The 2026 edition of the Rally of Morocco confirms its reputation as one of the most demanding events on the world rally-raid calendar. While the first stage was marked by severe electrical problems for Sébastien Loeb, the second special stage brought spectacular twists and turns in the Dacia Sandriders camp: while Nasser Al-Attiyah lost his chance for victory due to a transmission failure, Brazilian Lucas Moraes managed a complicated day excellently and climbed to first position in the general classification.
The second stage of the rally featured a 299-kilometer timed route, characterized by rocky terrain and difficult sandy areas. Starting from 8th on the grid, the crew of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin had an impeccable course for 290 kilometers, being in direct battle for the stage victory.
Just 9 kilometers from the finish line, the Dacia Sandrider prototype driven by the Qatari suffered a major technical failure in the transmission, bringing the car to a complete stop on the track. Al-Attiyah had to wait for the arrival of his teammate, Sébastien Loeb, who towed him to the end of the stage. Because of this delay, the crew lost over 45 minutes, falling to 24th place in the overall standings.
"I think something broke between the clutch and the gearbox, and then the car stopped completely and couldn't continue. It wasn't easy at all, but we tried to wait a bit and gain time until Seb came to help us. There are still three days of competition, so we will do everything we can for the championship," said Nasser Al-Attiyah at the end of the stage.
After losing over 20 hours on the first day due to a failure in the car's electrical system, Sébastien Loeb approached the second stage from an unfavorable starting position, having to overtake numerous slower competitors on a dusty route.
The crew of Loeb and Édouard Boulanger suffered a flat tire and a navigation error of around 7 minutes. In the final part of the route, the Frenchman took over as support driver for Al-Attiyah, towing his prototype to the finish. Loeb is currently 43rd in the overall standings.
"It was a difficult stage for us, because we started in the dust raised by a few slower cars. I managed to overtake three of them, then I had a puncture. They went ahead again and I had to overtake them again, losing a lot of time in the dust. After that we got lost in a complicated area and lost about seven minutes. I caught up with the same competitors again and had to overtake them once more. At the end I helped Nasser, who was stopped on the stage. I towed him to the finish, and when you tow a car you can't go at the same speed. We are here, it wasn't a good day, but not as bad as yesterday, so things are getting better and better," explained Sébastien Loeb.
Despite the bad luck that hit the other two crews of the team, Dacia Sandriders recorded a top performance through Lucas Moraes and his co-driver, Pablo Moreno. After João Ferreira suffered two consecutive penalties, Moraes took over the task of opening the route over a distance of over 250 kilometers.
Although the opening of the road involves high navigation risks and loss of time, Moraes set the 4th fastest time on the stage, enough to move up to first place in the overall standings. The Brazilian has a 28-second lead over the winner of the second stage, South African Henk Lategan.
"It was a really good day, honestly. We basically opened the whole route, because João Ferreira had a tire problem, I think two consecutive punctures. We overtook him and we still had about 250 kilometers to go, so it was a lot of work, especially for Pablo, who had to open the route, manage the navigation and make sure we were following the right direction. It was a little complicated in places, but overall we did a good job and I'm proud of what we've achieved so far. We're the leaders in the general classification, and tomorrow we'll start from fourth position, a good position on the route, so we'll keep attacking," said Lucas Moraes.
| Crew (Driver / Co-driver) | Stage 2 Result | Overall Position | Causes / Notes |
| Lucas Moraes / Pablo Moreno | 4th Place (299 km stage) | 1st Place (Leader) | Opened the route for 250 km; 28s overall lead |
| Nasser Al-Attiyah / Fabian Lurquin | ~45 min time loss | 24th Place | Transmission/clutch failure at km 290 |
| Sébastien Loeb / Édouard Boulanger | Delay due to dust/towing | 43rd Place | Puncture, navigation error, and towed Al-Attiyah |
The competition continues with the third stage, which features a 360-kilometer timed section. The route will start and finish in the city of Zagora, crossing areas of deep dunes and rocky valleys where precise navigation will be decisive.
Given his favorable starting position (fourth on the grid), Lucas Moraes has a strategic opportunity to consolidate his lead at the top of the Rally of Morocco, while Al-Attiyah and Loeb will try to recover ground and accumulate precious points in the W2RC stage standings.