AFRICA RACE 2024 - STAGE N°4 : OUED DRAA (ASSA) -> FORT CHACAL

AFRICA ECO RACE: ALL OUT FOR SOUTHERN MOROCCO

For some competitors in the AFRICA ECO RACE 2024, Stage 3 may have left its mark, but for others, the motivation was very much in evidence this morning at the start of the bivouac at Oued Draa, not far from Tagounite. It has to be said that this 467km special was particularly long, over varied terrain with some rather demanding navigation at the end of the route.

Once again today, Italy's Jacopo CERUTTI was the strongest. Starting in 3rd position this morning behind the two official Yamaha's, the APRILIA rider managed to catch the Italian Alessandro BOTTURI, who had started in the lead, and the Andorran Pol TARRES, who had started 2nd. This was his 3rd victory since the start of the rally and strengthened his overall lead over TARRES at 00:08:55, with BOTTURI at 00:10:22.

"I started cautiously because I didn't want to take any risks in the rocks. Despite that, I realized at the refueling point that my front tyre was torn on the sidewall and I drove with the fear that I wouldn't finish the whole of the second part of the stage. As a result, I applied myself to navigation and I took other riders with me on the right track. On the other hand, I'm totally destroyed physically by this bike with its incredibly powerful engine.”

Italian Marco MENICHINI rounded off the day's top 10 with his HUSQVARNA 450.

In the MOTUL XTREME RIDER challenge for unassisted riders, victory went to Frenchman Nicolas BOTTU on a KTM. On the other hand, Italian Stefano CHIUSSI on his HUSQVARNA is the leader after four stages.

In the Classic race, the battle raged again today over the two Regularity Zones. The level was very high and the competitors were incredibly consistent. After three stages and 11 “R-Z’s”, Belgians Eric and Tom CLAEYS are leading the way in their TOYOTA BJ 73 ahead of their compatriots René DECLERCQ and John DEMEESTER in a BOMBARDIER Iltis. Austrian Peter BRABECK-LETMATHE and Frenchman Jean Michel GAYTE rounded off the provisional podium in a MITSUBISHI Pajero.

Tomorrow, the AFRICA ECO RACE will continue its descent due south towards Dakhla, where the rest day will take place on Sunday 7 January. In the meantime, after a 27km liaison, there will be a 397km special stage and a 168km liaison to finally take a breather on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean before tackling the second week in Mauritania.