The FIM RallyGP world championship title is one of the major titles that remain undecided going into the Rallye du Maroc. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda Team) have staked a claim to the motorbike throne. The race for the Rally2 crown will also come down to a three-way fight.
A new champion
The W2RC is set to anoint its third FIM Rally GP world champion, who will succeed Sam Sunderland (2022) and Luciano Benavides (2023). As in the FIA competition, there are three riders still in contention for the title in Morocco. Ricky Brabec seized an early lead thanks to his Dakar victory, but his closest rival in Yanbu, Ross Branch, vaulted to the top of the standings with second place at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The Botswanan has held the lead ever since. The "Kalahari Ferrari" has withstood the onslaught of the Honda squadron until now. He has 72 points to his name, a clear improvement over his 21 from 2022 and 58 from 2023. He now dreams of adding his name to the honour roll of the W2RC and carving out a place in the history books for himself and Hero. However, Brabec is just 9 points behind following his triumph in the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF Infinia. The Californian, who has finished three times (2017, 2018 and 2022) on the podium in Morocco, is determined to make Branch sweat all the way to the finish! The most prolific Rally GP stage hunter in the field (14), Adrien Van Beveren, came in third in the 2022 and 2023 championships. Bronze is no longer good enough —VBA is now going for gold. Even so, the Frenchman has his work cut out for him, as the leader is 16 points ahead, Brabec is 7 points in the clear and even his teammate Tosha Schareina remains within striking distance, fourth at 9 points. Monster Energy Honda Team's numerical superiority at the business end of the race should be enough to catapult the squad to its third consecutive manufacturers' title. Honda has a 22-point margin over Hero MotoSports Team Rally.
Branch takes the title in Morocco if:
| Branch | Brabec | Van Beveren |
| 1st / 2nd | - | - |
| 3rd / 4th | 2nd | - |
| 5th / 6th | 3rd | - |
| 7th | 3rd | 2nd |
| DNF | DNF | 3rd |
Brabec takes the title in Morocco if:
| Brabec | Branch | Van Beveren |
| 1st | 3rd | - |
| 2nd | 5th | - |
| 3rd / 4th | DNF | 2nd |
| 5th / 6th / 7th | DNF | 3rd |
Van Beveren takes the title in Morocco if:
| Van Beveren | Branch | Brabec |
| 1st | 7th | 3rd |
| 2nd | DNF | 5th |
High-octane drama in Rally 2
Romain Dumontier (Honda Team) could become the first FIM rider to win two championships. The French reigning champion in Rally 2 has mounted a solid title defence so far, with victories at the Dakar and in Argentina, but with just 8 points to spare over Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing), who emerged victorious from the Moroccan round last season, resting on his laurels is not in option. Crunch time! Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Rally) is still in the mix at 23 points adrift. Even a win here will not get him the title unless Dumontier and Cox run into deep trouble. The Pole will therefore focus on defending his podium place against his teammate Jean-Loup Lepan, just 3 points back!
Dumontier takes the title in Morocco if:
| Dumontier | Cox | Dąbrowski |
| 1st / 2nd | - | - |
| 3rd / 4th | 2nd | - |
| 5th / 6th / 7th / 8th | 3rd | - |
| 9th | 4th | - |
| DNF | 8th | 2nd |
Cox takes the title in Morocco if:
| Cox | Dumontier | Dąbrowski |
| 1st | 3rd | - |
| 2nd | 5th | - |
| 3rd | 9th | - |
| 4th / 5th | DNF | - |
| 6th / 7th | DNF | 2nd |
Dąbrowski takes the title in Morocco if:
| Dąbrowski | Dumontier | Cox |
| 1st | DNF | 6th |
The scuffle for the Rally 3 and quad podiums
John Medina has got the Rally 3 title in the bag and is set to become the first FIM W2RC champion from Chile, but the picture is less clear behind the winner of the Ruta 40. Whoever comes first in the Rallye du Maroc (or second behind Medina) will be assured of a championship podium finish. The entire field in this class will have this dual goal in their sights as the engines rev up in Marrakesh. The race to escort Manuel Andújar (7240 Team) on the podium of the quad class is also wide open. Kamil Wiśniewski (Orlen Team), Hani Alnoumesi and Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMOTO Thunder Racing) are within 8 points of each other. One single point separates the Pole and the Saudi, so the runner-up's spot will go to whichever of the two finishes ahead of the other. The Lithuanian does not even need to whip out the calculator: the only result that will put him on the bottom step of the W2RC podium is a victory in Morocco.
Points on offer
A maximum of 25 points are at stake in the Rallye du Maroc, according to the following scale: 25 (1st), 20 (2nd), 16 (3rd), 13 (4th), 11 (5th), 10 (6th), 9 (7th), 8 (8th), 7 (9th), 6 (10th), 5 (11th), 4 (12th), 3 (13th), 2 (14th) and 1 (15th). Each manufacturer can field a maximum of three riders at each event. The top two from each team will score points, which will be awarded following the above scale.
