RICKY BRABEC SETS THE PACE
The waiting is over and action is back in the World Rally Raid Championship! Today it was time for the first competitive moment of this years Rallye du Maroc, with a 19 kilometers prologue with start and arrival at the coastal city of Agadir.
Dakar winner Ricky Brabec was second overall, sharing the same time of 11′03″ with the prologue winner, a fact that made the organization apply the tie-breaking rule to count the tenths of seconds. Skyler Howes crash at the prologue in his the first race dressed in red and the American is no longer in competition. Since he was feeling some pain in his knee and back, the team decided that was best for him to exit in order not to compromise his ambition for the next Dakar Rally. Pablo Quintanilla was the second fastest rider to reach the bivouac. Adrien Van Beveren was 11th overall, while José Ignacio Cornejo was 13th.
Tomorrow it will be a long day with the first stage and the connection between Agadir and Zagora, which means almost 700 kilometers. This trip to the south of the Kingdom Morocco will mix gravel tracks, dirt tracks, sand and dunes. The liaison will be 397 km long, while the Special Stage consists of 314 Km.
Ruben Faria
Here we are back in Morocco to race the last stage of the World Rally Raid Championship, a competition that is not only the end of the season but also a great opportunity to prepare for the next Dakar Rally. Our riders were fast and competitive, but we also feel some sadness by leaving one behind - unfortunately Skyler Howes crashed and had to leave the race. Ricky was second and did very well, the same goes with Pablo in 5th. Adrien didn't feel so comfortable and had arm pump and Nacho had some difficulties with the track that was not his style. We are aware of the hard days ahead of us, starting with tomorrow. Stage 1will be very demanding and riders will leave the bivouac at 4 am.
Ricky Brabec 9
This was a good prologue and now I am looking forward to doing five more stages here at the Rallye du Maroc. I am happy to be here with the team and doing great. Today it was only a warmup, so let's keep the focus.
Pablo Quintanilla 7
So we have just started the Rallye du Maroc with the prologue, it was a little bit longer than what we usually do. This was our first chance to have contact with the race and with the terrain. Personally this was a normal day for me and I’ve got a good position that allows me to have a good starting order for tomorrow.
Adrien Van Beveren 42
Today was not such a good day for me, because I did not feel so confident on the bike. Now we need to focus on tomorrow to do a good stage. The race will only start tomorrow.
Private: José Ignacio “Nacho” Cornejo 11
The prologue is behind us and it was great to finally get a chance to release the tension. I had a good feeling, sure we can always improve, but I’m glad I have a good starting position for tomorrow. The Rallye du Maroc is always hard and I am confident to face the days to come.
Provisional Standings Prologue
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schareina Tosha | 68 | SPA | Honda Team | Honda | 11:03 |
| 2 | Brabec Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | 11:03 |
| 3 | Evan Branch Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | 11:05 |
| 4 | Price Toby | 18 | AUS | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | 11:13 |
| 5 | Quintanilla Pablo | 7 | CHI | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | 11:17 |
| 6 | Walkner Matthias | 52 | AUT | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | 11:21 |
| 7 | Benavides Luciano | 77 | ARG | Husqvarna Factory Racing | Husqvarna | 11:27 |
| 8 | Santolino Lorenzo | 15 | SPA | Sherco TVS Rally Factory | Sherco | 11:33 |
| 11 | Van Beveren Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | 11:48 |
| 13 | Cornejo José Ignacio "Nacho" | 11 | CHI | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | 12:02 |
Location Information
Morocco has always been a land of rally raid. The story began in 1982 with the arrival of Paris-Agadir, the first rally raid to run in Morocco. The following year, the rally took the name of ‘Atlas Rally’ and became the flagship rally to the Rally Raids calendar. The Atlas… read more.
| Winner 2023 | Toby Price (KTM) |
| Winner 2022 | Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) |
| Winner 2021 | Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) |
| Winner 2020 | Cancelled due the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| Winner 2019 | Toby Price (KTM) |
| Winner 2018 | Toby Price (KTM) |
| Winner 2017 | Matthias Walkner (KTM) |
| Winner 2016 | Toby Price (KTM) |
| Winner 2015 | Sam Sunderland (KTM) |
| Winner 2014 | Marc Coma (KTM) |
| Winner 2013 | Paulo Gonçalves (Honda) |
| Winner 2012 | Cyril Despres (KTM) |
Agadir, Morocco - View in Google Maps
