The Africa Eco Race “celebrated” Throwback Thursday by throwing cars—throwbacks and modern—onto the back of the flatbed.

Stage 4 was quite challenging for everyone, especially those competing in the Historic class.

Philippe Jacquot had the left-rear axle on his Rothmans-liveried Porsche 911 SC break, rendering him unable to move and necessitating the organizers to come extract his car via truck. Jean-Marc Fert, another Porsche albeit a 911, had already withdrawn for medical reasons. This in turn meant Porsche is already down two cars just a third of the way through.

The rear axle also broke on the Porsche 504 of Édouard D’Hondt.

While the weather has mostly complied with the AER since Wednesday, Thursday still had some issues with waterlogged courses. François-Xavier Bourgois could attest to this, going off-piste to avoid an early section that was over a meter deep in water and drove over a hole that tore off his Range Rover’s rear bumper. He and Laurent Bourgois strapped it back on, only for the bumper to drag again when the strap broke.

Soon after, both the front and rear tire inflation cables broke off the Range Rover, then a blown left rear tire. D’Hont finished the section eight minutes behind schedule as a result. The rest of the day was smoother until the liaison back to the bivouac, when the right front driveshaft broke off.

“Morale is very good, but the rest day will be welcome,” said Bourgois. “We’re now in a part of ​​Morocco experiencing significant tensions, so the bivouac is well guarded by the authorities. There is no need to worry.”

On the other hand, while Jonathan and Élodie Metge had a suspension issue that forced them to stop early on, they got it fixed and were on their ways after. If anything, it was their first smooth day of the AER after some early trouble like an electrical fire at the start.

Of course, the main AER had its share of trouble too. All three Arctic Leopard electric bikes ended up on the flatbed too.

Another particular issue was the roadbook failing to mark certain dangers, causing many to get lost.

Andrea Schiumarini lost a shock absorber in the closing 30 kilometers due to a broken water pipe caused by a radiator leak; the repairs cost him an hour and a half. In the opposite direction, Koen Wauters encountered electronic trouble just one km into the stage followed by recurring fuel pressure problems.

Tomáš Tomeček, after doing the same role at the Dakar Rally earlier in January, was busy as ever as he helped recover crashed vehicles with his truck. He wasn’t the only person who came to the rescue either as Martijn van den Broek helped a rider who crashed at KM 455.68. Even van den Broek avoided the same fate as some of his fellow competitors when the engine overheated at the start, which was diagnosed as a broken relay preventing the cooling fans from turning on.

While still perfect in T5, one of Gerrit Zuurmond’s spare tires fell out of his truck and bounced behind him before coming to a rest.

Alessandro Botturi had a mechanical issue 12 kilometers before the finish. Yamaha teammate Nicholas Charlier strapped his bike to his own and pulled him to the end.

“Botturi was the only one to catch me, but he then had a technical issue towards the end,” said Jacopo Cerutti. “This is my first victory of this 2026 Africa Eco Race and I’m really happy.”

Stage 4 winners

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	5	176	Jean-Loup Lepan	RC Assistance	5:22:02
Over 450cc	17	122	Andrea Vignone	Motosystem #BeCrazy Reparto Corse	6:02:49
Over 650cc	1	1	Jacopo Cerruti	Aprilia Racing GCorse	5:14:32
Electric	92	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	12:00:00
Quad	91	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	12:00:00

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	3	215	Christian Femont	Desert Foxx Racing	4:58:22
T1.1	4	206	Magdalena Zając	Proxcars TME Rally Team	5:15:20
T1.2	1	218	Nicolas Delencre	Config Racing	4:45:30
Open	14	210	Cédric Feryn	Feryn Rally Raid Team	7:17:28

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	3	285	Eric Bernard	Vendée Team	5:46:38
T3	2	299	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	5:40:16
T4	1	271	Sander Derikx	QFF Racing	5:29:38

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	6:15:10

Historic

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Points
Group 1	4	384	François-Xavier Bourgois	Acit Racing	0
Group 2	1	302	Jorge Pérez Companc	Madpanda Motorsport	0
Group 3	11	352	Philippe Voisin	Aventure Girousse	617
Truck	16	307	Sébastien Desprets	RT2R	3,226

Leaders after Stage 4

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	2	30	Thomas Marini	Solarys Racing	12:50:35
Over 450cc	21	13	Alexandre Azinhais	Club Aventura Touareg	15:28:33
Over 650cc	1	1	Jacopo Cerruti	Aprilia Racing GCorse	12:45:46
Electric	92	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	34:40:00
Quad	95	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	42:25:00

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	2	215	Christian Femont	Desert Foxx Racing	12:50:38
T1.1	5	200	Vincent Vroninks	Desert Lions Rally Team	13:32:32
T1.2	1	205	Pol van Pollaert	Desert Foxx Racing	12:29:02
Open	14	210	Cédric Feryn	Feryn Rally Raid Team	26:35:22

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	4	251	Pierre Lafay	Team Gazzafond	14:13:18
T3	1	299	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	13:35:35
T4	2	273	William Grarre	TRC	14:02:21

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	16:04:13

Historic

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Points
Group 1	2	384	François-Xavier Bourgois	Acit Racing	799
Group 2	1	302	Jorge Pérez Companc	Madpanda Motorsport	587
Group 3	8	352	Philippe Voisin	Aventure Girousse	2,828
Truck	18	307	Sébastien Desprets	RT2R	11,922

Featured image credit: Jl Gsa