Morocco's Rallye Sirocco to deliver school-supply kits to 323 children on 1,035 km route

The inaugural Rallye Sirocco (Le Souffle du Maroc) will run from 18 to 23 December 2026 as a 1,035 km loop from Marrakech to the Sahara and back. Organisers say the event will hand over school-supply kits to 323 children in two southern communities.

The edition is a regularity rally, a precision event where crews keep set average speeds rather than race. It is limited to 15 crews (30 participants). The route passes Ouarzazate, M'Hamid El Ghizlane, Zagora, Foum El Oued, Taznakht and Ait Ben Haddou before returning to Marrakech. The rally runs over six days with four competition legs and is fully booked; organisers say there is a waiting list.

The humanitarian handovers are scheduled for Stage 3 on 21 December in M'Hamid El Ghizlane (112 children) and for Stage 4 on 22 December in Ait Ben Haddou (211 children), a total of 323 students. The event impact page lists in-kind commitments from partners: Le Bouquin Volant has pledged 1,000 children's books, Association Joy has pledged 323 pencil cases, and LivreMoi has collected 35 children's books. The organisers' site notes that a pledge is a commitment announced by a partner and that collected and delivered items are reported separately; photographs on the organisers' site show the landscapes the rally crosses but do not include images of the beneficiary schools.

Each two-person crew pays 24,000 MAD (about EUR 2,400) for an all-inclusive package. Organisers say the fee covers the official MG ZS Hybrid+ provided for crews during the event, fuel for the route, selected hotels and a desert bivouac, meals, official clothing and kit, trophies and logistics, and that part of the fee contributes to the humanitarian programme. MG is listed as the title partner and the rally is run on a non-profit basis by ASACM and the Association de la Jeunesse Marocaine en France (AJMF).

The rally's publicity material sets out a technological aim: organisers say they developed a suite of local tools called Sirocco Tracker (live crew tracking and safety support built on Teltonika hardware), Sirocco Map (a digital map of the route), a regularity timing and classification system, and a leaderboard and crew portal.

Rallye Sirocco describes the format as focused on precision rather than speed. Crews must hold a Category B driving licence and have a co-driver. The event package includes an official MG car for crews, and organisers say an MG HS Hybrid+ will support staff operations behind the scenes.

The first edition mixes motorsport, cultural visits and the planned humanitarian stops in the Draa Valley and at the foot of the UNESCO-listed ksar of Ait Ben Haddou. The organisers present the handovers as personal encounters: crews will leave their cars, enter local schools and meet the students face to face as part of Stage 3 and Stage 4.

Rallye Sirocco's publicly available pages - the event route, partners and impact pages - provide the dates, route, participation package and the partner pledges listed above. The event is directed by Abdelouahed Ettoubaji and lists partners including Medousa Car, Teltonika, KKuny and humanitarian partners Association Joy, Rotaract UIR, LivreMoi and Le Bouquin Volant.

The rally runs from 18 to 23 December 2026. Organisers say the scale is intentionally small to preserve safety, hospitality and quality: 15 crews only, fully booked for Edition I.

In response to questions from Newzroom dot Africa, Mohamed Ettoubaji, Technical and Creative Director of Rallye Sirocco said on 9 November 2026: "Our technological ecosystem was developed in-house by Mohamed Ettoubaji, Technical and Creative Director of Rallye Sirocco."