The twentieth edition of the Maroc Challenge has ended in Merzouga, next to the emblematic Erg Chebbi, after a hard, intense, exciting and very demanding week. The event, which was held from December 2 to 8, has remained faithful to the spirit that combines adventure with competition.
With 200 participating teams, the highest number in the history of the Maroc Challenge, the event has recovered the always spectacular Atlas mountain range route, with the first stage starting out from Ifrane, ending six days later at the foot of the Erg Chebbi dunes, following the now habitual waypoint navigation stage.
The spectacular route consisted of mountain sections, with wonderful views and landscapes, alternating rocky areas with fast and slow tracks, with a variety of dirt tracks, sand and dunes. The teams were pushed to bring out the best in themselves throughout marathon days in which they have covered over two thousand kilometres of chrono.
It has not been easy, the demands put on the vehicles’ mechanics have been tough, also for the participants, who sometimes ended up exhausted, but the adventure was well worth it: A Winter 2023 with all the essence of the Maroc, squeezing the best out of everyone and promoting a great atmosphere and companionship.
The Winter 2023 has been full of contrasts, both out on the tracks, due to the great variety of terrains and also given the weather. The cold of the first days, with the frozen terrain as we left Ifrane behind and, above all, at night in the Matarka camp, gave way to the heat as the caravan headed south. The Atlas, the always demanding Plateau du Rekkam, the imposing Erg Chebbi and Erg Ouzina and the wide plains of the south were once again the protagonists, but always with a differentiated itinerary for each of the categories with the aim of distributing the difficulties according to the possibilities of the vehicles and the experience of the participants.
We are proud to state that the winners of the different categories were the Gray Mamba (Raid) teams, Team Tarodo’ss (Adventure TT3), Oliveiros Grupo Team (Adventure TT2), Faif Racing (Adventure TT1), Satanas (Classic Dune Buggy), Jabal Tariq (Adventure Lite), RAV4EVER (Adventure SUV), Todo_Offroad 1 (Adventure C4), SportQuattro (Adventure C3), Hellfire (Adventure C2) and Wego-Now (Adventure C1). The Diabolo team (Most Classic Vehicle – Year 1971), José María Serra (Most Veteran Team) and La Cabra (Female Trophy) also received a prize.
The adventure doesn’t end here. The organisation of the Maroc Challenge is already preparing for the Spring 2024, which will be held from March 22 to 30, 2024 and registrations will open on the 18th of December. The event will come with even more excitement and new features, with the aim of establishing itself as one of the reference amateur events held in Morocco. At that time, the main lines of the twenty-first edition, with the renewed itinerary and the different stages, will be revealed, incorporating many new features to make the Maroc Challenge adventure increasingly attractive.
