It’s a wrap! The Morocco Desert Challenge has finished
On Saturday the 20th of April the Rymax Racing Team crossed the finish line in Oujda. An exhausting 8 days of extreme rally raid has come to an end with ups and downs. Time for a quick recap.
The three members of the Rymax Racing Team and their machines gave it their all, even approaching top 10 positions in the overall ranking for the SSV of Herman Peene, the 4x4 of Vincent Thijs and the truck of Eimbert Timmermans half way through the rally. But approaching the last stages, a lot has happened to our heroes.
Herman and his navigator Marnix Deibert started off really well in the SSV category. The first three days were successful with a constant pace and performance level. Just before the dunes of Merzouga they lost some time with mechanical failure and some small navigation glitches, putting them more in the back of the ranking. But thanks to a solid performance in the treacherous dunes the team found its way back to the top 10, eventually ending at position 15 out of the 49 SSV’s that finished the Morocco Desert Challenge. A very good result in their second MDC performance. We say congratulations to the winners Philippe Pinchedez and Jean Brucy, taking the win with their Can-Am Maverick!
General ranking SSV category
In the Car & Buggy category we saw some fierce competition and heroic battles between the different teams. Our Rymax driver Vincent Thijs and his navigator Tom de Leeuw surprised the whole field with their performance the first five days, putting them on the fourth position overall with the podium within reach. However the dunes of Merzouga were still to come and these sandy conditions are not in Vincent’s comfort zone. The first day of dunes the Rymax Racing Team lost some positions, but in the second dune stage on day 6 of the rally, bad luck struck and the Toyota Hilux Overdrive flipped and rolled over several times. Luckily the drivers were unharmed but the car was heavily damaged. Big respect to the mechanical team of Vincent Thijs for making the car drivable again over night so that Vincent could finish the MDC, however the chase for the podium had to be let go. Vincent finished as 20th in a field of 47 4x4’s that made it till the end. Thumbs up to the winners Remy Vauthier and Jean-Michel Polato for the overall win in this competitive category.
General ranking Car & Buggy category
Last but not least: Eimbert Timmermans and the impressive Rymax truck. Also the third member of the Rymax Racing Team can look back at a successful start of the Morocco Desert Challenge. A very consistent performance with 4 times a thirteenth position on a stage and even bursting into the top 10 with a seventh position on day four. A remarkable accomplishment, looking at the competition with even the professional factory team of MAZ and the prestigious trucks of Peter Versluis competing in this category. Unfortunately disaster struck in the second to last seventh stage in the dunes. The beautiful Rymax truck flipped over ending upside down in the sand. Luckily the drivers were unharmed but the truck had to be taken out of competition with the end of the rally in sight. An emotional decision. Eventually Eimbert is not listed in the general ranking were we only see 26 of the 34 trucks that had listed for the start of the rally. We congratulate Siarhei Viazovich, Anton Zaparoschanka and Siarhei Sachuk of team MAZ with the win in the truck category.
General ranking Truck category
Also we congratulate Skylar Howes on his Husqvarna with the overall win in the Motorbike & Quad category.
