The battle continues on the penultimate day of rallying on the 2024 Rallye Du Maroc

As the finish line of the 2024 Rallye Du Maroc draws ever closer, the fourth stage provided quite the test for the Monster Energy Honda Team riders as the long days in the saddle, intense heat and tricky terrain tested them all to the limit.

The penultimate day in Morocco was a 315km stage made up mostly of gravel tracks in canyons leading out of Mengoub.  Heavy rain had badly damaged some of the tracks so it was still going to be an arduous task to be quick, master the difficult navigation while also being cautious on the very demanding terrain.

Tosha Schareina was a man on a mission following his post-stage penalty yesterday to put in a supersonic ride on his Honda CRF450 RALLY throughout the day to keep ahead and cut into the time gap to overall rally leader Daniel Sanders.  Romping to a four minute gap, Schareina looked to have the stage win in his pocket only to suffer a small crash 70 kms before the finish. Getting back on the bike the Spaniard then discovered an error in the road book for the last section, causing him endless problems to find the right route.

His healthy lead vanished as he tried to get back on track, eventually losing ten minutes from the lead he’d so brilliantly built up over the previous 250kms.  His end result of fourth masqueraded what an incredible ride he’d had for most of the stage but the time lost leaves him nearly 22 minutes back of the overall lead so the Spaniard  will look to end his 2024 season tomorrow with a stage victory.

Adrien Van Beveren had the difficult task of starting the day in second but it proved a frustrating stage for the Frenchman as he too had the same navigation issue as Schareina finishing the day 18 minutes behind the stage winner.  Van Beveren was sitting in third overall before today’s stage and having now dropped a place, he will fight to the end to take his first ever podium of the Moroccan Rally.

Setting off in third today, Pablo Quintanilla’s Rallye du Maroc adventure came to a halt just 55km into the stage after hitting a rock.  For the former outright winner of the rally it was a disappointing end to his 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship season as he now refocuses for the upcoming Dakar Rally.

It’s the final day of rally action tomorrow and there’s no let up for the riders with 273km of racing against the clock around Mengoub Bouârfa. As the temperature rises, so will the battle in the manufacturers’ championship as the finish line approaches and closes what has been an exhilarating season for the Monster Energy Honda Team riders.