The Rallye Du Maroc for 2024 headed out into the hardest terrain today for the opening stage proper, the result of which has been Honda’s Tosha Schareina taking third place and an ideal position for more taxing kilometres across the tracks and dunes.
Often referred to as the ‘gateway to the Sahara’, the Zagora bivouac has been a foundation of the Rallye Du Maroc for many years and this year is no different with the secluded valley area being ‘home’ for the teams for three nights, although even getting to Zagora was no easy task.
Due to the extreme flooding on the road from yesterday’s prologue in Marrakesh, there was a change of schedule for Monday’s rally action in that the route for stages one and two were flipped to avoid some floods on the stage. Thus, today’s stage was scheduled to be used on Tuesday but was tweaked a little to be used today with 180km of special stage still going to challenge the riders.
Heavy rain had damaged and washed away the tracks while the dunes were going to be tricky too on the loop heading towards the Algerian border for this was going to be a proper test of navigation skills using the new digital roadbook that all riders have to use.
In what could be seen as a decisive day for both World Championship chasers so early on in the rally, Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren didn’t have a perfect day. Heading into this round placed second in the championship, Brabec had an issue in the dunes leaving him to ride the remaining kilometres in considerable knee pain, eventually coming home in 11th over 19 minutes back. With potential damage to his knee ligaments, the American finished the stage and immediately went to hospital. This has left Brabec little choice but to withdraw from the rally in order to focus on being 100% fit to defend his Dakar crown in January.
Winning yesterday’s prologue, Tosha Schareina got to pick his start position and decided to set off in twelfth position. Tactically he could follow the tracks of the riders ahead and it proved to be a good choice as he crossed the line in third, just 1’48 back of eventual stage winner, Ross Branch.
Pablo Quintanilla finished proceedings 7’18” off the lead but struggled to find his pace through the technical sections. The Chilean was happy to be fifth though in what he felt was a long stage under the heat of the Moroccon sun.
Adrien Van Beveren started the stage fifth, a position that was going to cause him some issues as he caught the riders ahead then suffering navigation problems to contend with, this nudged him to seventh and just over 10 minutes to the leader.
However, with 80% of the stages remaining, tomorrow’s test ramps up the mileage with nearly 500km of hard riding, 272km of that against the clock. The battle for the top spot will intensify in the dunes with the Monster Energy Honda Team calmly focussed on the title for Van Beveren and the continuing speed of the Honda CRF 450 RALLY in some of motorsport’s harshest environments.
Ruben Faria – General Manager : « After yesterday’s prologue win with Tosha, all the riders got to choose their starting positions last night and they had good ones to start in today. But we didn’t have a perfect day as we had some issues, the first one being with Ricky who injured his knee in the dunes. He has had to stop the rally and as we have Dakar 2025 so soon, he needs to recover as fast as possible to be 100%.
« Our best rider was Tosha again with his third position, he is in a good place to start tomorrow’s long stage just behind Ross Branch and Daniel Sanders. Pablo did a good job, he lost a little bit of time at the beginning as there were many rocks and he didn’t feel so comfortable to attack, but later on he started to have good pace and he did a decent stage.
« This kind of terrain with many rocks doesn’t suit Adrien’s style of riding but he is still in the fight. Tomorrow’s stage two will be tough, more or less like today but longer. Ricky was in the title fight with Adrien and Ross Branch, so now with just Adrien we will keep fighting to the end, but don’t want to risk too much in this rally just before Dakar 2025. »
Pablo Quintanilla #7 – Stage: 5th Overall: 5th : « I finished the first stage, but it was a rough one as it felt really long. It was not too long on the paper but the riding was very hard indeed. The beginning was super rocky with many dangerous notes but also the navigation was tricky and because of the rain it was hard to find the piste. Honestly, I didn’t feel so good today and I couldn’t ride to my best pace during the stage so I was struggling a little bit to try and figure out the technical sections. The good thing is I am here and now we have four long days coming up to look forward to. »
Ricky Brabec #9 – Stage: 11th Overall: 10th : « It’s a little bit of a bummer, but you know it’s racing and it’s part of it. I caught Pablo early on and we were riding really well together but then soon as we got to the dunes, I jumped a dune but when I landed I bottomed the frame out on the moguls that was on the other side. That meant the first thing that hit the ground was my right leg which absorbed all the energy in the landing. For the remainder of stage I then had to take it easy. It’s a bummer I’m out as I’ve let the team down as I felt that this was the rally for me to shine, but Dakar is more important. »
Adrien Van Beveren #42 – Stage: 7th Overall: 7th : « It was a tough day, I started in fifth and caught the guys up in front quite quickly. I tried my best across the terrain that was really rough but the navigation was quite confusing and it was very difficult to find the right piste. It was the first day that we’ve used the new tablet in race conditions and it meant I wasn’t quite so confident finding my rhythm so I didn’t have all my speed but I’m focused as always as tomorrow is another day. »
Tosha Schareina #68 – Stage: 3rd Overall: 3rd : « Today was another hard day at the office, the first 30km was super gnarly so I tried to ride smoothly and with confidence as it was really easy to crash and damage the bike. I tried to push in the dunes and taking the third place today has put us in a really good position for tomorrow. »
Rally GP Results – Stage 1
1. Evan Branch Ross (BWA) – Hero Motorsports Team Rally, 02:16:57
2. Sanders Daniel (AUS) – KTM Factory Racing Team, + 00:48
3. Schareina Tosha (SPA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 01:48
4. Benavides Luciano (ARG) – Husqvarna Factory Racing, + 06:15
5. Quintanilla Pablo (CHI) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 07:18
6. Bühler Sebastian (POR) – Hero Motorsports Team Rally, + 10:07
7. Van Beveren Adrien (FRA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 10:23
8. Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio (CHI) – Hero Motorsports Team Rally, + 14:03
9. Santolino Lorenzo (SPA) – Sherco TVS Rally Factory, + 14:19
10. Gonçalves Rui (POR) – Sherco TVS Rally Factory, + 17:31
11. Brabec Ricky (USA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 19:20
12. Maio Antonio (POR) – Franco Sport Yamaha Racing Team, + 25:07…
Rally GP Provisional Standings after Stage 1
1. Evan Branch Ross (BWA) – Hero Motorsports Team Rally, 02:34:09
2. Sanders Daniel (AUS) – KTM Factory Racing Team, + 00:48
3. Schareina Tosha SPA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 01:30
4. Benavides Luciano (ARG) – Husqvarna Factory Racing, + 06:45
5. Quintanilla Pablo (CHI) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 07:31
6. Bühler Sebastian (POR) – Hero Motorsports Team Rally, + 10:37
7. Van Beveren Adrien (FRA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 10:53
8. Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio (CHI) – Hero Motorsports Team Rally, + 15:55
9. Gonçalves Rui (POR) – Sherco TVS Rally Factory, + 19:06
10. Brabec Ricky (USA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, + 19:23
11. Santolino Lorenzo (SPA) – Sherco TVS Rally Factory, + 20:11
12. Maio Antonio (POR) – Franco Sport Yamaha Racing Team, + 26:54…