On September 29, 2004, three-time Dakar Rally champion Richard Sainct died when he crashed in Stage 4 of the Rallye des Pharaons. His son Noa was only 10 months old when the accident happened, but wants to achieve the same feats as his father and carry on his legacy.

On September 29, 2026, Noa Sainct was racing Stage 1 of the Rallye du Maroc.

“Today marks 22 years since you left us, Papa,” Sainct said on Tuesday. “Today, I’m at the Rallye du Maroc, on these tracks and in the desert you traversed so much, with your name on my back. I didn’t have the chance to grow up with you, but I grew up with your story.

“Today, in my own way, I am trying to follow in your footsteps and continue this story that ended far too soon. I miss you, Dad.”

The younger Sainct arrived in Morocco to rack up more mileage ahead of his Dakar debut in 2027. The winner of the RdM’s Rally3 class in 2025, he continued his momentum in the country by scoring the overall victory at the Baja Morocco with four stage wins in five days. The following week, he took the start at the Rallye du Maroc in Rally2.

He finished 23rd in class (33rd overall and seventh in Junior Trophy) in Monday’s Prologue. Tuesday offered a much faster and longer stage, one which he admitted to struggling on. Conversely, he felt “more relaxed” as he went through the center section of the stage, which consisted of 30 kilometers in the dunes. Sainct also had a small crash in the rocks near the end.

Otherwise, he made it to Zagora safely in 38th overall and 28th for Rally2.

While the Sainct name defined Dakar at the turn of the millennium, Honda has battled with KTM for that honor in the 2020s. The latter drew first blood in Morocco on Monday, but Honda responded with more than just a bite as Ricky Brabec and Martim Ventura won Stage 1 in RallyGP and Rally2.

Brabec narrowly held off an armada of KTMs as he beat Daniel Sanders by just 23 seconds, Edgar Canet by 44, and Luciano Benavides by 1:53. Ventura faced his own challenge from Michael Docherty of Hero but edged him out by 59 seconds, though he felt he could’ve won by more if not for “a few navigational mistakes” and having “struggled a little physically” in the second half; Docherty had what he called a “few little navigation errors” too.

Ventura’s physical issue was likely dehydration due to the Moroccan heat. Ben Howard could attest to this.

“It was so hot I drank as much as I could but it wasn’t enough. Had some cramps and drinking my Gatorade brine helps,” Howard remarked. “I was so tired, the last 70 kilometers was pretty hard.”

Howard suffered a “dumb crash on the morning liaison when I slipped on something covering the road in one of the little villages.” After making the necessary repairs, the stage was going fine until he stopped to assist some riders in trouble in the dunes, adding to his fatigue. He finished 91st in Rally2.

2025 RdM overall bike winner Tosha Schareina, the 2025 RdM overall bike winner had a tablet malfunction that limited him to a seventh for the day. Bradley Cox finished 13th overall and ninth in RallyGP, but withdrew soon after because he had broken his thumb.

ZXMOTO’s maiden full-length stage ended with Tobias Ebster finishing 19th in Rally2 and ahead in the overall of RallyGP teammate Skyler Howes (Ebster 28th to Howes’ 60th). The engine disparity is one thing, but Howes also ran out of gas because he was told at the refuel that only 15 liters could fit when he needed more than 20. His tank dried up ten kilometers from the finish, so he had to wait for Ebster to give him a fill. Both were towed by Mathieu Dovèze to a nearby gas station.

João Ferreira’s dream September continued as he won the stage for FIA, beating Lucas Moraes by three seconds after getting a 5:56 time credit for helping someone else. He had won the Baja Aragón and Baja TT Sharish Gin in back-to-back weeks, while Tuesday’s win is a strong start to his effort to score a third victory in as many weeks.

Things weren’t as smooth for Ferreira’s Hilux colleagues at the flagship Toyota Gazoo Racing, where all three drivers had punctures. Seth Quintero’s issues were exacerbated because the jack wouldn’t lower after changing his tire, while Henk Lategan hit a rock while driving in the dust left by a bike. Akira Miura had zero luck in the dust too.

Miura’s former comrades at Toyota Auto Body fared well in the Stock class. While it was expected to be Defender domination like at Dakar, Yasir Seaidan instead beat Stéphane Peterhansel and Rokas Baciuška for second. Sara Price still secured the stage win for Defender by 9:16 over Seaidan.

Baciuška and Peterhansel ran into problems caused by the extreme heat in the dunes. The former tried to gamble by letting air out of his tires before reinflating them, only for a tire to go down. Price played a safer approach by following her teammates through the dust before pushing once in the clear.

While the heat played a factor in the stage, everyone was relieved to be greeted by rain in Zagora.

“It’s raining and I’ve never been so relieved,” Helen Tait-Wright remarked. Her Land Rover had a puncture.

Mitchel van den Brink beat Martin Macík Jr. to win in Truck. It was a good start despite his wallet being €500 lighter because of a fine for not submitting his FIA technical passport in time. Urvo Männama was penalized for the same rason. Kees Koolen received a €25 for going 121 km/h on the liaison.

In what will certainly shake up the World Rally-Raid Championship picture, points leader Sébastien Loeb retired due to an electrical issue. Nasser Al-Attiyah had a quiet day in eighth, but will surely pass his Dacia teammate for the top spot in the standings unless disaster strikes later in the week. Challenger points leader Puck Klaassen of the newly-minted KTM X-Bow Lab Team also exited due to a crash, leaving Alexandre Pinto within striking distance.

After finishing second in the Prologue, Taz Harvey won the stage in the Rallye du Maroc Classic with just a single point. Juan Morera followed with seven more points, then Harvey’s teammate and Prologue winner Filippo Colnaghi. Morera’s Porsche colleagues were snagged by various issues but finished, with Axel Berrier in eighth and Pierre-Louis Berrier in 18th.

“It was like Cousteau on Day 1,” Morera quipped, alluding to the adventures of red-hatted oceanographer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau.

Stage winners

FIA

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
Ultimate	1	240	João Ferreira	Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa	2:38:18
Challenger	24	301	Alexandre Pinto	Old Friends Rally Team	2:55:57
SSV	30	412	Matthias Walkner	South Racing	3:03:50
Stock	57	504	Sara Price	Defender Rally	3:33:49
Truck	37	603	Martin van den Brink	Eurol Rally Sport Team de Rooy	3:07:30

FIM

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
RallyGP	1	9	Ricky Brabec	Monster Energy Honda HRC	2:39:57
Rally2	5	84	Martim Ventura	Monster Energy Honda HRC	2:42:05
Rally3	36	175	Albert Martín	Triumph Spain	3:20:18
Quad	58	180	Antanas Kanopkinas	CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team	3:49:26

Open

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
Auto	1	701	Christian Lavieille	Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body	3:47:19
SSV	2	721	Brahim Ettaiek	BE Racing	7:23:24

Classic

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Points
H2	1	804	Taz Harvey	Tecnosport	1
H3	4	802	Josef Unterholzner	R Team	20
H4	12	805	Davide Facchini	R Team	129

Overall leaders

FIM

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
RallyGP	1	9	Ricky Brabec	Monster Energy Honda HRC	2:51:08
Rally2	5	84	Martim Ventura	Monster Energy Honda HRC	2:53:36
Rally3	38	175	Albert Martín	Triumph Spain	3:34:33
Quad	60	180	Antanas Kanopkinas	CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team	4:04:45

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