Category: Nezaradené

After an engine failure in the second stage of the Rallye du Maroc 2025, the only Slovak crew, Martin Benko and Marek Sýkora, were forced to miss the third stage of the competition despite the penalty.

During the missed third stage, Norwit Racing mechanics not only replaced the engine, but also adjusted it and checked the Tauris T3 Max buggy. Of course, for Martin and Marek, the missed stage meant a twenty-hour penalty according to the regulations, but as they had already announced before the competition, the important thing is to reach the finish line, so they are not looking at the result. And it seems that in addition to the engine replacement, they have gained a new lease of life. In the fourth stage of the competition, they finished in fifteenth place overall.

“Today was a great day. A nice stage with everything that comes with it. There were rocks, piste, dunes, and of course there was also some really difficult navigation. We managed to keep a good pace and the navigation was also error-free. We finished in fifteenth place overall in the challenge category, which I think is great considering the really broken track, the number of pulled rocks and very deep ruts. We started from the tail end due to a broken engine, but I still rate the conditions as great for a difficult and excellent training and testing of the technique. According to the competition rules, we automatically receive a twenty-hour penalty for not participating yesterday, but that doesn’t spoil our joy. It’s a shame that the technique and the crew are starting to get up to speed now that the competition is slowly coming to an end. Tomorrow we have another difficult stage with big dunes, but we’ll give it a go,” said Martin Benko after reaching the finish line of the fourth stage.

As Martin said, the last stage of the Rallye du Maroc 2025 is ahead of us today and, like all the others, it will certainly not be easy. We will tell you how it went after it is over.

The second stage of the Rallye du Maroc 2025 world championship did not go quite as expected for the Slovak crew of Martin Benko – Marek Sýkora. The connecting rod was broken.

The two hundred and thirteenth kilometer of the second stage of the Rallye du Maroc 2025 event threw the plans of the only Slovak crew of the Taurus T3 Max vehicle in the composition of Martin Benko – Marek Sýkora into disarray, when a cracked connecting rod of the engine slowed them down in their efforts. Of course, you can’t move further without an engine, so they were transferred to the service with the help of the organizer. However, nothing is lost yet, a second engine is ready in the bivouac, along with mechanics who will have to start the night shift tonight.

“Everything was great. The route of today’s stage was challenging, containing dune sections as well as rocky plains, but we managed to handle everything without any problems. These only occurred in the Er Cheba desert, where, thanks to Marek’s excellent navigation experience, we managed to overtake about twenty stuck cars in the dunes. Orientation in the largest Moroccan dunes according to the roadbook is key and a single mistake means an hour’s loss. Several stars from the Ultimate category managed to do that today. We went exactly according to the roadbook and didn’t get stuck. We passed almost all the dunes, unfortunately about a kilometer before the end there was a sudden blow from the engine and, as the saying goes, “the connecting rod gave us a hand”. Of course, with such a damaged engine, we couldn’t continue any further, so we had to arrange towing to the bivouac. Now the mechanics will change the engine and in the morning we will continue with the appropriate penalty,” Martin Benko described the situation.

Such situations commonly occur in long-distance competitions and, as Martin just explained, the Slovaks will not be absent at the start of the third stage of the Rallye du Maroc 2025. Of course, we will inform you again about how they will do in the further course of the competition.