Zagora (Morocco): Yazeed Al Rajhi is preparing to participate in the 21st edition of the Moroccan Desert Rally, round four of the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. Al-Rajhi will take on a new challenge in Morocco in his Toyota Hilux alongside his Irish Co-driver Michael Orr. This will be the fourth participation of the Saudi champion and the second for the duo in the vast deserts of Morocco.

Yazeed Racing Team head to another successful round in North Africa which will boost our title challenge before the series reaches its conclusion in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.

With five stages, the rally will start with a 10km Qualifying Stage on Friday, then the first of the five desert stages start on Saturday. The organizers have drawn an entirely new challenging route at the middle of Zaqora’s desert which the Headquarter of the rally is located, about 7 kilometers away from the city of Zaqora.

Yazeed and Orr will tackle 1633.52km, a total of special stages through open and technical routs, in addition, through sand dunes in a total distance of 2686.80 km over five days.

The Saudi champion who is leading the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and the European Cup is looking forward to fighting for first place in the last three rounds to win the title of “World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.

On the other hand, Yazeed Racing Team will test the latest specification Toyota Hilux T1+ which will be the new Dakar machine. The test will be taking place in Morocco after we finish Morocco Rally.

However, the specifications of the new Toyota Hilux feature numerous improvements, including larger wheels and tires, and greater suspension travel.

The new tires will be 37 inches in size instead of the current 32 with a width of 12.6 inches. As for technical updates, the Toyota Hilux V8 engine has been replaced by a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 engine which is the same engine used in the all-new Land Cruiser 300 GR Sport, meaning that the new engine outperforms the traditional eight-cylinder engine.

Yazeed Al Rajhi: “I’m happy to return to Africa, specifically to Morocco to participate in this classic rally which is one of the most important and difficult rallies for us. The route here is mostly desert and dunes which is one of our favorite routes for our car.”

“Rallye du Maroc is one of the arduous and tiring rallies. We have five days full of fierce competition. This kind of rallies adds another level of challenge to rally raid.”

“A new challenge awaits us at the sand dunes, but we are ready for it, and we are taking a big step to the Moroccan rally with very high spirits. All we have to do is to focus and develop an appropriate strategy for this rally to reach our goals.” The Saudi motorsport icon said.

“I am looking forward to winning this rally and leading the overall drivers’ standings in the CCR, and I hope that God will grant us success in this rally.” Al Rajhi added

At the same time, Michael Orr expressed his excitement, and he is looking forward to the fourth time with the team, and his second time with Yazeed at Morocco Rally.

Orr: “In 2019 was my first season with the team at Morocco Rally in which I had my first experience with my colleague Yazeed in the deserts of Morocco, that was a great experience with Toyota Hilux.”

“I’m more than excited for this competition Although we have done many Baja rounds, but Rally du Maroc is still the biggest challenge for me. I still need more experience for this kind of rallies [Rally Raid] but I feel better every time because I do my best for the team”

“I’m pretty sure we can fight at the front, and that’s our target. It’s always a pleasure to be with Yazeed in this event.”