Noa Sainct is keen on carrying the family legacy, and has been doing so admirably. Now, he’s added another chapter to his burgeoning career as he won in Rally3 at the Rallye du Maroc.

Sainct, whose late father Richard won the Dakar Rally three times, was making his World Rally-Raid Championship debut. After mainly competing in Europe, he began trying out desert rallies in Morocco with the goal of competing at Dakar himself in the future. He finished 20th in his desert debut at the Carta Rallye in April, then placed third at the Baja Morocco a week before the Rallye du Maroc.

With a good rhythm going for Sainct, the RdM would become a duel between him and points leader Thomas Zoldos. Both riders split the six legs, each claiming three. Zoldos won the Prologue before falling behind in Stage 1 due to a navigation error.

Stage 2 seemed to be a critical blow to Sainct’s chances at the overall when he went off course and his bib mousse came off, stranding him in the desert just six kilometers before the finish. Sainct tried to recover but missed two waypoints, costing him an hour and 15 minutes in penalties.

However, Zoldos had been dealing with Lyme disease all week that drained his energy. A fuel pump issue for the leader in Stage 3 allowed Sainct to close the gap by 47 minutes.

Sainct erased the remaining 39:32 between them by winning Stage 4 while Zoldos lost his bib mousse and finished a distant third behind Sainct and Carlo Cabini. Zoldos won the last stage ahead of Sainct, but by just 2:44 when he needed to make up 10:25.

“After losing two hours during Stage 2, I wasn’t expecting to win this, but my consistency throughout the race allowed me to take the lead by just seven minutes,” said Sainct. “That was a tough fight with Thomas. Congratulations to him on his World Championship.”

While coming up short for the RdM overall, Zoldos was ahead of Cabini by over three hours to secure the W2RC Rally3 title. Rally3 only appeared at the final two rounds, with Zoldos also beating Cabini in Portugal. Even though he only raced Morocco, Sainct’s win placed him third in the final standings.

“This title is the result of a lot of hard work, sacrifice, and passion,” Zoldos commented. “The Rallye du Maroc wasn’t easy with so many issues, but we didn’t give up. We finished strong, with a 30th place overall and a victory in Rally3 on the final day.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who’s followed me, encouraged me, and believed in me!”

Mauricio Cueva was the only retirement. He struggled to find grip and crashed on the first stage, improved to second in Stage 2, then was knocked out entirely by another fall in Stage 3 that hurt his knee. It was the first time he retired from a rally raid.

Results

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	40	184	Noa Sainct	Nomade Racing	20:57:56	Leader
2	42	183	Thomas Zoldos	Aub’Moto	21:05:37	+ 7:41
3	57	179	Carlo Cabini	RS Moto	24:07:08	+ 3:09:12
4	63	187	Achraf Zoulati	Fédération Royale Marocaine de Motocyclisme	25:38:46	+ 4:04:50
5	65	178	Eduardo Alan	Xraids Experience	26:00:30	+ 5:02:34
6	82	177	Richárd Hodola	Pedregà Team	39:17:21	+ 18:19:25
7	85	181	Stéphane Joly	Aub’Moto	42:56:38	+ 21:58:42
DNF	DNF	176	Mauricio Cueva	Pedregà Team	DNF	N/A

Stage winners

Stage	Overall	Rider	Time
Prologue	27	Thomas Zoldos	14:33.3
Stage 1	33	Noa Sainct	3:37:37
Stage 2	37	Thomas Zoldos	4:22:51
Stage 3	28	Noa Sainct	4:30:02
Stage 4	28	Noa Sainct	3:35:36
Stage 5	30	Thomas Zoldos	2:52:30

W2RC

Rank	Rider	Points	Margin
1	Thomas Zoldos	45	Leader
2	Carlo Cabini	36	– 9
3	Noa Sainct	25	– 20
4	Eduardo Alan	24	– 21
5	Ralf Molander	16	– 29
6	Achraf Zoulati	13	– 32
7	Gonçalo Amaral	11	– 34
T-8	Salvador Amaral	10	– 35
T-8	Richárd Hodola	10	– 35
10	Stéphane Joly	9	– 36

Featured image credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI / ASO