Merzouga Rally

Merzouga Rally is a rally raid that takes place in Morocco every year since 2010 at the beginning of October in the big dunes of Merzouga. It’s a five-day race plus prologue and a marathon stage in the desert. The stages are varied and around 200-300km long. Navigation is the key and the competitors use the GPS Unik2, the same used on the Dakar Rally. Safety is important as well with the competitors using the Iritrack, the tracking system studied for the African rallies. Plus a professional medical staff with 4x4 ambulances and doctors on bike and quad along the track and heli-ambulance service. To meet the needs of the professional riders but also the necessities of amateurs, the Merzouga Rally features the division of the route in 2 categories: PRO: open to pro riders and those competitors ready for an ultimate challenge EXPERT: a technical and navigated route but less extreme stages as the Expert riders will cover the 75% of the complete route of the Pro riders. The Merzouga Raid: Ideal for those who face the desert for the first time. At their own pace, riding on the same route of the rally in small groups with an expert guide. The vehicles will be equipped with world track, the satellite system that allow to follow the vehicles on track in real time. (for the rider no sports licence is required). Merzouga Rally took originally place in October and then was organized in April: the 2020 edition will start on the May 23rd, with the final stage scheduled on May 29th.

The logo of the Merzouga Rally

History
Landscape of a stage

In 2010, 40 competitors took part to the first edition of the Merzouga Rally. Every year the rally grows reaching an average of more than 120 vehicles on track. Studied by Italian promoter Edoardo Mossi, the Merzouga Rally formula is addressed to all amateurs that challenge the desert for the first time, but also for the professional riders who wish to train in preparation of the Dakar Rally. Many riders described Merzouga as ''the perfect training for the Dakar''. The race is open to the bike, quad and SxS categories (side-by-side).

Editions

The winners of the previous Merzouga Rally editions in the bikes include Helder Rodrigues, Sam Sunderland, Pal Anders Ullevaalseter, Kevin Benavides, Joan Barreda and Adrien van Beveren, who used the Moroccan rally as a launch pad for the Dakar. In quads, the most famous winners are Nicolas Cavigliasso (who won Dakar 2019) and Axel Dutrie, two-times Merzouga winner in this category. The 2019 winners were Adrien van Beveren (motos), Axel Dutrie (quad) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (SxS): the Qatarian driver and three-times Dakar winner, who promoted the Chapter 3 of the most famous rally-raid in Saudi Arabia, raced in Merzouga and won in side-by-side. Here below all the Merzouga Rally winners.

Edition 2010

MOTO: Helder Rodrigues (Por/Yamaha)

QUAD: Camelia Liparoti (Ita/KTM)

SxS: Julien Roustan/Daniel Pernot (Fra/Polaris).

Edition 2011

MOTO: Jakub Przygonski (Pol/KTM)

QUAD: Michel Scarcella (Fra/Can-Am)

The SxS vehicles

SxS: Oliver Abel/Christian Manez (Fra/Polaris)

Edition 2012

MOTO: Jacek Czachor (Pol/KTM)

QUAD: Patrick Marto (Fra/Polaris)

SxS Frederic Henrichy/Thierry Costa (Fra/Polaris)

Edition 2013

MOTO: Sam Sunderland (Gbr/Honda)

QUAD: Fernandez Covadonga (Spa)

SxS: Garry Connell/Annie Seel (Aus/Polaris).

Edition 2014

MOTO: Pal Anders Ullevaalseter (Nor/KTM)

QUAD: Diego Ortega Gil (Spa/Yamaha)

Laia Sanz and Arnold Brucy in action during Merzouga Rally 2014

SxS: Frederic Henrichy/Eric Bersey (Fra/Polaris).

Edition 2015

MOTO: Alessandro Botturi (Ita/Yamaha)

QUAD: Diego Ortega Gil (Spa/Yamaha)

SxS: Roberto Tonetti/Maurizio Dominella (Ita/Polaris).

Edition 2016

MOTO: Kevin Benavides (Arg/Honda)

QUAD: Clemens Eicker (Ger/E-ATV)

SxS: Frederic Henrichy/Eric Bersey (Fra/Polaris).

Edition 2017

MOTO: Xavier De Soultrait (Fra/Yamaha)

QUAD: Nicolas Cavigliasso (Arg/Yamaha)

SxS: Frederic Henrichy/Eric Bersey (Fra/Polaris).

Edition 2018

MOTO: Joan Barreda Bort (Spa/Honda)

QUAD: Axel Dutrie (Fra/Yamaha)

SxS: Bruno Varela/Gustavo Gugelmin (Bra/Can-Am).

Edition 2019

MOTO: Adrien van Beveren (Fra/Yamaha)

QUAD: Axel Dutrie (Fra/Yamaha)

SxS: Nasser Al-Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel (Qat&Fra/Can-Am).

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See also
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