The Morocco Desert Challenge can’t seem to catch a break. Like Wednesday, Stage 6 had to be adjusted because of the no-fly zone implemented near the Algerian border by Moroccan authorities.

“It was supposed to have a lot of dunes, and that is ultimately what we’re here for,” said eventual Truck stage winner Kay Huzink. “In the modified stage, we started in the dunes but there were many bumpy tracks and fast paths.”

Ironically, the safety concerns were more apparent on course instead. Ronald van Loon can attest to this when he was driving over a dune and a spectator ended up directly in front of him. The woman fell as she tried to avoid him, and he drove by without issue.

“The first car (on track, Mitchel van den Brink) was probably a little more to the right, so she thought she could stand there,” van Loon told Rallymaniacs. “I knew we didn’t hit her when I saw her lying down.”

Van Loon still leads the Cars overall, while van den Brink is just racing for pride as he racked up another stage win despite a flat in the final stretch. Agostino Rizzardi moved past Vincent Thijs for second overall.

Magdalena Zając enjoyed a successful day to break into the top five, finishing tenth overall and moving up to fourth. Jean Pascal Besson, who was one of the top 4×2 cars, retired. T3 leader Gert Huzink also bowed out with a mechanical issue, cycling the top spot to Michiel Becx.

Martin van den Brink lost 15 minutes to a broken air hose and finished 19:33 behind Huzink. It wasn’t all smooth for Huzink either as he felt he “struggled with concentration” and “made too many mistakes”.

Stage winners

Bikes

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
Bike	1	105	Julien Dalbec	Rallye 583	5:21:21
Veterans Cup	4	104	David McBride	Vendetta Racing	5:45:07
Ladies Cup	24	119	Beatriz Diez	Club Aventura Touareg	7:40:07

Cars

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	1	301	Mitchel van den Brink	Eurol Rally Sport / MP Rallysport	4:19:55
T1 4×4	10	309	Magdalena Zając	Proxcars TME Rally Team	5:28:51
T1 4×2	2	303	Agostino Rizzardi	Countrysideways	4:35:07
T2	15	323	Ernst Amort	RZR Racing	6:33:45

SSVs

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T3	3	206	Willem Meijer	QFF Racing	4:49:55
T4	1	205	Janus van Kasteren	Shiver Offroad	4:37:13
Open	15	231	Loïc Frébourg	Fesh Fesh	5:46:16
Open Light	29	246	Roland Perret	Perret Family	7:17:09

Trucks

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	1	501	Kay Huzink	Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid / Team de Rooy	4:49:13
T5 Over 15	8	508	Steve Ingels	RR Belgica	9:06:17
T5 Over 20	7	507	Fons Jans	Hamer Rally Team	6:50:28

Overall leaders

Bikes

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
Bike	1	105	Julien Dalbec	Rallye 583	20:49:57
Veterans Cup	2	104	David McBride	Vendetta Racing	21:11:57
Ladies Cup	23	119	Beatriz Diez	Club Aventura Touareg	31:35:48

Cars

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	1	306	Ronald van Loon	Oase Motorsport	20:17:10
T1 4×4	4	309	Magdalena Zając	Proxcars TME Rally Team	23:22:12
T1 4×2	2	303	Agostino Rizzardi	Countrysideways	20:31:57
T2	12	323	Ernst Amort	RZR Racing	28:36:25

SSVs

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T3	4	208	Michiel Becx	Shiver Offroad	22:44:43
T4	1	204	Paulo Rodrigues	Rio Seco Racing	20:50:06
Open	9	232	Josep Rojas	Procurve	24:12:41
Open Light	33	246	Roland Perret	Perret Family	80:47:15

Trucks

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	1	501	Kay Huzink	Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid / Team de Rooy	21:09:55
T5 Over 15	8	508	Steve Ingels	RR Belgica	41:39:49
T5 Over 20	6	507	Fons Jans	Hamer Rally Team	28:41:21

Featured image credit: Rallymaniacs