Second double for Honda in Morocco

"I’m really happy. We did a lot of preparation for this stage yesterday. We knew that there was going to be a lot of navigation. It was an incredible pace, I navigated without mistakes, impeccable, until kilometre 160. We really pushed, opening the way in the dunes. In the end I made a slight error thinking that we could get back on the track further on, but I was able to rectify it without losing too much time. But that’s the way it is; if you push that hard you can expect some navigational errors."

"It was a really fast stage until we got up to the dunes, which made it interminable. A long and hard one. I had to eat a bit of dust in the final part, when I reached Jordi Viladoms and Chaleco, and I had to slow the pace down. I’m happy to have finished, and the bike performed really well. After a year out, I’m starting to get back into racing again. I’m getting used to Honda HRC too. Very happy to be here and to have finished the second stage. I want to congratulate Joan Barreda. What a win!"

"It was a hard, difficult stage, with a lot of sand, navigation and a lot of stones. It went really well for everyone. I’m really pleased. Pleased for the bike which is going really great, and for the team too. We’ve just got to keep pushing hard. I feel great, really well."

"Today I started from second place and tried to rush through the dunes. Marc caught up with me at the end and we rode together for most of the rest of the stage. 30 kilometres from the end the fairing came loose and I had to repair it. I lost a couple of minutes, but it doesn’t matter. The race is still just beginning and the team is doing an extraordinary job. We have two riders on the podium and we have to keep working because there are still four days left to fight for."

"Things were going really well in the stage which I liked a lot better than yesterday’s. It went pretty well, and I managed to not get lost at all. About fifteen kilometres from the finish, I fell in a very fast area, but I fell on top of the bike. Luckily, neither the bike or I suffered much. Now it’s time to rest and prepare for tomorrow’s stage."

"Stage two in Morocco and another great result for Team HRC with another double victory with Joan showing amazing skill in navigation today. It was very difficult to open the track and still be able to win this stage, but he did an excellent job in doing that. Second place for Jeremias Israel. He had a bit of a problem yesterday with a mistake that cost him a lot of time in penalisation, but he’s here to learn, to get all the rally experience necessary. It was his first race after his injuries in the Dakar. He performed well today and is showing good potential. Our goal is to work together and make him a complete rider like the others. Paulo had a bit of bad luck – he had a technical problem with his navigation equipment, he didn’t completely lose time, but finished several minutes later. Laia also had a great day today. She had a small crash at the end but still finished in a good position. Helder, also had a good stage today, he struggled a bit in the dunes, but still managed to finish in a good position for tomorrow’s stage where we will attack again."