Sara Price has raced Rallye du Maroc before, but she has never arrived quite like this.
Her first appearance was in a Can-Am side-by-side, at what she calls her first big rally before Dakar. When she returns this week, she’ll be driving the Defender Dakar D7X-R in the Stock class, with Sean Berriman back alongside her.
“I learned so much that first rally, and it was just about being consistent,” Price told DirtFish. “You’re only as good as your worst day.”
That lesson has stayed with her through a season of learning the Defender. Price finished second in the Stock class on the team’s Dakar debut and third at the most recent World Rally-Raid Championship round in Argentina, where she raced with Saydiie Gray.
The five-stage Rallye du Maroc runs from September 28 to October 3, taking crews from Agadir to Zagora and into the dunes. That part of the route suits Price. She grew up visiting the dunes at Glamis with her family, although she admits she was nervous before her first dune stage in the Defender at Dakar.
“I’d never raced in the dunes in a Defender,” she said. “I ended up doing really well. So I think the dunes will be a strong point. I look forward to it.”
One year on, Price is now well acclimatised to the Defender D7X-R
Morocco also arrives at an interesting moment for Defender. Team-mate Rokas Baciuška leads the Stock drivers’ championship, while Stéphane Peterhansel’s victory in Argentina brought him to within 29 points. Price is part of a team fighting at the front of the class, but she is wary of letting a stage result dictate how she drives the next day.
“Sometimes if you’re getting second or third, or you’re behind on a little bit of time, you get in your head and you’re like, ‘I wanna win a stage,’” she said. “It’s not about winning stages. It’s about just getting the good time and staying consistent.”
Morocco brings Berriman back into the passenger seat after he missed Argentina because the event had not been part of their original schedule.
“I’m super excited to get Sean back in the seat,” Price said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s a very great navigator.”
For Price, Morocco is both a race in its own right and a chance to put a full week’s work together before another possible Dakar start. She wants more time in the D7X-R, a clean run with Berriman on navigation, and a better understanding of where she can push the car.
“I think Rallye du Maroc is the key,” she said. “It’s the one race that you can really show your stuff.”
The aim sounds simple. Rally-raid rarely lets it stay that way. As Price puts it, the navigation, vehicle, driving and teamwork all have to come together. Morocco will show how much she and the Defender have learned.
