Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders has secured his second consecutive stage win of the 2024 Rallye du Maroc with victory on day four. Opening the entire 315-kilometer timed special, the Australian now heads into the final day of racing in Morocco with an advantage of more than 21 minutes over the rest of the field. Luciano Benavides secured his best result of the event so far, placing third on the stage. The Argentinian now lies third overall with one more day to race.
Following the issuing of penalties after Wednesday’s stage three, Sanders’ overall lead in the rally increased to over 11 minutes. Due to his stage win yesterday, the Australian set off first into today’s special, eager to maintain that advantage, and by navigating his way cleanly through the stage, the KTM 450 RALLY racer did exactly that.
Despite a hard charge by rival Tosha Schareina throughout the stage, Sanders kept his cool under pressure to not only open the entire stage but to ultimately top the timesheets by an impressive five minutes and 31 seconds once the bonus time for leading out was awarded. In extending his overall rally lead, ‘Chucky’ heads into Friday’s stage five with an advantage of 21 minutes and 44 seconds.
Daniel Sanders: “Stage four done, and it’s been a pretty good day for me. It was very, very long with a lot of navigation. It was a new area here that we’ve never been to before in the race, so it was really cool to ride with some good tracks and good riding. I just focused on my navigation today and put that first over out-and-out speed. I pretty much nailed most things – I made a couple of little mistakes, but I was able to fix those pretty quick and keep up a good rhythm all day. With a lot of the other guys getting lost today, I was able to open up the lead a bit more, so with one more day to go, I’m feeling good and looking forward to the finish.”
Continuing to improve as the event goes on, Benavides delivered another strong ride on today’s special to secure third place for the stage, and in turn, moved himself up to third in the provisional overall standings. Aiming to complete the rally on a high, Luciano will be looking to chase down the two riders ahead of him on tomorrow’s stage five and finish the event on the podium.
Luciano Benavides: “It was a good stage today for me. The navigation was really tough; Daniel did an amazing job, so he got the win. For me, I’m pleased with how I rode – a few mistakes with the navigation, but they didn’t cost me too much time. We’re still working on making some set-up changes to the bike, and that it definitely going well. Right now, Daniel and I are both in the top three, and tomorrow is my last day wearing the number one this year, so I’ll try and enjoy it tomorrow and hopefully, we can finish the rally with both riders on the podium.”
Friday’s fifth and final stage of the 2024 Rallye du Maroc will once again send riders on a looped route from Mengoub. Featuring a slightly shorter timed special of 273 kilometers, the stage will still offer a huge challenge to all competitors as they strive to complete the event.
Provisional Results – 2024 Rallye du Maroc, Stage 4
1. Daniel Sanders (AUS), KTM, 3:34:17
2. Ignacio Cornejo (CHL), Hero, 3:39:48 +5:31
3. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 3:42:28 +8:11
4. Harith Noah (IND), Sherco, 3:43:17 +9:00
5. Tosha Schareina (ESP), Honda, 3:44:35 +10:18
Provisional Standings – 2024 Rallye du Maroc (after 4 of 5 stages)
1. Daniel Sanders (AUS), KTM, 13:01:25
2. Tosha Schareina (ESP), Honda, 13:23:09 +21:44
3. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 13:25:48 +24:23
4. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Honda, 13:33:26 +32:01
5. Ross Branch (BWA), Hero, 13:47:18 +45:53