Overdrive Racing and Hallspeed looking for positive performances in the second last round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies
Toyota will be protagonists again next week at Oilibya Rally of Morocco, ninth round of the 2015 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, which is back for the final rush after a five-week long break. Overdrive Racing and Hallspeed – Toyota South Africa will join forces to line up seven Hiluxes in the race running over five demanding stages through the Moroccan deserts from Zagora to Agadir on October 5 to 9.
Overdrive will be present with four official FIA World Cup drivers: Russian Vladimir Vasilyev, Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke, Pole Marek Dabrowski and Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi, while Hallspeed is to line up South Africa veteran Giniel De Villiers and Leeroy Poulter, who recently won the Donaldson Cross-Country Championship. Frenchman Ronan Chabot will also join Overdrive Racing thanks to the support from Toyota France.
Oilibya Rally of Morocco is an important test for the Dakar Rally as well as a crucial race for the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. Beside Poulter and De Villiers – last year’s runner-up – many other drivers are taking part to the race in order to prepare the South American rally raid, such as Mikko Hirvonen, Carlos Sainz and Sebastién Loeb. Vladimir Vasilyev is instead focused only on the FIA World Cup as he is only 22 points behind current leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and with a victory could set up an exciting finale in Portugal at the end of the month.
“For sure, Zagora will be the centre of the motor sport world at the start of October,” said Jean-Marc Fortin, Overdrive Racing’s team principal. “We have a strong team for Morocco and know that we will face some very strong opposition there, especially with the announcement of the Peugeot line-up. This is fantastic for the profile of our sport. It’s a chance for our teams to fine-tune our logistics and work together before the Dakar Rally in January.”
After scrutineering checks in Zagora on October 3 and 4, the Oilibya Rally of Morocco will start on Monday October 5 with a 330 km loop around the Zagora bivouac and through a sea of demanding sand dunes. The second section of 244 km will take place through the Draa wadis and valleys on October 6 while the following day a third selective stage of 274 km will be run on varied terrain around M’hamid. The fourth stage will cover 293 km from Zagora to Agadir on October 8. Finally, on Friday October 9 the final stage will loop around Agadir before finishing in the historic Moroccan city.
Sources: Rallymaniacs.com, Overdrive Racing
