The third event of the World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, the ORPI Morocco Rally will start from Agadir on the Atlantic coast, heading south for five legs and 1425 km of timed stages. A true five-day sprint, with intense racing from the Atlantic to the Sahara. Bathed in sunshine, the Moroccan seaside resort will host the competitors for the start and the finish, which will take place on Sunday.

Under the already blazing sun, the competitors completed the traditional technical and administrative checks this morning. A good opportunity to get an update on the situation with André Dessoude, shortly before the rally gets underway.

"After the problems we encountered in the recent Rally of Tunisia, our aim here is clear : to score points towards the World Cup in the T2 category. Two rounds have been run, but nothing is decided yet. It is true that we have some very determined rivals, but I think we still have a good chance. Benoît knows exactly what he has to do, and is well aware of what is at stake. His motivation is only equalled by his talent. For this race, I chose to pair him with Jacky Dubois. A fine navigator who will be able to help him a lot. Jacky is a real professional, and I think that Benoît will learn new things and a slightly different ways of working. Jacky is a ‘Dessoude man’, he started and continued his career with us. I will obviously be on site to manage the team, but as far as Benoît is concerned, Jacky will be doing that job on the route and will be with him all the time. There is a sort of continuous process between what happens at the bivouac with me, and in the car with Jacky. This experience will also benefit Benoît’s future co-driver, from the Orient rally onwards. The knowledge he will acquire will help the team. Benoît is a very good driver, but he is still relatively new to this area of the sport. He still needs to get his bearings. Jacky will be able to help him in this area, and will allow him to look at things differently. Traditional rallies, where Benoît started his career, are sprint races, and rally raids need a different philosophy. The strategy is specific to the sport, and Benoît already appears to have understood that."

"In the T1 category, Isabelle’s aim is to get a good result in the overall classification. The result depends greatly on the field entered. For Morocco, there is a fine entry list, and it will be tough out there. If everything goes well, a top-ten finish should be possible. We worked hard on the cars between Tunisia and Morocco, in order to solve our engine problems. We found the cause and, hopefully, have solved them. Everyone is very motivated to put our Tunisian problems behind us."

Tomorrow will see the first stage, between Agadir and Oued Chebika. A 409 km stage, divided into two special stages, including one which will be the shortest of the rally, as a sort of warm-up. There are a few technical difficulties on the menu for this first day of the rally.