The mercury is approaching 40 degrees and the ski masks are out on the Laayoune bivouac swept by the wind and the desert sand. Not enough to dampen the good mood of Guerlain Chicherit who has just taken over the controls of the Rallye du Maroc on Tuesday with his co-driver Alexandre Winocq.
Second in the third stage won by Nasser Al-Attiyah (4th overall at 27′), he scored a fine result for his return to the rally-raid tracks at the wheel of the Hunter BRX of the British team Prodrive. Former leader and opener of the day’s special, his teammate Sébastien Loeb, who lost 10 minutes following a puncture and a little ”gardening” session, fell to third place, 4′ 50′ behind. ‘ from Chicherit and 4’ from Orlando Terranova, also a BRX driver.
“I don’t give up, I want to stay focused until the end. For once I have a car at the level of the others”
Guerlain Chicherit, who talks about his
“I am extremely satisfied but there are still two days left, reacts Chicherit, engaged with Prodrive for two Dakars. I don’t give up, I want to stay focused until the end. For once I have a car at the level of the others. » Next January in Saudi Arabia, he will line up at the start of his 11th Dakar.
“The last few years I’ve been riding my stuff with different cars, he continues. It took me five years to get back into a good car. I put a lot of energy into creating my team (GCC) with the old DKRs. The team had done a great job. Except that we came to a year when the rules changed. The T1 + regulations left no chance for the buggies. »
“We understood that there was nothing more we could do. At some point, I said to myself, either I stay home and stop driving, or I finish my thing and get into a finished car. I turned to Prodrive, whom I knew since we had worked together on rallycross, and I asked them if they could make me a car. »
“When I arrived here, I needed to reassure myself. Morocco is the first step. The objective will then be to win the Dakar in 2023 or 2024.”
For Chicherit, the idea is to give himself a new chance, to take care of his racing career for two years and to dissociate the development project of the hydrogen car with GCK. “Like that, I’m all the way, he throws. In a team like Prodrive, the only thing you have to do is get in the car and drive. Like when I was at X-Raid. »
In Morocco, his goal is victory. “Arriving here, after only two days of testing, I needed to reassure myself, to know if the speed was still there. From this point of view, it’s fine, I have a good rhythm. The Morocco, he adds, is the first step. The objective will then be to win the Dakar, in 2023 or 2024. There is still a long way to go. But if we break in without doing too much nonsense here, we will have taken a big step in terms of confidence. I also wanted to show my friends that I was back and very motivated! »
Victory of Benavides on a motorcycle
In the opening position after his victory the day before, Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) finished 11th in the third stage won by Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna). The Argentinian was 25 seconds ahead of his teammate Skyler Howes, third place going to Ross Branch (Hero), at 2’38”, fourth to Sam Sunderland (Gas Gas), at 3’3”. Howes retains the overall lead ahead of Benavides, 3’17”, and Toby Price (KTM), 4’45”. Van Beveren is 7th at 12’54”.