Fez — The 35th edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc is entering its decisive stretch, with the April 11 Essaouira finale now in sight and the leading crews separated by increasingly slim margins.
This year’s event, which began on March 27 and runs through April 11, has once again turned Morocco’s desert into the stage for one of the world’s most distinctive motorsport competitions: a women-only off-road rally that rewards precision over speed and bans GPS entirely.
The early stages set the tone.
After the prologue in Nice, France, teams moved into the first real competitive sections in the Errachidia area, where rocky ground, open plains, and sparse visual markers forced crews to rely on old-school navigation and strategic route choices.
The second stage then raised the difficulty further, sending participants into Morocco’s major dune zones, including Erg Chebbi near Merzouga, where sand, shifting relief, and uncertain bearings made accuracy even more valuable.
That pressure is now showing clearly in the standings.
Official results from Stage 5 placed team 252, Karima Laaroussi-Mouhyi and Anne-Marie Borg, in first place with 22.03 penalty points, while team 198, Jawhara Bennani and Dounia Bennani, followed closely in second with 25.14.
The narrow gap underlines just how little room remains for error as the rally approaches its final days.
The organizers had already warned that the contest was tightening.
In its update ahead of Stage 5, the rally’s live platform said the final ranking was beginning to take shape with three days left, while stressing that everything could still change before the finish.
