Martin Koloc describes Buggyra ZM Racing’s first attempt at the Rallye du Maroc as educational

The Rallye du Maroc proved to be quite dramatic for Buggyra ZM Racing with a big accident of Aliyyah Koloc and her co-driver Sébastien Delauney on Day 3.

MONACO, FRANCE, October 14, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Aliyyah Koloc and her co-driver Sébastien Delauney luckily both escaped unhurt. Aliyyah’s father, Martin Koloc, CEO of Buggyra and driver of the second entry of the team, a Red-Lined T1+ GTR in the Open category, was stopped by a gearbox issue on the last day. Nevertheless, Martin Koloc judges the event as positive as its main purpose for the team was to prepare for the Dakar in January.

What should have been a great first event at the Rallye du Maroc for Aliyyah Koloc and her Buggyra ZM Racing team ended up in a ditch in the desert avoiding a car driving in the opposite direction. Luckily, both Aliyyah and her co-driver Sébastien Delauney were unhurt. However, her Red-Lined T1+ was so badly damaged that the duo had to retire from the rally.

“The car fell from a height of 5 meters into a ditch where it stopped on the side. Luckily, Aliyyah and Sebastien are both okay, but the car was badly damaged”, Martin Koloc said about his daughter’s accident. “It seems that a private car that was not part of the rally was coming the opposite way over the bridge. Aliyyah and Seb tried to avoid it but slid off the crest. I am of course relieved that Ali and Seb are OK, but this was unnecessary. We will look at what happened in more detail to make sure we fully understand the causes.”

Racing in the Ultimate category, the highest class of cross-country rallying, as well as the FIA World Rally Raid Championship, with big names like 9-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb or 5-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, Aliyyah was doing well fast in her Red-Lined T1+, despite the fact that she was the only car in the Ultimate class with no turbo engine.

It was the first time for the 20-year-old Dubai-born driver to race in Morocco. “I really enjoyed the Rallye du Maroc. The three stages I did were pretty difficult, and there were some places where I struggled a bit. Stage 3 in particular was nice; it was the longest stage of the rally with 325 kilometers. The stage was fast, and we were going at a decent pace.”

Talking about the accident, Aliyyah explains: “About one kilometer before the finish, there was a bridge crossing. The road was slippery, I had limited visibility. I braked but couldn’t stop in time, so the car slid and ended up in a ditch. It was quite a big fall, but we were going rather slowly. Seb and I are OK which is the most important thing.”

While Aliyyah was forced to retire, Martin Koloc continued with his Red-Lined T1+ GTR in the Open Category. The main purpose for Buggyra’s CEO was to collect a maximum of information and data of how this turbo-charged car behaves compared to Aliyyah’s non-turbo charged car.

“It was a positive rally for us despite Aliyyah’s accident. We had great pace, and I had a top navigator with Mirko who stepped in at the last minute. For the final day, we were able to improve the car set-up and judging from the split times, I think we did a good job. I am really happy with how we have been progressing,” Martin Koloc summarizes the Rallye du Maroc. “We have a fast car with great potential, but we need to improve its reliability. Once we have done so, we will be able to finish and get good results. We learned a lot and got a tremendous amount of data which will help us to improve the car for the Dakar. It’s been educational.”

The team will now run a number of private tests before the Dakar Rally in January.

Buggyra Organisation
Buggyra Organisation
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