Final test ahead of the Dakar: Rallye du Maroc wraps up the Cross-Country Rallies World Championship

This Friday the twentieth edition of the Rallye du Maroc is due to get underway. This represents the fourth and final test of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship and the final competition for Monster Energy Honda Team ahead of the Dakar Rally. The team will field the full squad for the race.

Fez, one of Morocco’s imperial cities and the country’s cultural and religious centre, will host the forthcoming Rallye du Maroc, the fourth points-paying round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. Monster Energy Honda Team are all set to take part in the race which could offer a wide range of possible outcomes.

Ricky Brabec, Kevin Benavides, José Ignacio Cornejo and Joan Barreda are the four Honda HRC factory riders who line up for the final event of world championship campaign. American rider Brabec has every faith in maintaining the race pace needed in the desert, ahead of January’s Dakar Rally to be held in Saudi Arabia. Benavides has a great challenge lying ahead. A good result for the Argentine in Morocco, holding third place in the overall championship standings, could see the rider take runner-up position in the final world championship table. Likewise, Monster Energy Honda Team members Chilean José Ignacio Cornejo and Spaniard Joan Barreda are poised for possible top five positions in the final reckoning.

The team will pass the administrative and technical shakedown, taking place next Thurday, at 10:30. Then, it will be on to Friday’s prologue which kicks off at 14:00 hrs. The 7.3 kilometre curtain-raiser will dictate the order for the first full stage on Saturday, 5th October in Fez as the entourage heads southbound. The bivouac will be situated close to the city of Erfoud.

Rallye du Maroc 2019