After a day filled with speed and sand, the four-wheeled participants of the Carta Rallye weren’t given any rest: the schedule featured a 49-kilometer night special stage around Mhamid. This stage, exclusively for cars and SSVs, led them over fast tracks, through a sandy oued, and rough vegetation — all in darkness, guided only by their powerful headlights. While the profile seemed relatively straightforward on paper, limited visibility, shifting landmarks, and fatigue proved to be the real challenges of the night.
Valverde and Minaudier surprise with night victory
In the darkness, it was Frédéric Valverde and Loïc Minaudier who raced like nocturnal creatures to set the fastest time. The duo, competing in the SSV Open class, completed the stage in 44 minutes and 58 seconds, claiming their first stage win of the rally.
Second place went to Lepietre/Relmy-Madinska, who impressed with a solid run in 49:29. The podium was completed by Dutrie/Merceron with a time of 50:56, followed by the Sottile/Sottile team (51:34) and Boulenaz/Perrin (51:44). The entire top five consisted of SSV Open competitors — not surprising, considering the improved visibility in an SSV compared to a fully enclosed car like the Optimus.
One of the most notable times came from Vitse/Delfino: they clocked the fastest raw time of the evening at 36:26, but were handed a 30-minute penalty, dropping them to 18th place. As a result, they couldn’t capitalize on their dominant performance earlier in the day for the night ranking.
Short but impactful stage on the overall standings
Although the night stage was only 49 kilometers on paper, it had a significant impact on the overall classification. Leader Simon Vitse received a 30-minute penalty, but thanks to his blistering pace, he still managed to retain his lead with a total time of 9:17:52. Behind him, Lacam/Delfino and Pelichet/Lecourbe took advantage of flawless night runs to consolidate their second and third positions, while Zosso/Zosso moved up to fourth thanks to a strong nighttime effort and a time correction. Night stage winners Valverde/Minaudier made a jump to 13th place with a major time bonus. Dutrie/Merceron and Lepietre/Relmy-Madinska also climbed considerably in the standings. On the other hand, several teams dropped significantly due to heavy time penalties for missed waypoints or failing to start the stage.
Looking ahead to stage 4 around Mhamid
Stage 4 awaits today: a 199-kilometer loop stage with 12 kilometers of liaison, again in the Mhamid region. The route has been altered due to flooding in the oued and partially overlaps with sections from Stage 3, but often in reverse directions. Participants face a 35-kilometer dune section, followed by fast tracks across Lake Iriki and a technical final part packed with navigation challenges.
