TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC ready for Season Finale in Morocco

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC (TGR W2RC) resumed its challenge for FIA World Rally-Raid Championship glory when the Rallye du Maroc got underway with the Prologue on Sunday.

TGR W2RC secured the manufacturers’ title for a fourth consecutive season in the previous round in Portugal last month, leaving the drivers’ and navigators’ World Championships to be fought for in north Africa.

Henk Lategan is just nine points behind the drivers’ championship leader going into the fifth and final round of the 2025 season, while Lucas Moraes is a point further back. In the navigators’ standings, Brett Cummings is 14 points off the lead, with Armand Monleón a further point behind.

Their challenge began cleanly on Sunday’s 19 km Prologue stage in the ancient city of Fez in northern Morocco. 

Moraes and Monleón, winners on BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal in their #203 GR Hilux EVO two weeks ago, finished the Prologue in a solid eighth place overall just seven seconds ahead of their teammates Seth Quintero and Andrew Short in their #204 GR Hilux EVO in ninth, with both vehicles securing optimal road positions for the first stage.

After a technical problem prematurely ended their event last time out, Quintero and Short are no longer part of the title battle but they will aim to build on the impressive pace they showed in Portugal in their #204 GR Hilux EVO.

Lategan and Cummings in their #202 GR Hilux EVO endured a tough start, losing time with a couple of mistakes which cost the pairing a top 10 finish in the Prologue. The pair are still in contention, but will have to overhaul a 45 second deficit to the lead.

Over the next five days, Rallye du Maroc will push crews and cars to the limit, across sand dunes and demanding desert terrain. Monday’s opening stage is the longest journey of the rally, at 780 km. Competitors travel south from Fez to the oasis town of Erfoud in the Sahara Desert. The route includes an eastward loop skirting the High Atlas Mountains, featuring a 300 km timed section and 480 km of road liaison.

The remaining four stages all start from Erfoud. Tuesday’s Stage 2 heads east toward the border with Algeria over 304 km of timed running, while Stage 3 on Wednesday features the event’s longest competitive section, a 322 km loop. Thursday’s Stage 4 travels towards the Anti-Atlas range on a 284 km timed loop before, on Friday, Stage 5 takes crews northeast, towards the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains. Friday afternoon’s 33 km Power Stage in Erfoud will determine the final classifications and crown the 2025 World Champions.

Quotes:

Henk Lategan:

“Not the greatest start for us, we were a bit too cautious at the start and made one or two mistakes, went off the road a bit trying to find a waypoint and with it being such a short Prologue it counts a lot, and we will start quite far back. Being outside the top ten means we were not a part of the draw and that means we couldn’t pick our starting position. We could start anywhere from ninth to 19^th, so we’ll see where we end up and build our strategy from there.”

Lucas Moraes:

“It was a very tricky Prologue, very fast, very dangerous at the same time. You really have to pay attention to the ditches, and it was very hard to manage but I am happy with our eighth place considering the road position that we started from, but as always the car performed really well and I think we are in a good place for tomorrow and have a good strategy.”

Seth Quintero:

“It’s nice to be here in Morocco and get used to the open terrain again. Unfortunately, we lost a little bit of time but still, ninth isn’t too bad and we are going to be in a great starting position for tomorrow. The Prologue was good, it was definitely unexpected the way that the terrain was, like soft farm roads, which I wasn’t expecting. But I know that tomorrow will be a lot different and I’m looking forward to it and hopefully it’ll be a good day”

Rallye du Maroc 2025 – Prologue Result*

*results correct at the time of publication