– Ross Branch bags his second consecutive stage win at Rallye du Maroc
Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp, enjoyed a brilliant Sunday in the Sahara Desert at the ongoing Rallye Du Maroc 2022 – registering their second consecutive Stage win. This marks the first time an Indian manufacturer team is maintaining the lead at a World Championship race.
Team rider Ross Branch who won the prologue yesterday, emerged victorious yet again by winning the first full stage that ran for 322km+ today. In the top-10 with him is Franco Caimi, who was one of the first competitors to start the stage today, and still made remarkable finish at the 8th position in the Rally GP class. The other Rally GP class riders, Sebastian Buhler and Joaquim Rodrigues finished in the 14th and 17th positions respectively.
The first full stage of the Rallye Du Maroc 2022 on Sunday, October 2nd presented the competitors with a challenging day – a 322 km long special and another 240 km of transport sections, starting from Agadir and ending in the bivouac at Tan-Tan. Stage 1B included a variety of conditions – some very tricky tracks that climbed and descended through the hills, quite a lot of rocks and sand demanding highly technical riding, and some extreme navigation adding to the flavour.
A confident Ross Branch, after his prologue stage win found good luck in getting to start late in the 15th position. His steady navigation through the early hours through some highly tricky terrains, and a much faster pace in the latter half helped him finish the stage in the fastest time, maintaining his position at the top of the table. Today’s stage win requires Ross to open the stage tomorrow, and he hopes to make minimal navigation errors, and end the day well.
Franco Caimi showcased an exceptional performance today – having opened the long and tricky first stage with another rider, and still managing to finish in the 8th fastest time. This places the vibrant Rally GP class rider in the 8th place in the overall rankings as well. Sebastian Buhler also had a steady run in this stage, finding himself in the 13th position in the overall rankings table.
Joaquim ‘JRod’ Rodrigues started the stage very well with a great pace, but an unfortunate crash in the dust set him back by almost 50 minutes. However, the strong-willed rider managed to fix his bike and bring it to the finish, even though both man and machine suffered several injuries in the fall. After Stage 1B, JRod is now at the 17th position in the overall Rally GP rankings.
Stage 2 tomorrow is a 316km special taking the competitors from Tan-Tan to the desert camp in Laâyoune. Clocking another 119 kms as well in liasons, the riders will find several new challenges to tackle under the scorching sun, even as they run past some beautiful sceneries of the great Sahara.
Ross Branch: « It was indeed a good day for me. Thanks to my win yesterday, I was lucky to start today at the 15th position, and that strategy paid off well. It was a little difficult in the beginning with a lot of technical riding through rocky terrain. Later on as I was trying to pick up pace, I found Toby Price racing ahead of me, and chasing him helped me set a good pace for myself. Even though we had a lot of rocks and sand flying into the face, I enjoyed the stage, and I’m happy to be back here in one piece! And yes, tomorrow is going to be difficult opening the stage; I’m probably going to lose some time, but the aim will be to ensure minimal errors and to ride as fast as I can. »
Franco Caimi: « I’m really happy to be back here in the bivouac. It was a pretty tricky stage for me today, being one of the first competitors to open this long stage early in the morning. But I’m really glad that I could do a good job at it, and finish well. I take this as some good training and testing for myself for the upcoming Dakar, which is definitely our main goal. We’ll keep pushing for great results in the next few days. »
Sebastian Buhler: « The first stage is done, and it was not an easy day for me. It was quite hard with a lot of tricky navigation and rocky terrains. I feel I’ve not achieved the rhythm I wished for, but I will definitely be striving each day to get it right. I’m looking forward to a better run in the stage tomorrow. »
Joaquim Rodrigues: « It was definitely not how I was expecting this day to turn out. I started the stage really well, with a great pace and fighting for the top positions. However, I got caught up in the dust behind another rider for quite some, and couldn’t go past him. At one point, I crashed head on in some camel grass and broke my bike, and injured myself a bit. I lost some time fixing the front of the bike to be able to ride again, but managed to reach the finish safe. The team is putting together my Hero back again, and I hope tomorrow will be a better day. »
Provisional Rankings – Stage 1B (Rally GP Class)
1. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, 03h 44m 56s
2. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing, + 1m 09s
3. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Team, + 2m 31s…
8. Franco Caimi, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 9m 24s…
14. Sebastian Buhler, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 21m 29s…
17. Joaquim Rodrigues, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 50m 28s…
Provisional Overall Standings after Stage 1B (Rally GP Class)
1. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, 04h 46m 24s
2. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing, + 2m 05s
3. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Team, + 3m 11s…
8. Franco Caimi, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 12m 52s…
13. Sebastian Buhler, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 24m 17s…
17. Joaquim Rodrigues, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 52m 52s…