{"schema":"pressbox-source-pack-v1","id":"pb_b8a2c9c39c63433c","canonical_url":"https://pressbox.com/press-releases/rallye-sirocco-a-road-written-like-a-poem-a-journey-for-323-students","source_pack_url":"https://pressbox.com/api/v1/news/releases/pb_b8a2c9c39c63433c","issuer":{"name":"Rallye Sirocco","company":"Rallye Sirocco","website":"https://rallyesirocco.com/fr/","newsroom_url":"https://pressbox.com/newsrooms/rallye-sirocco","issuer_pack_url":"https://pressbox.com/api/v1/newsrooms/rallye-sirocco","verification_status":"verified"},"release":{"headline":"Rallye Sirocco: a road written like a poem, a journey for 323 students","summary":"From 18 to 23 December 2026, fifteen crews will follow the desert wind for 1,035 km, from the red walls of Marrakech to the golden dunes of the Sahara, to meet 323 students in M'Hamid El Ghizlane and Aït Ben Haddou.","body":"Casablanca, 9 November 2026. Some rallies are measured in seconds. Rallye Sirocco will be measured in encounters, in memories and in what it leaves behind. Organised on a non-profit basis by two associations, ASACM and the Association de la Jeunesse Marocaine en France (AJMF), with MG as Title Partner, this premium regularity rally will hold its first edition from 18 to 23 December 2026. Fifteen crews, thirty Siroccans, will cross the passes of the High Atlas, the palm groves of the Drâa Valley and the threshold of the Sahara, on a loop that starts and ends in Marrakech. Behind the roadbook lies a triple promise: to support 323 students in two communities of the South, to give Moroccan rallying its own technology, and to travel through Morocco with the eyes of a poet rather than the haste of a tourist.\r\n\r\n323 students at the heart of the road\r\nThe Sirocco route does not only lead to landscapes. It leads to people. In M'Hamid El Ghizlane, where the asphalt fades into the dunes, 112 students are waiting. In Aït Ben Haddou, at the foot of an earthen ksar listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 211 more.\r\n\r\nPart of every crew's participation fee funds school-supply kits for these children. The crews will not hand them over from a distance. They will step out of their cars, still covered in desert dust, walk into the schools and meet the students in person.\r\n\r\nThe humanitarian programme is led by Aziza Rim, Secretary General of ASACM and a figure of Moroccan motorsport for more than twenty-five years. It follows four UN Sustainable Development Goals: quality education, good health and well-being, sustainable communities and partnerships. Association Joy, and Moroccan Car Girls stand beside the rally as supporting partners.\r\n\r\n\"Behind the number 323, there are 323 faces, 323 dreams and 323 stories that are only beginning. We do not want to simply pass through these villages. We want to stop, sit with the children and show them that the road can also bring good things. That is the spirit I hope every crew will carry home.\" - Aziza Rim, Humanitarian Actions Manager, Rallye Sirocco, Secretary General, ASACM\r\n\r\nA rally written like a poem\r\nBefore it had a starting line, Rallye Sirocco had a manifesto. In the spring of 2026, four co-founders, Mohamed Ettoubaji, Khalil Belfqih, Dounia Christina Smaani and Mohamed Birouaine, drew a line on a map, erased it and drew it again. Behind them stood the experience of Rally Director Abdelouahed Ettoubaji, President of ASACM, Paris-Dakar 2007 participant and a figure of Moroccan motorsport for more than forty years. On 2 May 2026, the idea found its name: Sirocco, the warm wind that crosses the Atlas, brushes the kasbahs and exhales over the Sahara.\r\n\r\nTheir open letter to every future participant ends with three promises: meet the country, honour the journey, carry it forward. That spirit lives in every detail. The official rally plate, signed Le Souffle du Maroc, reads like a small work of art: red earth, Atlas green, desert gold and a Moroccan arch crowned with stars. Every participant becomes a Siroccan, every crew a journey for two. The days are written as chapters, the evenings end with tea and music under the stars, and the route itself is composed like a score, moving from mountain passes to palm valleys, from kasbahs to dunes.\r\n\r\nThe journey even has a scent. With the Moroccan perfume house KKuny and its founder, perfumer Youssef Bouras, the rally has created TAGELDIT, a limited-edition fragrance whose name means \"kingdom\" in Amazigh. Its nineteen notes follow the road, so that long after the last kilometre, a single breath can bring the whole landscape back.\r\n\r\n\"There is a Morocco you can photograph, and a Morocco that stays with you long after you put the camera away. We built Rallye Sirocco for the second one. Yes, there will be precision and timing. But we wanted the places between the famous places to matter, and the people we meet to become part of the story. We have written the first pages. The rest will be written on the road.\" - Mohamed Ettoubaji, Co-founder and Technical Director, Rallye Sirocco\r\n\r\n\"Every open door begins with a person. Rallye Sirocco was born between Toulouse and Casablanca, between a diaspora and its homeland. It is a bridge, and this December thirty Siroccans will cross it together. They will bring back much more than photographs: friendships, emotions and a Morocco they will want to share.\" - Dounia Christina Smaani, Co-founder and PR Director, Rallye Sirocco, \r\n\r\nSix days, six chapters\r\n18 December - Prologue, Marrakech: medina light, the souks at dusk and an opening reception before the first briefing.\r\n19 December - Chapter I, Marrakech to Ouarzazate (219 km): the climb to Tizi n'Tichka, the stone villages of the High Atlas and a cinematic arrival at the gateway to the desert.\r\n20 December - Chapter II, Ouarzazate to M'Hamid El Ghizlane (252 km): the Drâa Valley and its palm groves, then a 4x4 sunset in the dunes, mint tea and local music under the stars.\r\n21 December - Chapter III, M'Hamid to Aït Ben Haddou (374 km): the longest day, via Zagora and Foum El Oued, southern horizons, carpets and saffron in Taznakht, then the ksar of Aït Ben Haddou at nightfall.\r\n22 December - Chapter IV, Aït Ben Haddou to Marrakech (190 km): one last measured drive across the Atlas, then trophies and emotion at the closing ceremony.\r\n23 December - Epilogue, Marrakech: a soft farewell at sunrise, and perhaps one last Sirocco surprise, carried by the morning wind.\r\n\r\n\"In more than forty years of motorsport, I have learned that the desert rewards patience, not haste. A regularity rally asks crews to be precise, calm and united. This first edition asks one more thing of them: to leave a trace. When a crew walks into a school with supplies in hand, that is the most important checkpoint of the week.\" - Abdelouahed Ettoubaji, Rally Director, President of ASACM, Director of FMVA\r\n\r\nPrecision over speed\r\nRallye Sirocco is a regularity rally, not a race. Crews follow a roadbook and must hold set average speeds between timing points. Arriving early is penalised just like arriving late. The winner is the most consistent crew, not the fastest. No racing licence is required. A Category B driving licence, a co-driver and a shared rhythm are enough.\r\n\r\nEach crew of two receives an all-inclusive package: the official MG ZS Hybrid+ rally car, fuel, selected hotels and a desert bivouac, all meals, cultural activities, official clothing, trophies and full event logistics. The MG HS Hybrid+ carries the staff behind the scenes. Participation costs 24,000 MAD (2,400 EUR) per crew of two, and part of every fee goes to the humanitarian programme.\r\n\r\nBuilding Morocco's rally technology\r\nRallye Sirocco wants to leave a second legacy, one that lasts well beyond December: a technological infrastructure for Moroccan rallying, designed and built in Morocco. For this first edition, the team has developed its own suite of digital tools to follow, protect and rank every crew, with the ambition of serving the rallies of tomorrow: Sirocco Tracker, live crew tracking and safety support built on Teltonika hardware; Sirocco Map, a dedicated digital map of the route; a regularity system for timing, regularity calculations and live standings; and a leaderboard and crew portal with the official classification online, stage by stage, and a private space for crews.\r\n\r\nA story that has already travelled\r\nAs the start approaches, Rallye Sirocco's press coverage brings together 33 publications from 11 countries in four languages. From Octane Magazine in the United Kingdom to L'Opinion and Hadat Press in Morocco, coverage includes news articles, published press releases and event listings, in print and online.\r\n\r\nAbout Rallye Sirocco\r\nRallye Sirocco is a premium regularity rally with a humanitarian mission in Morocco. Co-founded by Mohamed Ettoubaji, Khalil Belfqih, Dounia Christina Smaani and Mohamed Birouaine, and directed by Abdelouahed Ettoubaji, it is organised on a non-profit basis by ASACM (Association Sportive de l'Automobile Club Marocain) and AJMF (Association de la Jeunesse Marocaine en France), with the support of the Fédération Marocaine des Véhicules Anciens (FMVA) and the Association de la Jeunesse Marocaine à Toulouse (AJMT). MG is the Title Partner. Medousa Car, Teltonika and KKuny are partners of the first edition, which is limited to 15 crews, or 30 participants.\r\n\r\nThe road will remember the wheels. We will remember the people.\r\n\r\nRegistration: https://rallyesirocco.com/register\r\nPress: https://rallyesirocco.com/press","category":"Sports","location":"Casablanca, Morocco","release_date":"2026-11-09","published_at":"2026-11-09 18:42:17","updated_at":"2026-11-09 18:45:15"},"evidence":{"primary_source_url":"https://rallyesirocco.com/fr/","media":[{"kind":"image","url":"https://pressbox.com/media-uploads/pb_b8a2c9c39c63433c/3fa278dd8e0344ac88622308e3fa60ec.png","caption":null,"alt_text":"Rallye Sirocco Plate","rights_basis":"user_provided"}]},"publisher":{"name":"Pressbox","url":"https://pressbox.com","publication_note":"This is a submitted press release. Pressbox publication is not an independent endorsement of the issuing organisation's claims."},"measurement":{"retrieval_id":"anr_58623d698d7e4fcd","channel":"public_api","client_hint":"source-pack","client_hint_verified":false,"meaning":"Pressbox served this structured public source pack. 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