STAGE 2 The dunes of Merzouga delivered the rally’ s first real battle, but the stage was shortened by 200km due to the weather. Cerutti lead out as the previous year’ s winner, but it was Botturi who attacked, surfing the dunes with his years of desert racing experience coming together to take the stage win and the overall lead. Gallas and Cerutti rode smartly to finish the day close behind, in third and fourth respectively.
STAGE 3 Technical terrain rewarded Husqvarna 450 Rally rider Thomas Marini who took the stage win. Cerutti and Botturi finished within 3 minutes of each other, but outside of the podium positions. It was Yamaha rider Kevin Gallas who took the second step of the podium, with Paulin moving quietly into third, capitalising on others’ navigational errors. Marini’ s emphatic win of almost 8 minutes put him to the top of the general classification.
STAGE 4 Fast gravel and flowing desert tracks heading west towards the Atlantic coast were the order of the day. Previous winner Botturi looked to have the stage in the bag, but an electrical issue stopped the bike in its tracks just 12km before the finish line. Not being able to restart the bike saw him lose over an hour to place
33rd, but he was still in the race thanks to a tow from fellow Yamaha rider Nicolas Charlier. But it was a strong ride by Cerutti to take the win by over 4 minutes ahead of Yamaha’ s Paulin that put Cerutti at the head of the leaderboard for the first time in 2026.
STAGE 5 The longest stage of the rally, covering 768km including 396km of timed special and 372km of liaisons running along the east coast of Morocco to Dahkla. As rally leader, Cerutti on the Tuareg started first, an advantage to his competitors who could follow his tracks. After a poor Stage 4, Tenere-mounted Gallas got into his stride, taking the win by 1m 29s ahead of Jean-loup Lepan on a 450 KTM Rally. Lepan lead with Gallas 20s behind. Botturi came into the stage Bivouac in 4th with Cerutti 9 minutes off the lead in 7th.
STAGE 6 Following a rest day in Dahkla, a 438km liaison was followed by 153km of special stage in the soft Mauritanian sands. Yamaha took a dream 1-2 for the stage with Paulin taking his first win with race-veteran Botturi close behind. Gallas finished in 12th, while Cerutti took 5th to put him at the head of the + 650 class ranking, but third overall behind 450 riders Lepan and Marini.
24 KIWI RIDER