Rally of Morocco 2021: Impressive 5th place in the T3 category for the Spanish duo Pena -Tornabell.

For the first stage of the Rallye du Maroc, the organizer David Castera showcased all the best that Drâa-Tafilalet region can offer.

After a 143-km long liaison, the competitors took the start of todays’ timed section plunging into 30 kilometres of dunes in the Chegaga Erg (which means mountain). The beautiful scenery with dunes that can reach over 50 metres of height was the cherry on top of a varied stage that featured an alternation of sandy and hard tracks until CP1 and a demanding second part with stony and twisty tracks till the finish, located just 11 kilometres from the bivouac.

“It was a beautiful stage”, said Jose Luis Pena Campo, 30th overall. “The pace of the first 80 kms was quite fast but with some tricky parts. When we arrived in the dunes, the sun was already high, so the visibility was not perfect. Despite the dunes were quite soft, our Polaris worked really well, and we could gain some time. The second part saw sandy tracks with some small broken dunes. After the refuelling, it started the rocky parts. The rhythm was quite high, and we ended the stage 5th in our T3 category.  All in all, we are very satisfied and we look forward to stage 2” continued the Spaniard who, together with his co-driver Rafael Tornabell is fighting to consolidate their third position in the FIA overall ranking. 

“We started with a good position but it took us a bit to find the right pace when we tackled the dunes section. The navigation too was a bit comlicated”, said Sebastian Guayasamin, who finished 32nd overall of the car category, 15th in the T4 category. “Our machine has a very good chassis but we need to improve a bit in terms of power. This is just the first stage, so I hope I can recover some time tomorrow”.

It was a difficult day for Gaspari and Salvatori of the CST Polaris Team who suffered several issues.

"It was not our day”, confessed the Italian. “At km 30 we had an issue with the ECU and we remained without the control systems for one hour. Fortunately, we managed to continue but at km 120 we had another important issue with the shock absorbers that compromised today’s stage. Despite all, we remain confident and we look forward to continue tomorrow”.

They finally finished 10th in the T3 category. 
 
It was a good stage for the English duo Graham Knight and David Watson. “The first day of the rally started right in the Chegaga Erg that together with the Erg Chebi are stunning. We enjoyed the stage and run without problems”, stated Graham Knight, who finished 21st in the T4 Category. 
 
Tomorrow the competitors will tackle a loop of 609 km Zagora-Zagora with 334 km of timed section.   

Source Xtremeplus