After several weeks of punishing cross-country rallying across South America, Germany-based car preparations company South Racing heads to North Africa this week to tackle the OiLibya Rally of Morocco, round 10 of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.
South Racing will oversee three cars in Africa’s only round of the FIA World Cup: the German duo of Jürgen and Daniel Schröder wheel out a Nissan Navara, while the Czech pairing of Tomáš Ouřednīček and David Křipal and the Chilean crew of Hernan Garces and Juan Pablo Latrach will race a pair of Ford Rangers.
South Racing has enjoyed its busiest ever season of racing in 2017 and has overseen rallying programmes in the Portuguese all-terrain series, the South American CODASUR series and the FIA World Cup. Competition in Morocco is expected to be fierce, with the outcome of the drivers’ championship at stake, but Schröder, Ouřednīček and Garces will all be targeting top 10 finishes.
“Morocco is always a great race and an ideal opportunity to measure your performance against the competition and we look forward to it immensely,” said South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham.
“We are aiming for a solid result and to bring each of the cars back to Erfoud in one piece in good positions. It has been a little bit quieter for the team over the last couple of weeks, but we have new projects on the way as well as preparations for Dakar and, in many ways, our home event, Baja Portalegre, at the end of the month where we will be fielding multiple entries.”
After scrutineering and administration checks at the sports complex in Fèz, this year’s Rally of Morocco – which runs under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI – starts in the bustling northern city of Fèz, which will host a short 12km special stage at 12.30hrs on October 5.
The route laid on by the Neveu-Pelletier Organisation and clerk of the course Elie Semaan then heads deep into the Moroccan deserts in the direction of the town of Erfoud and the action will be fought out over five demanding days of off-road action through dunes, dried river beds and across gravel tracks, often with treacherous navigation. Competitors will cross the notorious Erg Chebbi before returning to Erfoud for a short final stage and the ceremonial finish on October 10.