Vota ArticoloDay 4 Report: Ouarzazate-Foum Zguid 
3 stages, stage distance = 269km, liaison distance = 234km, total distance 503km
Yet another early start took the competitors south, from the town of Ouarzazate in a clockwise loop towards Foum Zguid: a peaceful village surrounded by panoramic mountains where time has stood still.
The overnight halt sees the competitors and service crews lodge in a bivouac: a traditional Moroccan village of tents, as used by nomadic Berber tribes.
Beforehand, the drivers faced three tough stages - including one of more than 100 kilometres - in temperatures of 35 degrees centigrade during the afternoon. The opening stage was won by Gregoire De Mevius in his Porsche 911, who stretches his lead to 12 minutes over Geoff Bell. The South African Ford Escort driver lost nearly 10 minutes in the 101-kilometre stage after breaking a driveshaft, meaning that he is now more than ten minutes behind De Mevius, who continues to lead.
The Belgian had a scare yesterday when his suspension collapsed right at the end of the final stage, but today he had no worries at all. He could not quite beat Michele Mouton on the longest stage of the day, who maintains third but continues to close down the gap to second place. "I think I'm getting too old for this!" she joked. "As the days go on it gets a little bit easier but this is a very physical rally for me. We had a good day although the roads are quite rough. You have to know how slowly you need to go sometimes; it's a rally that you win by using your head. We're third so I think we're not so likely to win, but you never know. I don't have a particular plan here: I'm just driving the route as I see it and trying to be a bit cautious."
It was a good day for Tuthill Porsche driver Steve Troman too, who moved up to fourth after setting third-fastest time on the longest stage. British privateer John Lloyd is down to fifth, having picked up a puncture, got lost and broken a damper on the long stage. "It's quite amazing," said his Viking Motorsport principal (and former World Champion co-driver) Phil Mills. "This is another challenge completely. The fact that you can have everything happen to you, as was the case with John today, and still be fifth just underlines the fact that you never give up. It's an awesome event."
Proving that experience and cunning can more than make up for youth and exuberance, Bjorn Waldegaard took his first stage win on the third and final stage of the day, the 61-kilometre Zagora test.
Driving a Peugeot 504 owned by former Maroc winner Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Waldegaard overcame an earlier suspension breakage to show that he still has what it takes to make his mark.
Another former Rallye du Maroc winner, Bob Neyret, is back on the road after his Citroen DS succumbed to suspension breakage on the first day. However, in order to protect his car, Neyret is likely to drive on the road sections; many of which bear a passing resemblance to a special stage anyway. "With the car being so new, we didn't really test enough before coming here," said Neyret. "But I'm going to drive the road sections to the finish. I really want to enjoy the special atmosphere of this event all the way to the end.
The fifth day of the rally is another loop before the competitors return to the bivouac at Foum Zguid. Three stages will be run, making a total of 269 stage kilometres and 234 road kilometres, before the competitors sleep under the stars...
Top 10 classification after day four:
1 Gregoire de Mevius (B)/Nicolas Gilsoul (B) Porsche 911 7h14m45s
2 Geoff Bell (ZA)/Tim Challen (EAK) Porsche 911 7h26m23s
3 Michele Mouton (F)/Fabrizia Pons (I) Porsche 911 7h40m33s
4 Steve Troman (GB)/Calvin Cooledge (GB) Porsche 911 8h05m18s
5 John Lloyd (GB)/Adrian Cavenagh (GB) Ford Escort 8h14m41s
6 Aslam Khan (EAK)/Ashard Khan (EAK) Ford Escort 8h34m51s
7 Frederic Daunat (F)/Guy Chirqui (F) Citroen DS 8h38m10s
8 Jac Nelleman (DK)/Joseph Huber (CH) Porsche 911 9h03m45s
9 Ray Bellm (GB)/Paul Lanzante (F) Porsche 911 10h14m07s
10 Derek Melville (GB)/Peter Lythell (GB) Porsche 911 10h15m40s
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