After the cancellation of Stage 6 at the Morocco Desert Challenge (MDC), Saturday’s seventh stage saw the Ténéré World Raid Team start from the bivouac in M’hamid and take on a 325km special consisting of fast, dusty trails, rocky sections and the punishing dunes of Erg Ouzina and Erg Znaigui before arriving at the bivouac in Merzouga. Once again, temperatures approached fifty degrees Celsius in the African desert and high winds, combined with sand and dust, made navigation tricky for all the competitors.
Faggotter’s run of bad luck finally came to an end on Saturday, after he had lost time due to a faulty waypoint on Stage 4 and then was hit by a stray rock during the fifth stage that saw him having to carry out running repairs and drop down to fourth in the general classification. The Australian bounced back on Saturday to make the most of the extra power of his Ténéré 700 World Raid to blast his way through the dunes and secure his third podium of the rally with a time of three hours, 31 minutes and nine seconds, just 12 minutes and 42 seconds behind the winner of the special.
His teammate Tarrés’ run of three consecutive podiums, which saw him move up to third in the overall standings, ended during Stage 7 as the Andorran made a slight navigational error due to the challenging conditions. In only his second season racing in Rally Raid, the 29-year-old belied his lack of experience to recover superbly, minimising the time lost, and finished the stage in three hours, 34 minutes and sixteen seconds, only missing out on his fifth podium of the 2023 MDC by just over three minutes.
The excellent recovery of Tarrés meant he remains third in the general classification, with an overall time of 22 hours, 16 minutes and 26 seconds, while his teammate Faggotter is 34 minutes and 29 seconds further back in fourth, plus the pairing is still first and second in the Big Bike category (600cc and above).
The final stage of the 2023 MDC is the third loop stage of the rally, with the route featuring fast tracks over a sloping plateau where navigation will be vital before taking on over 30km of the tricky dunes of Erg Chebbi, the nature of which could provide a sting in the tail of the rally for the unprepared.
