With the first two special stages at the Rallye du Maroc primarily taking riders across seemingly endless sand dunes, the third stage provided a considerable change in terrain. Laying out a technical stage made up of many rocky trails, the organisers put a strong emphasis on testing the riders’ roadbook skills with the conditions minimising the chance for riders to follow in the wheel tracks of those ahead. Therefore, pinpoint navigation was essential in order to record a fast time on stage three and one rider enjoying his best day at the event so far was Andrew Short.
The American racer had endured a challenging start to the Rallye du Maroc. Overcoming a crash on stage one and mediocre result on day two, Andrew put those difficult days behind him to secure a highly impressive third-place finish on stage three. With his improved speed and navigation, as well as his Yamaha WR450F Rally running perfectly, everything came together for Short on day three and with his excellent result, now moves into the overall provisional top 10.
Adrien Van Beveren was another Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team rider on form on stage three to complete the technical special as the fourth fastest rider. Applying a clear strategy to minimise any mistakes, the Frenchman’s overall pace and superior navigational skills ensured he passed each waypoint as one of the leading riders. Van Beveren’s excellent result now moves him up to fifth in the overall provisional classification.
For Ross Branch, after his impressive third place finish yesterday, a couple of navigational errors and a crash proved costly, resulting in his 18th place finish. As always, Ross remains upbeat and now looks forward to completing the Rallye du Maroc with two solid stage results.
With just two days to go at the Rallye du Maroc, the team and riders are busy readying themselves for the longest special of the rally. Scheduled to cover just over 367 kilometres, stage four takes riders back into the sand dunes to the north-east of the bivouac and once completed, just one day of racing remains.
