After being axed by ODC Event in 2025, new organizer Pro Dunes revived the Rallye du Maroc’s Quad category for 2026. Alas, there wasn’t a whole lot of enthusiasm as only three riders signed up, two of whom were the father-and-daughter duo of Leonardo and Suany Martínez.

The third was the only W2RC full-timer in Antanas Kanopkinas. He’s the only rider to have run all three World Rally-Raid Championship rounds that the class is invited to, winning in Portugal over teammate Adomas Gančierius in the latter’s only start so far in 2026 and placing fourth in Argentina. The Martínezes also ran the latter, with Leonardo beating Kanopkinas by placing second.

While the Bolivian was a mainstay of the Dakar’s South American era in the 2010s and has done the Desafío Ruta 40 when it’s on the W2RC calendar, Leonardo had not raced in Africa since the 2016 Merzouga Rally. He figured the RdM was a good time to change that after ten years away, and crossed the pond with his daughter.

Kanopkinas arrived in Morocco keen on bilding his points lead, and he sure achieved that. The Lithuanian dominated the class, winning the Prologue and all five stages.

Still, it wasn’t like he just cruised the entire week. The Prologue was a fairly smooth day and he even passed another rider in the dust. The rest of the race, on the other hand, tested his CFORCE 1000’s desert capabilities. Despite the quad’s disadvantages, he found some momentum as the rally wore on because motorcycle tires were more susceptible to punctures than the four-wheeler.

“The regulations limit us to 130 km/h, but even aside from that, riding at such high speeds on such a heavy quad isn’t exactly the most pleasant experience,” Kanopkinas explained. “The braking distance is long, while the suspension travel is relatively limited compared with other machines.”

Besides his steed, Kanopkinas himself was starting to tire out by the halfway point. He was drowsy on the liaison to SS3 and had to drink as many as six liters of water to stay hydrated.

Being the longest day, Stage 3 was likewise a brutal experience for the Martínez family. Suany retired just 20 kilometers in because her engine overheated, while Leonardo got stuck and had to wait for help to pull his Renegade out. Leonardo finished five hours and 22 minutes behind Kanopkinas for the day; he had already been training by 2:24:19 going into the stage.

Kanopkinas nearly cracked the outright top 40 on the final day, just 25 seconds short of Sebastian Pakciarz. Leonardo made it home nearly 11 and a half hours back of Kanopkinas.

With the penultimate race done, Kanopkinas has 63 points while Leonardo sits second with 40. If the latter runs the season-ending Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and wins, he can earn 25 points but would need Kanopkinas to retire, finish 14th or worse (assuming that many quads even show up; the 2025 ADDC had just five), or simply not enter.

Needless to say, barring a disaster, Kanopkinas should have the crown locked up.

Results

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	42	180	Antanas Kanopkinas	CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team	22:11:07	Leader
2	88	181	Leonardo Martínez	Team Can-Am Martínez Pedregà Team	33:35:43	+ 11:24:36
DNF	DNF	182	Suany Martínez	Team Can-Am Martínez Pedregà Team	DNF	N/A

Stage winners

Stage	Overall	Rider	Time
Prologue	63	Antanas Kanopkinas	15:19.2
Stage 1	58	Antanas Kanopkinas	3:49:26
Stage 2	46	Antanas Kanopkinas	4:57:17
Stage 3	45	Antanas Kanopkinas	5:35:34
Stage 4	45	Antanas Kanopkinas	4:41:45
Stage 5	41	Antanas Kanopkinas	2:36:46

Featured image credit: Paulo Maria / DPPI / ASO