Marc Coma, a three-time winner of the Rallye du Maroc, will take over as its new race director on November 1 when his new company Pro Dunes assumes control of the event. ODC Event, the current organizer under David Castera, will oversee the RdM for the final time in October before handing off to Pro Dunes for the 2026 edition onward.

Pro Dunes is a consortium that Coma co-runs with Pep Vila, Manel Arroyo, and Francisco Gracia along with minority shareholders. Vila and Arroyo are both involved with MotoGP, the former’s Promotor Les Comes Special Events overseeing the series’ logistics and advertising while the latter is a strategic advisor to the CEO of its previous owner Dorna Sports. Vila is also a longtime Dakar Rally truck competitor, and he and Arroyo previously worked together to organize the Baja Aragón. Gracia is the CEO of Himoins and a former Aragón competitor.

Coma won the Rallye du Maroc in 2006, 2009, and 2014. He also boasts five Dakar Rally bike victories, and will have 2006 Dakar car champion Luc Alphand on the team as deputy director and executive assistant. Xavi Colomé, who has raced Dakar in a truck, will serve as sports director.

Morocco will not be Coma’s first time leading a rally organization. He previously served as the Dakar Rally’s race director from 2015 to 2019, incidentally being succeeded by Castera.

“I is with great enthusiasm and respect that we take up the torch, continuing the work done by David Castera and his team who have made the Rallye du Maroc one of the most important events in the international rally-raid calendar,” said Coma. “I will put into this project all the experience accumulated during my years as a driver and sports director of the Dakar, to continue promoting the growth and international projection of this race.

“I have a great memory of Morocco, where I had the chance to win the event three times. It is a territory that I know well, both for its sporting requirements and for the beauty and diversity of its landscapes, as well as for the warmth of its inhabitants.”

Castera will remain involved with the rally as a strategic advisor. ODC has been running the RdM since 2018, taking over from Emma and Stéphane Clair who did so from 2007 until then. The race was founded in 2000 by NPO run by Cyril Neveu and Jean-Christophe Pelletier.

“I have every confidence that the Pro Dunes team will continue to grow this race, which is a key event on the W2RC calendar and a great platform for Morocco on the international stage,” said Castera. He is also the director for the Dakar Rally as part of the Amaury Sport Organization.

ODC Event’s final Rallye du Maroc is scheduled for October 10–17. It is the last race of the World Rally-Raid Championship.

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool