1. Rally Pro
The Rally Pro category is the real stuff, open to the more experienced drivers of cars, trucks, buggies, SSV’s, quads and motorbikes. About 75% of the competitors enters this category. Navigation in the truck, car and SSV categories is done by a the GPS UNIK 4 including the digital roadbook. Motorbikes and quads still use the GPS UNIK 2 in combination with a paper roadbook. These devices, built by the French company ERTF, are used in all world championship rallies (FIA/FIM) and long distance rally raids like the Dakar. Correct navigation, guided by a detailed roadbook, has become an important ingredient of rally-raid.
The introduction of the “GPS UNIK” means the days of driving from waypoint to waypoint are over. Correctly navigating, aided by a precise roadbook will become equally as important to driving itself. The GPS UNIK locator stays in “sleeping mode” during most of the day and switches on automatically when you’re close to a waypoint. It also registers speed excess in certain zones and tells the race management immediately at the finish line how many waypoints you’ve reached.
Built-in this device is also the “Sentinel”, a kind of alarm/warning system which allows safe overtaking. If you want to overtake another rider you push the button of your Sentinel, the pilot driving in front of you gets a warning on his device (alarm & stroboscopic light) and knows a faster vehicle wants to overtake him/her. Those who, after 3 warnings, refuse to give way, automatically get a penalty time.
The introduction of these systems (GPS UNIK & Sentinel) makes the rally more professional, a lot safer and allows the race director to publish a correct ranking in a very short time frame. Plus: being able to practice with this tool in the -relatively cheap- Morocco Desert Challenge, is ideal if you have the ambition to do a Dakar or another FIA/FIM rally in the future.
A beautiful competition for those who want to measure themselves against the best. About 75% of those who register for MDC, chose this option. Participants are provided with accurate road books covering daily stages varying between 250-500km (depending on the terrain). Official officers supervise the competition. It is the ideal preparation for the more difficult Dakar stages combined with breath-taking landscapes.
Morocco Desert Challenge is no FIA or FIM event. That would not fit in our philosophy to have a race that is open to anyone. Nevertheless we make use of the official guidelines concerning road books, GPS, penalties, checkpoints et cetera, because MDC is often used as a stepping stone to the Dakar, Silk Way Rally or FIA/FIM world championship rallies and thereby our competitors can get used to terminology and rules of those events.
Rally Pro competitors are divided in subcategories.