2024 Rallye Du Maroc results: Schareina heads Honda one-two on Stage 2
Results from stage two of the 2024 Rallye Du Maroc, World Rally-Raid Championship final round, where Honda riders Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren claimed a one-two result and championship leader Ross Branch played the safe game with an eye on the title for Hero MotoSports.
Switched to become the second stage due to flooding issues on day one, today's 425-kilometre loop featured 267 kilometres of special, including a 20 kilometre blast of sand dunes in the Erg Chegaga.
It proved another important day with fortunes turning back in favour of the dominant Honda team this season, after yesterday’s disappointment at Ricky Brabec’s retirment and seeing their championship title hopes evaporate in the Moroccan sunshine.
In RallyGP class and overall, Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda) posted his second win of the week. The Spaniard moves into the overall lead with Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), dropping to sixth place in the standings after placing P11 today.
Schareina won ahead of team-mate Adrien Van Beveren (+1'19’'), who stopped during the special to help Sebastian Buhler. The Hero MotoSports rider suffered a crash and was forced to retire from the race. Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 2nd yesterday, finishes on the podium once again at 1'24‘’.
Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda): “A good stage for us. Over the first 30 kilometres, I tried to push, but then I made two big mistakes and lost a minute each time. I pushed again and caught Ross in the dunes who seemed to be thinking about the championship. Then, before refuelling, I caught up with Daniel Sanders, but there was a lot of dust. I've just found out that the record for the number of stage wins in the championship in a W2RC season is 10 and I'm on 9. We've got three stages left, so we're going to try and beat the record!”
Branch eyes Hero’s prize
Ross Branch, winner of stage one and leader this morning, lost 13'21‘’ today (see W2RC). The Botswanan drops to 6th place overall, a whopping 11'51” behind new leader Schareina but the Botswanan says he has the world title in mind for himself and for Hero – he only needs to finish the rally to be crowned champ.
Daniel Sanders retains 2nd place. The Australian remains in a strong position, just 48” behind the new leader. The third KTM factory rider, Luciano Benavides, made it onto the podium, but is 7'53‘’ behind first place.
In Rally2, Bradley Cox won the stage after also stopping when Sebastian Buhler crashed. The South African was 7'46‘ ahead of team-mate Edgar Canet and 9'46’ ahead of Dakar class winner Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Factory Racing). Overall, Cox has a lead of over 13 minutes on the young Spaniard.
In Rally3, Souleymane Addahri remains unbeaten. The Moroccan once again finished in front of John Medina (XRaid Experience) and has a 36'51” lead over the Chilean in the overall standings.
Word up for Sandra Gomez riding her first rally onboard the factory Fantic Rally bike. The Spaniard sits in first place in the Women’s class and finished today’s stage 37th overall.
Rallye Du Maroc Stage 2 Results (top 50):
Race Director David Castera on Stage 3:
9 October: Stage 3 Zagora - Mengoub/Bouârfa (liaison: 360 km / special: 327 km / Total: 687 km)
“I really like this stage, it's very scenic. From this stage onwards, the philosophy of the race that I originally designed has been preserved, as the rain didn't have too much of an impact on it. We've been more innovative at the start of the special by going for valleys that are less used by other organisers as far as Merzouga, where we'll obviously be crossing the erg. The whole of the first part, up to the exit of the dunes, is fairly rolling, without too many rocks. The final section is fairly classic, and then we'll head back north and start to break out onto new sections over the following days.”
Photo Credit: Honda + A.S.O. + Rally Zone
