W2RC Morocco: Baciuška Stock champion, Peterhansel wins

At the Rallye du Maroc, Stéphane Peterhansel and co-driver Michaël Metge won the Stock class, but the title goes to his Defender Rally team-mate Rokas Baciuška. The Lithuanian becomes the first W2RC Stock champion, with 233 points to Peterhansel's 220.

Peterhansel wins, Baciuška takes the title

In the Defender Dakar D7X-R, Peterhansel and Metge finished 56 min 29 s ahead of Yasir Seaidan and Jean-Michel Polato (Toyota Land Cruiser). Baciuška, alongside Oriol Vidal, was third in the rally, which was enough to stay top of the standings.

For Peterhansel it is a third straight Stock win after Portugal and Argentina. His fourth place at the Dakar cost him the title, however: he ends the championship second.

The stage winners

• Stage 1: Sara Price
• Stages 2 and 3: Stéphane Peterhansel
• Stage 4: Rokas Baciuška
• Stage 5: Yasir Seaidan

Final Stock championship standings

1. Rokas Baciuška: 233 points
2. Stéphane Peterhansel: 220 points
3. Sara Price: 194 points

A double for Defender

As the only full-time team in the class, Defender Rally also wins the first W2RC manufacturers' title in Stock. Oriol Vidal takes the first navigators' trophy. The team only contested the first four rounds before turning its attention to the 2027 Dakar Rally: it will not be on the start line in Abu Dhabi.

Baciuška, a double W2RC champion in SSV (2022-23) and Challenger (2024), thus adds a title in a third class. Peterhansel, a 14-time Dakar winner, joined the Defender project with this prototype powered by a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8.

The Stock class

The Stock class is intended for production-based vehicles. The Defender Dakar D7X-R shares its aluminium D7x body architecture with production Defenders. Three cars were entered at the Dakar and two others in the remaining W2RC rounds.

And overall?

In the overall standings, Seth Quintero and Andrew Short (Toyota) won in 16 h 34 min 5 s. Quintero holds an unofficial 13-point lead over Sébastien Loeb and 19 over Nasser Al-Attiyah ahead of the final round, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, from 22 to 27 November.