With Sébastien Delaunay no longer involved after stepping down as race director, Chris Armelin got to work in assembling a new staff of organizers for the Carta Rallye and Baja Morocco.

“With a steadily increasing number of competitors and the arrival of pro and semi-pro teams, we are evolving our organization to guarantee ever more demanding routes and optimal safety standards,” begins a statement from the organization.

To help with writing the roadbook, Armelin is joined by Jean-Marie Lurquin. The father of reigning Dakar Rally-winning navigator Fabian Lurquin, Jean-Marie was a co-driver at Dakar in the 1990s and 2000s. Most of his success came at the turn of the millennium as part of the Schlesser team, respectively winning two and four stages in 2000 and 2001 with José-Maria Servià. He and Jean-Louis Schlesser also claimed the 2003 Rallye de Tunisie and a third at the following year’s Dakar, and he later called the shots for drivers like Giniel de Villiers and Carlos Sousa.

Fabian’s fellow Dacia navigator Édouard Boulanger, the two trading their drivers in September, is also involved as the race opener. While the younger Lurquin won Dakar with Nasser Al-Attiyah, Boulanger finished fourth Sébastien Loeb. Boulanger also claimed the 2024 and 2025 World Rally-Raid Championships for navigators.

Once Armelin and Lurquin finish drawing up the roadbooks, Benjamin Melot will validate them. He won the Dakar’s Original by Motul class in January, and had also topped the Baja Morocco for bikes last October.

Jean-Pierre Garcin, a veteran navigator who was last at Dakar in 2025 with Toyota Auto Body, is also involved with the roadbook team as are rally driver Laurent Philippe and Amaury Dulom.

“Thank you to Sébastien Delaunay for his years of dedication and remarkable work. We wish him all the best for the future,” concluded the statement. Delaunay has since joined the Morocco Desert Challenge as roadbook validator.

Featured image credit: Florent Gooden / DPPI / ASO