Stage #4 was the longest leg of the Morocco Desert Challenge. It was also an absolute drag to race.

“This was the most boring stage ever,” Erik Van Loon remarked. “We basically drove 526 kilometers flat out.”

Tuesday’s stage ran from Boujdour to Smara. Save for some small rocky and winding sections, it was otherwise a fast and wide course that allowed drivers to stay on the throttle throughout almost the entire distance. Even race organizers noted that the biggest takeaway from the stage is the scenic landscape, calling it a “visual treat” and a “a beautiful mix of landscapes and terrains that southern Morocco has to offer,” while warning drivers to be careful with their fuel consumption and seat belts because of how fast they’d be going.

Of course, a good looking race does not mean it is exciting.

Arguably the most intriguing part in terms of on-track product was seeing everyone at top speed, though those in lower classes weren’t too pleased with being outpaced due to their cars’ speed limits. Van Loon noted that even on full throttle, every T1+ car left him having to drive through dust before he slowed down due to a crooked wheel. He would finish fourth in SSV.

Fellow T4 driver Mitchel van den Brink pointed out how his class is limited to 125 km/h while T3 cars could go 10 km/h faster, leaving him at a disadvantage for tracks as open as Tuesday’s. Consequently, the Arcane T3 of Lex Peters won the stage for SSVs, beating van den Brink by 5:38. Still, T4s hold a 1–2 advantage in the overall with van den Brink ahead of Geoff Minnitt by 44:47.

“It’s normal that we didn’t win the stage. Otherwise, our competition in T3 would be deeply ashamed,” quipped van den Brink’s navigator Bart van Heun.

The cars, who are allowed to go even faster at 170 km/h, predictably crushed the overall results. Simon Vitse was the only driver to set a sub-five hour time in his MD Optimus. The performance moved Vitse from 17th overall to 10th, while Lionel Baud’s lead grows from 7:39 to 18:22 over Vitse’s MD teammate David Gerard.

Even if uneventful for the leaders, there were still moments elsewhere. Janus van Kasteren got sideways for a moment and briefly went airborne, nearly flipping his Century CR7 before landing on his wheels. The former Dakar Rally Truck winner continued on without further issue and finished fifth.

Magdalena Zajac was not as lucky. 50 kilometers into the stage, she was taking a long left turn only for the terrain to shift from dry to wet, causing the wheel to get stuck and send her rolling onto her Hilux’s side. She managed to reach the finish in 24th.

Koen Wauters rejoined the race after crashing on Monday, suffering a flat tire after ten kilometers and forced him to race at “75% of our capacity” to protect his Toyota Hilux. He ended the day in 18th for cars.

Martin van den Brink mostly drove at max speed, which is limited to 140 km/h for trucks, like everyone else until a broken shock forced him to slow down a bit. His tire also went down just before reaching the end. The elder van den Brink was third in Truck for the day, while the Huzinks were first and second with Gert eight minutes ahead of Kay.

Wauters’ teammate Pascal Feryn was running well until the fuel pressure suddenly dropped shortly before the refuel point, which he surmised was due to air in the fuel line. This caused his Hilux to stall repeatedly until another car came to tow him to his stop. Upon rejoining the Selective Section, the car alternated between driving at a paltry 60 and 70 km/h and stalling every ten kilometers.

“That happened about six times until I got angry and pressed the gas pedal down for five minutes straight. A spur-of-the-moment idea that worked because the more I did it, the more normally the car started to run,” Feryn noted. He would conclude the stage 31st in class. “Suddenly, the issue disappeared until we stalled again at the finish.”

Stage #4 winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Total Time
Bike	103	Arnau Lledó	Pedregà Team	6:09:51
SSV	227	Lex Peters	Arcane Racing	5:34:17
Car	303	Simon Vitse	MD Rallye Sport	4:58:17
Truck	502	Gert Huzink	Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid Dakar Team	5:26:36

Leaders after Stage #4

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Total Time
Bike	107	Nicolas Horeaux	Nomade Racing	18:04:21
SSV	201	Mitchel van den Brink	Eurol Rally Sport	15:33:31
Car	306	Lionel Baud	X-raid Mini JCW Team	15:05:25
Truck	502	Gert Huzink	Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid Dakar Team	15:45:45

Featured image credit: Van Loon Racing