Ricky Brabec (Honda) has won the first stage of the Rallye du Maroc in the bike category, with the Honda rider crossing the line 23 seconds ahead of Sanders (KTM) after the 268-kilometre special stage between Agadir and Zagora, followed by Edgar Canet (KTM) at 44 seconds and Luciano Benavides (KTM) at 1 minute and 53 seconds. It is the first time since last year’s prologue that Brabec has led in Morocco, and his fourteenth RallyGP victory also brings an end to the run of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, which had dominated fourteen special stages in a row since the end of the Dakar. In the cars, João Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) claimed the stage win and the overall lead after a time correction, once world championship leader Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) dropped out of contention with a mechanical problem.
The best Dutch performance of the day came from Mitchel van den Brink, who won the truck class outright on his first appearance in the Rallye du Maroc. In the bikes, Lars van Berkel (BAS World KTM Team) was the top Dutchman in 30th place, while in the cars that was Rients Hofstra and Wouter de Graaff (Red-Lined Europe) in 34th in Ultimate. In the Challenger class things went less well: championship leader Puck Klaassen had to abandon the stage.
Longest day of the week, but not the toughest
With a liaison of some 368 kilometres in total and a 268-kilometre special stage, this was the longest day of the 2026 Rallye du Maroc. Rally director Marc Coma had described it beforehand as a “Dakar-like stage”: a long run to the special itself, which is not technically difficult but above all long, and which builds up gradually towards the first dunes of the week. According to him, those dunes are not yet the trickiest of the week. For the debutants, Coma said, it is mainly a day to get used to the rally-raid discipline and the Moroccan terrain before the following stages begin.
The route consisted of three parts: a long section over hard terrain with plenty of marked tracks, a dune sector and finally a section over softer terrain with dunes and wadis. For the dune section, around 10 percent of the special, bikes and cars followed a separate route. Of the 132 bike riders who started the prologue, more than 110 remain in the results after this stage.
Brabec wins after duel with Sanders and late charge from Canet
At the start, Sanders, as the fastest from the prologue, chose the tenth starting position, between the Hondas of Bruno Crivilin and Tosha Schareina. Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco), as the slowest of the fourteen pre-selected starters, opened the road, a difficult task with no tracks from other riders to follow. Along the way the lead changed hands several times: at kilometre 97 Brabec took over from his compatriot Ventura, at 166 he extended his advantage over Sanders to 24 seconds, after which Canet came back strongly in the closing phase. In the end Brabec remained the fastest, ahead of the three KTMs of Sanders, Canet and Benavides.
Schareina, who went into the day with a three-point margin over Sanders in the prologue, had a difficult day: he finished ninth on the stage, more than 7 minutes behind Brabec, and drops to 7 minutes and 27 seconds in the overall standings. Ignacio Cornejo (Hero), the only Hero rider in RallyGP now that teammate Ross Branch is still recovering from a crash during training, finished eighth. Santolino was credited with a 3-minute-and-40-second time bonus for opening the road and therefore still stands eleventh.
Overview of the top five in the overall standings after prologue and stage 1:
- Ricky Brabec (Honda) 02:51:08
- Daniel Sanders (KTM) +00:10
- Edgar Canet (KTM) +00:43
- Luciano Benavides (KTM) +02:05
- Martim Ventura (Honda, Rally2) +02:28
ZXMoto: Ebster steady, Howes out of fuel
The Chinese ZXMoto Joyride Factory Rally Team had a mixed debut. Tobias Ebster rode to 24th overall and 15th in Rally2, more than 3 minutes behind stage winner Ventura. Skyler Howes had less luck: the American ran out of fuel 5 kilometres before the end of the special. He still reached the finish, but with more than an hour’s deficit and a 46th place on the stage. For a factory debut on a barely tested bike that is a setback, though it fits with what the team itself had already indicated: this year Morocco serves mainly as a test with an eye on the 2027 Dakar.
Ventura wins Rally2, Martín and Kanopkinas stay on top
In Rally2 the stage was a Honda affair: Martim Ventura kept Michael Docherty behind him in the closing kilometres and secured his ninth W2RC victory. With that he also takes over the lead in the Rally2 standings, 58 seconds ahead of Docherty. Bruno Crivilin, winner of the prologue, dropped back to 9 minutes and 17 seconds in the class.
In Rally3 Albert Martín (Triumph) confirmed his good form with his second win of the week and thereby extended his lead in the class. Among the quads Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto) won again and increased his overall advantage with his 21st W2RC victory. Suany Martínez, who in the prologue had said she was riding for her father now that a title is out of reach for her, retired at kilometre 33 with an engine problem. Her father Leonardo Martínez did fight on and was lying second at the halfway point of the special, behind Kanopkinas.
Van Berkel and De Ruiter both take a step forward
Both Dutch bike riders climbed compared with the prologue. Lars van Berkel (BAS World KTM Team) finished 30th on the stage and also stands 30th in the overall standings, 33 minutes and 51 seconds behind Brabec, with a 10-second time penalty applied. In the prologue he had been 31st. Berend de Ruiter (HT Rally Raid) finished 40th on the stage and 40th overall, at 48 minutes and 42 seconds, a gain of five places compared with his 45th position after the prologue. For both rally-raid debutants that is a solid start to the first real stage.
Dutch results in the bikes after stage 1:
- Lars van Berkel (BAS World KTM Team) – 30th, +33:51
- Berend de Ruiter (HT Rally Raid) – 40th, +48:42
Walkner completes the switch with a win in SSV
In the SSVs, Matthias Walkner (South Racing Can-Am) won his first special stage since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, when he was still on a bike. The Austrian won the Rallye du Maroc in 2017 and the Dakar in 2018 on two wheels, became cross-country rally world champion in 2015 and 2021, and after injuries rode a bike for the last time in Morocco in 2023. With this win he is the first W2RC competitor to win a stage in both RallyGP and the SSV class. After this stage Walkner leads the SSV standings by 6 minutes and 13 seconds over the Argentine Jeremías González Ferioli.
Ferreira benefits after time correction, Loeb retires, Klaassen crashes in Challenger
In the cars, Lucas Moraes (Dacia) looked set to win the stage, after a closing phase in which Guy Botterill, Carlos Sainz, Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Serradori had each taken turns at the front. João Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) initially crossed the line 5 minutes and 53 seconds after Moraes, but received a time compensation of 5 minutes and 56 seconds for assistance he had given to another competitor along the way. That made him the winner after all, as well as overall leader. Carlos Sainz picked up a 5-minute time penalty for speeding along the way and as a result dropped from fourth to twelfth on the stage.
Overview of the top five in the overall standings in the cars after stage 1:
- João Ferreira (Toyota) 02:38:18
- Lucas Moraes (Dacia) +00:03
- Mathieu Serradori (Century) +00:16
- Mitch Guthrie (Ford) +01:07
- Mattias Ekström (Ford) +02:14
In Ultimate there were also five Dutch crews at the start. Rients Hofstra/Wouter de Graaff (Red-Lined Europe) were the best Dutch crew, 34th at 27 minutes and 45 seconds from Ferreira, ahead of Kees Koolen/Wouter Rosegaar (RD Limited, 35th, +28:12) and Mike van Eikeren/Jasper Riezebos (MP Rallysport, 44th, +40:22). Rik van den Brink/Gydo Heimans (SRT) were 83rd, at 1 hour and 30 minutes. Gert-Jan van der Valk/Branco de Lange (MP Rallysport) did not reach the finish: they are recorded with a maximum time, as are Loeb among others.
World championship leader Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) suffered a mechanical problem at kilometre 202 and reached the finish with a deficit of more than two and a half hours. That leaves him with no chance of the stage win and even puts his championship lead at risk: he went into the rally with a three-point advantage over teammate Nasser Al Attiyah and thirteen over Seth Quintero (Toyota), both of whom finished within four minutes of new leader Ferreira.
In Stock, Sara Price (Defender) won her first special stage since stage 12 of the Dakar, more than eight months ago. She stayed 9 minutes and 16 seconds ahead of Yasir Seaidan (Toyota Land Cruiser) and 15 minutes and 55 seconds ahead of teammate Stéphane Peterhansel, thereby also taking the lead in the class.
In the Challenger class, Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally) dominated the stage from start to finish and won by a comfortable margin over Rodrigo Varela. His main championship rival, Puck Klaassen (KTM X-Bow), crashed out of the special at kilometre 159 and had to retire; like the other retirements she is recorded with a maximum time. Klaassen went into the rally with a nine-point lead over Pinto in the standings, a margin that comes under heavy pressure as a result of this stage. The other Dutch Challengers did make it in: Paul Spierings/Kala Senders (Rebellion Spierings) were 41st, at 37 minutes and 56 seconds, Roger Grouwels/Rudolf Meijer (QFF Racing) 51st at 49 minutes and 32 seconds and Lex Peters/Arjan van Tiel (G Rally Team) 63rd at 1 hour and 4 minutes.
Van den Brink wins straight away on his first Rallye du Maroc
In the trucks, Mitchel van den Brink (Team de Rooy) dominated the stage from start to finish. The 24-year-old Van den Brink is by no means a newcomer in the truck class: in 2019, at sixteen, he was the youngest ever entrant in the Dakar and in 2021, at eighteen, the youngest truck driver, and he has already stood on the Dakar podium three times (third in 2024 and 2026, second in 2025). This is, however, his first appearance in the Rallye du Maroc itself, having previously driven other rallies in Morocco. His main challenger, Martin Macík (MM Technology), was unable to keep him from the win and also picked up a 10-minute time penalty, leaving Van den Brink to close the day with an overall lead of 11 minutes and 31 seconds. The second Dutch truck, of Kay Huzink/Mark Salomons/Corne Blok (Huzink Rally Sport, likewise in cooperation with Team de Rooy), was also at the start and finished as the second Dutch truck at 1 hour and 5 minutes from Van den Brink.
Dutch results in the cars and trucks after stage 1:
Ultimate
- Rients Hofstra/Wouter de Graaff (Red-Lined Europe) – 34th, +27:45
- Kees Koolen/Wouter Rosegaar (RD Limited) – 35th, +28:12
- Mike van Eikeren/Jasper Riezebos (MP Rallysport) – 44th, +40:22
- Rik van den Brink/Gydo Heimans (SRT) – 83rd, +1:30:14
- Gert-Jan van der Valk/Branco de Lange (MP Rallysport) – did not finish
Challenger
- Paul Spierings/Kala Senders (Rebellion Spierings) – 41st, +37:56
- Roger Grouwels/Rudolf Meijer (QFF Racing) – 51st, +49:32
- Lex Peters/Arjan van Tiel (G Rally Team) – 63rd, +1:04:46
- Puck Klaassen/Augusto Sanz (KTM X-Bow Lab Team) – did not finish
Trucks
- Mitchel van den Brink/Bart van Heun/Jarno van de Pol (Team de Rooy) – class winner, +29:12
- Kay Huzink/Mark Salomons/Corne Blok (Huzink Rally Sport) – +1:05:51
Historic opening: first Rallye du Maroc Classic
This edition also went into the history books as the first with a Rallye du Maroc Classic, a regularity run for 21 historic vehicles alongside the world championship. In doing so the organisation referred to the 1982 Paris-Agadir, the first ever rally-raid in Morocco: bike winner Cyril Neveu founded the Rallye du Maroc itself in 2000. With this edition Agadir is the start location of the rally for the sixth time, now sharing the record as start city together with Zagora.
Tomorrow stage 2 follows, again with start and finish in Zagora.
