day navigating together.
Sanders was not simply benefiting from his road position, however.
He was faster.
The Australian finished 3m04s ahead of Brabec and 3m34s clear of team-mate Edgar Canet, building enough of an advantage to have won even without the opening bonuses.
It was the 35th RallyGP stage victory of his career and returned him to the top of the overall standings.
Sanders now leads Brabec by 2m54s and Canet by 4m07s. Behind the leading trio, the gaps are already becoming considerably larger.
Yesterday Brabec brought KTM’s run of 14 consecutive W2RC special wins to an end. Today Sanders reminded everyone that one defeat does not necessarily represent a change of power.
Martim Ventura is no longer only racing the Rally2 field
Martim Ventura won again.
And that may no longer be the most impressive part of the story.
The Portuguese rider defeated Michael Docherty once more, this time by 2m38s, to collect his tenth W2RC stage victory.
Preston Campbell, third in Rally2, finished more than ten minutes behind.
Ventura has therefore extended his category lead to 3m36s over Docherty and 22m18s over Campbell.
But the more interesting comparison lies outside Rally2.
Ventura finished the stage fourth overall among all FIM riders, just 18 seconds away from the outright podium.
He is also fourth in the overall bike classification, only 6m10s behind Daniel Sanders.
In other words, Ventura may officially be racing in Rally2, but he is spending much of the Rallye du Maroc comparing times with RallyGP machinery.
Honda’s investment in the class could hardly be producing better results either. Bruno Crivilin won the prologue and Martim Ventura has taken stages one and two.
So far, Honda has won every Rally2 special.
Alexandre Pinto loses the stage but keeps a healthy lead
In Challenger, Alexandre Pinto finally found someone capable of beating him.
Paul Spierings won the stage after a close fight between the two Taurus crews, but the Portuguese driver remains in a very comfortable position overall.
Pinto still holds a lead of roughly 15 minutes over the Dutchman after his dominant opening stage.
Peterhansel delivers another Defender victory
Defender made it two wins from two days in Stock, although with a different driver.
After Sara Price won yesterday, this time it was Stéphane Peterhansel who set the pace, beating his team-mate by 1m58s.
Price nevertheless remains firmly in control of the overall classification with close to 14 minutes in hand over “Monsieur Dakar”.
Ferioli wins, Walkner keeps the lead
The SSV battle was much closer.
Jeremías González Ferioli beat Matthias Walkner by only 40 seconds after the pair spent almost the entire stage separated by tiny margins.
The Argentine took the stage, but Walkner retained the overall lead.
The gap between them is now 6m33s.
Martín and Kanopkinas still do not know how to lose
Two categories have produced exactly the same winners every day so far.
Albert Martín took another Rally3 victory aboard the Triumph, while Antanas Kanopkinas repeated the feat in the Quad category with CFMoto.
Prologue, stage one, stage two.
Three starts, three victories for each of them.
Half the rally still remains, but both riders have a perfect record so far.
Tomorrow is another race
After two stages, some hierarchies are starting to take shape. Others have disappeared within a handful of kilometres.
Lucas Moraes leads the cars by just 28 seconds. Daniel Sanders is back on top of the bikes. Martim Ventura has strengthened his Rally2 advantage. Alexandre Pinto remains comfortably ahead in Challenger.
Nasser Al-Attiyah was nine kilometres away from victory and the overall lead. Now he is almost 45 minutes behind.
That may be the best possible summary of the Rallye du Maroc so far.
Some are leading.
But nobody is safe yet.
Rally-Raid Network
