Daniel Sanders (KTM) won the fourth stage of the Rallye du Maroc in the bike category, retaking the overall lead from teammate Edgar Canet. Among the cars, the stage win went to Mattias Ekström (Ford), while Seth Quintero (Toyota) took over the overall lead from Carlos Sainz. For the Dutch, Mitchel van den Brink remained the strongest: he finished second in the truck class and heads into the final stage with a lead of more than half an hour.
Sanders made up for the previous day, when a navigation error cost him more than eight minutes. Despite a crash around kilometre 100, he won the 321-kilometre special stage by 3 minutes and 1 second over Canet and 3 minutes and 17 seconds over Adrien Van Beveren (Honda). It was his 36th RallyGP win, a record. In the overall standings Sanders now leads Canet by 1 minute and 31 seconds, with Ricky Brabec (Honda) third at 8 minutes and 9 seconds. Luciano Benavides, winner of stage 3, had to open the stage and dropped to fourth place.
Among the cars, Ekström claimed his eleventh W2RC win, a day after a puncture knocked him out of contention for the overall victory before the start of stage 3. He stayed ahead of Henk Lategan (Toyota) by 35 seconds and teammate Mitch Guthrie by 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Quintero finished sixth on the stage, but that was enough to take the lead: he enters the final day with a 2-minute-and-45-second advantage over teammate Lategan and 5 minutes and 41 seconds over Sainz.
For the other Dutch competitors it was a mixed day. Kees Koolen and Wouter Rosegaar climbed to nineteenth place in the overall standings and Rik van den Brink spoke of a flawless day, but Paul Spierings had to retire from the stage and Mike van Eikeren failed to reach the finish.
The finest stage of the week
Rally director Marc Coma had described stage 4 beforehand as “the finest stage of the entire race”: once again a fast day, with more dunes and some navigation. The route ran towards the northeast, first across fast tracks, then through valleys and technical sandy sections, over a small dune pass and fast tracks between mountains, finishing at the end of a very rocky trail. The cars were originally meant to follow their own route, but ultimately drove the bikes’ course; according to the official results, the special stage for the FIA competitors measured 318 kilometres.
Sanders strikes back, Benavides pays for opening the road
In the bike category, Benavides started the stage first as winner of the previous day. Tosha Schareina (Honda) caught up with him and rode alongside him for a while, but the Argentine ultimately lost 9 minutes and 58 seconds to Sanders and dropped from second to fourth in the overall standings, 1 minute and 44 seconds behind Brabec. Sanders, by contrast, benefited from his eighth starting position and from the tracks of those ahead of him. Canet kept him within half a minute up to kilometre 222, but then lost ground. Van Beveren, who had been ill the day before, finished third and was thereby the best Honda rider.
Tomorrow, as the winner, Sanders will himself have to open the final stage, the role that proved costly to him in stage 3. For him it is a chance to take revenge on Morocco, the only round he did not win in 2025.
Top five of stage 4 in the bike category:
- Daniel Sanders (KTM) 03:14:31
- Edgar Canet (KTM) +03:01
- Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) +03:17
- Ricky Brabec (Honda) +06:51
- Ignacio Cornejo (Hero) +07:21
Top five of the overall standings in the bike category after stage 4:
- Daniel Sanders (KTM) 13:45:03
- Edgar Canet (KTM) +01:31
- Ricky Brabec (Honda) +08:09
- Luciano Benavides (KTM) +09:53
- Martim Ventura (Honda, Rally2) +13:44
In Rally2, Michael Docherty finally claimed his first win with Hero, after three second places this week. He stayed ahead of Neels Theric (Kove) by 1 minute and 35 seconds and Martim Ventura (Honda) by 2 minutes and 11 seconds. It was his 38th Rally2 win in the World Championship, a record, achieved with his third brand after Husqvarna and KTM. Docherty did receive a 15-minute time penalty for changing his engine, which meant Ventura heads into the final day with a lead of 29 minutes and 25 seconds. In Rally3, Albert Martín’s (Triumph) winning streak came to an end: he was given a 17-minute penalty for a missed waypoint and speeding, which allowed Murun Purevdorj (Xraids Experience) to win the stage. Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto) won his fifth consecutive stage in the quad category and can tomorrow put every special stage of the rally to his name.
Ekström wins, Quintero takes over the lead
Among the cars, the lead in the stage changed hands several times. Ekström was fastest at kilometre 40, Lategan at kilometre 73 and Lucas Moraes (Dacia) at kilometre 112, after which Ekström was no longer overtaken from kilometre 215 onwards. For Ford it was the first win of the week and the eleventh W2RC win for the Raptor, six of which Ekström has taken himself. Moraes and Nasser Al Attiyah, both out of contention for the overall victory after earlier problems, finished fourth and fifth.
Quintero, who had not yet won a stage this week, took over the virtual lead from Sainz halfway through the stage and held on to it. Toyota thereby leads with two Hilux crews, three years after the last Toyota win in Morocco by Yazeed Al Rajhi in 2023. Ford has never won the rally, but has three cars in the top six with Sainz, Nani Roma and Guthrie. For Al Rajhi it was another difficult day: he came to a standstill at kilometre 122 with a mechanical problem. Saood Variawa and Charan Moore (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) were unable to start after their crash in stage 3; the crew was unharmed.
Top five of stage 4 in the car category:
- Mattias Ekström (Ford) 03:02:52
- Henk Lategan (Toyota) +00:35
- Mitch Guthrie (Ford) +02:32
- Lucas Moraes (Dacia) +02:36
- Nasser Al Attiyah (Dacia) +02:50
Top five of the overall standings in the car category after stage 4:
- Seth Quintero (Toyota) 13:13:39
- Henk Lategan (Toyota) +02:45
- Carlos Sainz (Ford) +05:41
- João Ferreira (Toyota) +05:58
- Nani Roma (Ford) +06:09
In Stock, Rokas Baciuška (Defender) won his first stage of the week, but teammate Stéphane Peterhansel remains comfortably in the lead. In the SSV class, Matthias Walkner (Can-Am) won with a lead of 5 minutes and 27 seconds over Jeremías González Ferioli. That put him one second ahead in the standings, but a 10-second time penalty for speeding handed the lead back to González Ferioli, who enters the final day with a 9-second advantage. In the Challenger class, Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally) won after Paul Spierings had to retire from the stage. Pinto now leads by 44 minutes and 41 seconds over Rui Carneiro and is on course to take over the championship lead as well.
Van den Brink loses the stage win to a flat tyre
Among the trucks, Martin Macík (MM Technology), two-time defending champion, won his first stage of the week. Mitchel van den Brink (Team de Rooy) finished second at 5 minutes and 57 seconds, after a flat tyre cost him the stage win. “Unfortunately we missed out on the stage win due to a flat tyre. Other than that we actually drove flawlessly and had no trouble,” said the Harskamp driver. In the overall standings he still holds a lead of 33 minutes and 14 seconds over Macík. For the final stage of 259 kilometres he is opting for a conservative approach: “We still have plenty of margin. So tomorrow we are in a good position to let Macík go and follow him.” If Van den Brink holds on to his lead, he will succeed Michiel Becx, who also won the truck class for Team de Rooy in 2023.
Dutch competitors: Koolen climbs, Spierings and Van Eikeren drop out
Lars van Berkel (BAS World KTM Team) was allowed to start further up after his strong stage 3, but lost time by getting lost twice. He finished 29th on the stage and sits 27th in the overall standings. “I’m angry that I’m making these mistakes. It’s normal after four days with digital roadbooks, but my competitive nature quickly takes over. We’re here to learn,” he said. Berend de Ruiter (HT Rally Raid) finished 39th on the stage and climbed to 33rd place in the overall standings.
Among the cars, Kees Koolen and Wouter Rosegaar (RD Limited) drove to the 34th time, good for nineteenth place in the overall standings and thereby the best Dutch car. Rik van den Brink and Gydo Heimans (SRT) finished 43rd and were satisfied: despite a two-minute time penalty, they spoke of a tough stage without problems. The dunes in particular were to their liking, according to Van den Brink: “We’re liking the dunes more and more.” Gert-Jan van der Valk and Branco de Lange (MP Rallysport) finished 42nd. Rients Hofstra and Wouter de Graaff (Red-Lined Europe) finished 66th.
In the Challenger class, Paul Spierings had to retire from the stage, which cost him his second place behind Pinto. Lex Peters and Arjan van Tiel (G Rally Team) finished 57th on the stage and Roger Grouwels and Rudolf Meijer (QFF Racing) 64th. Mike van Eikeren and Jasper Riezebos (MP Rallysport) failed to reach the finish and were given the maximum time plus a time penalty. The second Team de Rooy truck of Kay Huzink, Mark Salomons and Corne Blok, which had already received a 24-hour penalty in stage 3, no longer appears in the stage 4 results.
Dutch results after stage 4
Bikes
- Lars van Berkel (BAS World KTM Team) – stage 29th (+48:31), overall 27th (+2:26:23)
- Berend de Ruiter (HT Rally Raid) – stage 39th (+1:15:15), overall 33rd (+4:29:44)
Ultimate
- Kees Koolen/Wouter Rosegaar (RD Limited) – stage 34th (+33:47), overall 19th (+1:42:43)
- Gert-Jan van der Valk/Branco de Lange (MP Rallysport) – stage 42nd (+46:39), overall 77th (+25:27:00)
- Rik van den Brink/Gydo Heimans (SRT) – stage 43rd (+48:42), overall 72nd (+23:24:58)
- Rients Hofstra/Wouter de Graaff (Red-Lined Europe) – stage 66th (+1:18:59), overall 85th (+42:14:15)
- Mike van Eikeren/Jasper Riezebos (MP Rallysport) – did not finish, overall 70th (+22:48:14)
Challenger
- Lex Peters/Arjan van Tiel (G Rally Team) – stage 57th (+1:00:53), overall 82nd (+39:16:42)
- Roger Grouwels/Rudolf Meijer (QFF Racing) – stage 64th (+1:17:27), overall 46th (+4:22:44)
- Paul Spierings/Kala Senders (Rebellion-Spierings) – did not finish, overall 68th (+22:05:37)
Trucks
- Mitchel van den Brink/Bart van Heun/Jarno van de Pol (Team de Rooy) – 2nd in class on the stage (40th overall, +38:12), overall class leader (24th overall, +1:50:50)
Tomorrow brings the fifth and final stage, a loop around Zagora with a 259-kilometre special stage, after which the prize-giving will take place in Zagora.
