Sahara Challenge

Sahara Challenge Concludes its Loop of Morocco

*Badawï Champions Score Sahara Win

*Final Day Twist in Class Category

The dust has settled, and the champagne has been sprayed, after 4500 difficult kilometres the 2024 Sahara Challenge has reached its end and Badawï Trail Champions, Jorge Perez Companc + Jose Volta, are victorious in their 1938 Chevrolet Coupe. The Argentinians finished ahead of Aussie pair Tony Sutton and Andrew Lawson in second, also in a Chevy Coupe, and Peking to Paris Veteran Raj Judge and his navigator Monu Singh in third, in the big Bentley Bobtail.

The rally itself followed a loop around Morocco, similar to its last iteration in 2022, travelling east to Fez, south to the dunes of Merzouga and then back around the coast via Marrakech and Rabat, before finally ending in Estepona, Spain. The crews had to deal with roads and tracks that showed the damage of the recent once-in-a-decade rain that hit the country, almost unbelievable as the rally was almost exclusively run in the hot sun that baked the landscape hard and dry. The route was certainly a treacherous and rough one, with care needed to ensure reliability of machine and as well as the dust of the desert floor there were the heights of the titanic Atlas Mountains to scale as well. A route that resembled a mini-Peking to Paris, on an event that pushed the skill of all of those involved.

Double Desert Delight for Argentina

The victory margin for Companc and Volta was 4:58s in the end, a margin that illustrated their dominance and consistency, having taken the lead on the second day of the rally and kept it, despite dogged determination from their pursuers.

They had suffered scares, with a pair of cracked brake drums that they had to nurse for the second half of the rally and a day when a rare map reading mistake cost them enough time to halve the gap to the chasing pack.

In the end though, their experience, excellent driving and reliability secured them a victory that they never really looked like relinquishing a grip on. This was the pairs last rally together, as Jorge will be focusing on competing with his son, and he was in a reflective mood at the finish, having this to say: “There are a lot of emotions, it is our last race together and I’m very proud of Jose. He let me win this race, we won it together. I’m thankful for everything he has done, I’m very happy to win and to give him this moment of happiness as well for all he has done.”

Second placed Tony Sutton and Andrew Lawson had put up a tremendous fight and had even bested the winners on some of the rally days, including the ever treacherous and challenging desert day in Merzouga where they recorded zero time penalties across the day – the only crew to do so. The Chevy was also extremely reliable, with Tony driving hard when he needed to and backing off every time the route allowed. Tony also cited the calm influence that Andrew had in the cockpit, with mistakes never treated as disasters, just things to overcome. The pair were elated at the finish, with Tony having this to say: “It was fantastic. For a shakedown it was a pretty good few days, we have learned a lot, about the car and about rallying over a distance, and that is what it was all about. We have a bit of a battle plan for Peking to Paris next year, and we are really happy.”

In third place was the first Bentley home, expertly handled by Raj Judge with Monu Singh navigating. Raj has driven the Bentley on Peking to Paris and on the 2022 Lima to Cape Horn Rally, so there are not many continents the big beast has now not visited. Raj had to overcome illness at the midpoint of the rally, but the pair did enough to secure their deserved place on the podium, with Raj saying: “What an incredible experience, feeling the sand of the Sahara and the mountain tops of the Atlas, and then travelling through the mountains of Spain to bring it home on my birthday, can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Last Day Drama in Classic Category

Whilst this rally can only be won by cars of a pre-war persuasion, the competition for the overall win in the classic category was as hot as the desert sun, although for a large proportion of the event it looked as though it would be ice-cool Finns Heikki Julin and Heikki Saloheimo would emerge victorious, after some spectacular driving in the diminutive Fiat 124 Spider.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be, after a final day mechanical forced them to retire just as the final act of the competition was to play out. The cause was a snapped steering idler, that failed just as they pulled out of the final mornings main time control, a cruel finish to a sensational rally.

That instantly promoted second placed Michael Rodel and Andrew Duerden into the lead, in the white Mercedes W115, that has wafted along the route seemingly barely breaking a sweat. They just needed to hold off the Porsche 914 of Jos Dejongh and Patrick Debusseré for the final three regularities of the competition. Jos and Patrick had staged somewhat of a fightback of their own, after dropping into the very bottom places after the second day, but with Jos’ flamboyance behind the wheel and Patrick, who is usually a driver, picking up the navigation very quickly they stormed back into the podium places. But Rodel and Duerden had a good final day and deservedly took the category win, an incredible achievement considering they only met for the first time in Malaga immediately before the start.

Third place then went to Alex Bell and Chris Mellors in the Datsun 240Z, who had suffered the same navigational catastrophe as the 914 in the early stages.

The rally has certainly been a tough one, and well it ought to be as well, being a warmup event for the mighty Peking to Paris and many on this rally are using it as an opportunity to test man and machine for that intense challenge. There were also those experiencing this sort of rally for the first time, with the field full of newcomers who had somewhat of a baptism of fire, but all had smiles on their faces at the end. The entry was also an international one, with 16 different nationalities represented amongst the 29 crews. One of those, who himself is of dual nationality, is HERO-ERA Chairman Tomas de Vargas Machuca, who had entered in a Bentley 3/4½, with wife Camelia Chenaf for whom this was a debut rally. At the finish Tomas offered his thoughts: “I think it was a great rally. Sahara Challenge is one of those rallies that is a proper rally, it is very unforgiving, you’re going at pace even on the regularities. We crossed the high Atlas, the mid Atlas, deserts, dunes, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. It’s got everything you want to have on your doorstep in Europe. The camaraderie is at its peak on this event, and I feel really tired which is the sign of a good rally, and now we can celebrate.”

Unforgettable Event from Clerk of the Course Guy Woodcock

Clerk of the Course Guy Woodcock took on flag waving duties at the finish, flagging the finishing cars home, with a smile on his face, at the end of a long event. The route was the brainchild of John Spiller, but as the man at the top of the pile it is only fair that the final word goes to Guy, who had this to say: “It went really well, it was a great route with some more John Spiller magic. Some bits were rough of course, and that pushes the cars and the crews, but it is designed as a shakedown for Peking to Paris and that’s exactly what it has been. There have been some great success stories and people on next year’s P2P have been able to find out what they need to do to prepare for that, and our other tougher events.”

So now the awards ceremony will take place and tomorrow we must all return to normality, after an event that was anything but. A special bond develops between competitors after a rally such as this, and the stories of triumph and despair in the sands of the Sahara will no doubt be told for many a year. For now, though, to the victors the spoils, but to all that have competed there goes great respect.