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Tuthill Porsche returns to the Morocco Historic Rally this year. Running from June 17th-23rd, the rally starts on the west coast in Rabat and then crosses inland to Ifran. From Ifran, the competitors head south west towards Bin El Ouidane before following the foothills of the High Atlas mountain range to the chequered flag at Marrakesh.
Federico Polese and Lucia Scognamiglio have entered the 2018 Morocco Historic in their newly-built Tuthill Porsche Safari car, which debuted on the recent Plains Rally. The duo decided to launch their international rally careers by diving straight in at the deep end on this wonderful event, and we applaud their enthusiasm! We look forward to experiencing seven incredible days in North Africa next month.
North Africa is an epic place to go rallying. Visible from Spain’s southern coast, crossing from Europe into Morocco is still a distinct leap from one culture to another and it is easy to see why so many of the 20th century’s most famous writers were so inspired by time spent here.
Racing legends have also been greatly inspired by this landscape. Dakar Rally founder, Thierry Sabine, routed his first Paris-Dakar rally raid event through Morocco, into the Western Sahara and on to Mauritania, and rally fans have been captivated by the Moroccan landscape since the early days of motoring.
The Morocco Historic Rally – Maroc Historique – traces its lineage back to 1934, when the first international car rally was held in the country. The race was held for several years until war intervened and the rally was suspended until the 1950s. After that, the rally was held on an informal basis until 1988, when an Opel Manta was the last to claim victory on the original event. The rally was resurrected in 2009 and it has been very popular ever since.
While the main languages used in Morocco are all types of Arabic, including the Moroccan Darija, French is still taught in schools and is the language most used in business and commerce. French competitors therefore make up the bulk of entries on the Maroc Historique, and we have previously supported France’s first lady of rallying, Michele Mouton, in one of our cars on the Rallye du Maroc.
Another Tuthill client, Joost van Cauwenberg (above), has tackled the Maroc Historic twice in the past, using his vast experience in marathon rallying to great effect and finishing in the top four on both occasions. Federico and Lucia are just starting out, but the desire to experience everything that African rallying has to offer is no different. We wish them the best and are very excited to return to North Africa. Forza Federico! Andiamo Lucia!
Image of Joost (above) by Gerard Brown
Main image shared under CC licence
