- New Can-Am Factory Team Maverick R shows superb potential in the hands of Lopez
- South Racing Can-Am Team’s Lumsden duo and Janesky gain valuable desert experience
MENGOUB-BOUÂRFA (MOROCCO): The Can-Am Factory Team’s Rokas Baciuška teamed up with Spaniard Oriol Vidal to clinch the Challenger category title in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) at a grueling five-stage Rally of Morocco.
The Can-Am Factory Team achieved outright victories at three of the five rounds in Abu Dhabi, Portugal, and Argentina. Still, Baciuška had one eye on the overall title in Morocco and erred on the side of caution in several instances during the demanding event across rocky terrain and dunes in North Africa. The success marked the Lithuanian’s third title in as many years in the W2RC after his back-to-back SSV successes in 2022 and 2023.
The Can-Am Factory and South Racing Can-Am Team also used the Moroccan event to evaluate the new Can-Am Maverick R in a competitive environment before the cars entered active competition at the start of 2025. They were not eligible for the FIA event and ran in an ‘Experimental’ category.
Multiple Dakar winner Francisco Lopez teamed up with Argentina’s Sebastian Cesana and the Chilean topped the SSV times on the Prologue, stages one, two, and four.
His Can-Am Factory Team colleague Hunter Miller was partnered by fellow American Andrew Short in a second Can-Am Maverick R. He beat Lopez by seven seconds to win the third stage.
The Dutch duo of Erik van Loon and Henrie Verschuuren and the Argentine pairing of former quad front-runner Manuel Andujar and Bernardo Graue crewed the South Racing Can-Am Team-entered cars. Andujar was second quickest behind Lopez on stage four and set the fastest time overall in the last stage in the Experimental SSV section. Van Loon overcame fuel pump issues to finish a valuable test exercise for the team.
The South Racing Can-Am Team also ran three Maverick X3s for the American trio of Lawrence Janesky and Craig and Zacharie Lumsden and their respective co-drivers Bruno Jacomy, Jamie Lambert, and Shannon Moham. They gained valuable experience in the competitive Challenger category in one of the world’s most demanding racing environments.
South Racing Can-Am Team’s managing director Scott Abraham said: “It is a great way to end the W2RC season. This is the third consecutive time that Can-Am has won the Challenger or T3 category and has won four out of the last five years since its inception. It was a great year for Rokas.
I thank the dedication of the whole team for making this happen. Now we have a very short break before the team heads to Portalegre next week to defend the lead in the FIA Baja World Cup.”
The 25.45km Prologue near Marrakesh was used purely to determine the starting order for the opening loop stage out of Zagora although it caused its fair share of problems for several of the front-runners. Baciuška came home ninth amongst the Challenger competitors but it was a very encouraging start for Lopez in the SSV section: the Chilean was fastest.
Flash flooding and run-off water badly affected the road section between Marrakech and the night halt in Zagora. One road was blocked near Ouarzazate and many competitors arrived late into Zagora. As a result, race officials rearranged the schedule through the M’Hamid area, and the route of stage two was used for stage one and shortened to 177.17km and the opening stage was used for stage two.
Baciuška made a sensibly cautious start and came home seventh of the registered drivers in Challenger with Janesky the best of the three South Racing Can-Am Team entrants. Lopez would have been the quickest of the SSV drivers had he been eligible, as Van Loon, Andujar and Miller finished the stage without major problems, although Van Loon was later handed a one-hour penalty for missing route waypoints, Craig Lumsden was handed a 30-minute penalty for a similar issue and Zacharie Lumsden incurred penalties for failing to finish the special.
Stage two crossed the Chegaga dunes and sandy terrain in the Zagora region for 266.42km. Baciuška was eighth of the registered drivers through the tricky stage where a flying Lopez made it three wins three in the SSV class and finished well ahead of Andujar and Miller.
The route headed from Zagora to Mengoub-Bouârfa on day three and included a stage of 324.23km with large stretches of water prevalent between the Merzouga dunes after recent intense rainfall. Miller and Lopez again blitzed the SSV opposition in the development of Maverick Rs, while Baciuška finished the stage in eighth of the classified Challenger drivers and mathematically confirmed the Challenger title with two days to spare.
Baciuška said: “We started the stage on the 11th and finished the day on the eighth. We punctured near the end but I reached the finish and I was the World Champion for the third time. We have been working hard for this all season. It’s a little strange to celebrate before the end of the rally…”
The fourth 315.05km stage ran through the deserts surrounding Mengoub-Bouârfa. Andujar shadowed Lopez to the finish in the Experimental SSV section but Baciuška climbed to third in the virtual standings before stopping with technical issues 60km from the stage finish.
The final stage looped through the dunes around Mengoub-Bouârfa for 271.82km. Andujar and Lopez again showed the potential of the new Maverick R with superb stage times before the ceremonial finish in Mengoub-Bouârfa.
The South Racing Can-Am Team receives valuable support for the race program from BRP, Rotax, Method Wheels, Tensor Tires, Motul, J.Juan Brake Systems, Oakley, and Sparco.
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