3rd in the Rally-Raid Championship. The Bigs at work in the Mexican Desert. Toby Price, KTM, and Sebastien Loeb, BRX Prodrive, defend the leadership. Of ours: Paolo Lucci in the assault on Rally2, Eugenio Amos in his debut with Toyota
April 25, 2023
hermosillo, Mexico, April 15. Dakar, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Then it’s the turn of a new entry: the Sonora Rallythird trial of Rally Raid World Championship. FIA and FIM, i.e. for Cars and Motorcycles. A novelty in the calendar and also in… spirit. There is no doubt that the establishment of the Championship has reinvigorated the discipline of the road book, giving all Rallyes a more homogeneous connotation and a more “credible” competitive and technical level. The problem of accessibility remains, a World Cup imposes budgets that are certainly not within everyone’s reach, but even in this sense we are starting to work a bit. Certainly the Rallies that are in the “list” of the World calendar are a beautiful expression, also of the state of health of the specialty.
Third round of the World Cup, therefore, in Mexico. You defend or attack the respective classifications, Cars and Motorcycles, you get close to the elite of this type of race. It could be a good opportunity for Americans, North, Central and South, but between questions of holidays and costs, the “experimental” turnout is low. On the other hand, the “tour that counts” doesn’t have to be asked and doesn’t miss the appointment. Among the Cars we note, in truth, the absence of Audi, which evidently prefers to evolve “on its own” and which in any case must clear out the infirmary. All of the bikes are there, only Sherco who didn’t answer the Mexican call and who, not “interested” in this World Championship situation, preferred to go racing and experience the Desert Challenge in Morocco.
Toby Price is the provisional leader of the W2R World Championship of motorcycles, Paul Lucci is the leader of the category Rally2. Both are at the central testing ground of the season. Price has to contend with the ascendant Van Beveren, Honda, winner of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Lucci finds Dumontier, the Frenchman who let him overtake him in the Dakar. Moving on to Car Sebastien Loeb, current FIA leader, will invariably have to deal with Al Attyah, the winner of the Dakar, and with the aggressive Al Rajhi, winner in Abu Dhabi where both Loeb and Al Attiyah went practically dry. Let’s say that the challenge starts again after the stop of the Emirates.
Il Sonora Rally develops on a schedule of 5 Stages plus the Prologue inaugural on a track of 1,300 kilometres which connects Hermosillo, capital of the state of Sonora, and San Luis. Fascinating Rally atmosphere. The region’s climate is dry, Hermosillo is “known” for its eternally arid and torrid season. The scenarios are typical of Central American deserts dominated by infernal cacti, characteristic but dangerous for motorbikes, quads and SSVs. The start of the Rally is on guided but well-marked tracks, then the race extends onto a track where navigation becomes essential and fatigue a real obstacle. Road book, like that of the Dakar. By now the trend towards uniformity of route “information” is imposed on all World Rally Championships.
Prologue and first stage. Very short route, 10 kilometers with a transfer of 45 the first, whose function is to define a “meritorious” starting order for the first stage, and more “enduristic”, or typically Baja, that of the first stage, 175 kilometres plus an equally long transfer back to Hermosillo, capital of the Sonora Region and headquarters of the Rally. Immediately hot, very hot!
So let’s take a look at the “move” of the Sonora Rallyso we also scroll through the lists and scroll through the ranks. Prologue. Big aside, it’s an inaugural day of surprises. Bradley CoxKTM, the sublime son of Rally-Raid, the South African legend Alfie, imposes himself in front of Toby PriceKTM, etc Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna. It is only used to choose the RallyGP starting order, so Cox, Rally2, wins, surprises and… that’s it. Among the Cars the first victory is for Yazeed Al RajhiToyota, in front of Nasser Al AttiyahToyota, e Guerlain Chicherit, Hunter Prodrive. Loeb is fourth.
First step. Hermosillo-Hermosillo, 170 kilometers of Special. Little to navigate, a lot to drive, some risk on very rough terrain and various traps. Also in this case surprises and… certainties. Toby Price makes a navigation error which costs the Australian just under ten minutes. wins a very fast outsider, Tosha ShareinaHonda, which imposes itself on Daniel SandersGasGas, Pablo “Quintafondo” Quintanilla, Honda, and Matthias Walkner, KTM. Van Beveren, Honda, Sunderland, GasGas, back racing after injuries at the start of the season, Howes, Husqvarna, Branch, Hero, are all close by. Back Cox, who pays the role of forerunner, Klein, calmed down afterwards the explosive exploit of the Dakar, Kevin Benavides.
Same problem as the start of the race for the Cars. Al-AtiyahToyota Gazoo, immediately sets fire to the hunt for Al Rajhi, Toyota Overdrive, and installs on command. Al Rajhi however closes immediately behind the Prince of Qatar, while Loeb pays for a mistake navigation and is almost three minutes late. However, he is third, good for him and for his championship. Mattias EkstromCan-Am, once again leaves the wheel of the Audi, climbs onto an SSV and proves to be the fastest, eighth overall and obviously first among the SSV T3s. Late Seth Quintero, leader of the World Cup after Abu Dhabi. In T4 he immediately takes the lead Rock BaciuskaCan-Am.
Itaian do it better. But not today, not all. Eugenio Amos and Paolo Ceci, making their debut on Overdrive’s official Toyota Hilux, go into a barrel after just 25 kilometres. Everything to be redone, how to start again. Paul Lucci, Rally2 leader among motorcycles, prefers a cautious start. The Tuscan does not like the prologues or the tracks that are too “marked”. So it’s better to leave gradually, rather taking care of the priority of not making serious mistakes. In the race, with a Husqvarna, too Massimo Camurri. Third overall among the SSVs in the T4 category is Rebecca Busi, which recovered from the semi-disappointment in Dakar and the unfortunate non-participation in Abu Dhabi. Is the wheel of fortune starting to spin the right way?
Paolo Ceci and Eugenio Amos. “Here we are. Unfortunately as a start it went very badly. we overturned after just 25 kilometers of the race, we changed two wheels that had broken the bead and, ready to go again, we realized that we also had a broken hub. Nothing to do, assistance to leave tomorrow. Patience, the sensations were very good. We try not to forget that, day after day, we are here to gain experience and add up the kilometers to get to the next Dakar as best as possible. That’s the goal.”
Paul Lucci. “Hello everybody. Sorry I didn’t tell you anything yesterday, I arrived a little late at “home” and just now at the hotel. So, yesterday the Prologue and today the first day. I can’t say they turned out great. The prologue was ten kilometers and as I expected I found it bad. Halfway through I started to find the other riders in the dust. A lot of dust even the first stage. I made some changes to the bike and I think it’s okay, but I still have to get used to this terrain, I don’t trust it so much. The most serious thing, if you like, is that I made two navigation errors. No big deal but a few minutes went away there. Let’s say that the first stage was a little distorted, in quotation marks, because it wasn’t exactly desert, it was more Baja Spain, narrower and more closed tracks, vegetation and many dangers. I didn’t want to risk blowing up on day one. So let’s see how we grow gradually, tomorrow there should be a long but less dusty Special, a little more consistent with the style of a Rally. Bye bye.”
© Immagini Red Bull Content Pool, W2R Championship – DPPI – Toyota – BRX – Sonora Rally – Rally Zone
2023 FIA-FIM World Rally-Raid Championship – Calendar
31 Dic – 15 gen, Dakar Saudi Arabia
26 Feb – 2 Mar, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
April 22-28, Sonora RallyMexico
26 Ago – 1 Set, Route 40 ChallengeArgentina
12-18 October, Morocco Rally
