【Dakar 2023 Special①】 Monster Energy Honda Team 2022 in action
From 2022, cross-country rally events including the Dakar Rally were bought under the FIM umbrella as the FIM World Rally Raid Championship (RallyGP). The season kicked off with the Dakar in January, and was contested over five rounds through to October. HRC's factory team, Monster Energy Honda Team, went into the 2022 season with 2020 Dakar winners Ricky Brabec, Joan Barreda, and Jose Ignacio Cornejo, joined by Pablo Quintanilla, who joined the team midway through the 2021 season.
Since resuming factory team participation in 2013, the Dakar 2022 was the team’s tenth entry. Brabec won for the team in 2020, and Kevin Benavides in 2021. The team was aiming for a third consecutive victory.
In the early stages, Quintanilla got off to a good start, finishing second in Stage 1B, but many riders got lost of the route. Monster Energy Honda Team was no exception, with Barreda and Cornejo losing 40 minutes and Brabec nearly an hour. Barreda won Stage 2 to make up for the lost time, and Barreda and Quintanilla finished 1-2 in Stage 4. However, stage leaders were at a disadvantage as they had to figure out the next day's navigation, and the standings for the two riders fluctuated throughout the race.
Following the 1-2 finish in Stage 4, Barreda crashed hard in Stage 5 hitting his collarbone, but Quintanilla came to his rescue and managed to finish the stage. Stage 6 was scheduled to be a 421-km special stage, but organizers decided to end the stage at the 101-km mark due to the large, dangerous ruts left by the four-wheelers from the previous day. After this stage and going into the rest day, Quintanilla was fifth, around 15 minutes behind the race leader, and Barreda was ninth, 25 minutes behind. Cornejo and Brabec, had difficulty making up for their delays in Stage 1B, and were left nearly 50 minutes behind the leaders.
In the second half of the race, Cornejo won stages 7 and 9. Quintanilla continued to finish in the top positions, moving into second place at Stage 10, five minutes behind the leader. Quintanilla won the final stage 12, but was three minutes behind the leader, settling for second overall.
Barreda continued to ride despite the pain of his Stage 5 injury, finishing in a personal best tie of fifth place overall. Cornejo and Brabec were able to regain some time, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. The Monster Energy Honda Team won a total of five stages, including two stage wins by Barreda, two by Cornejo, and one by Quintanilla.
Round 2, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge took place over six days from March 5, with all team riders but Barreda competing. Over the prologue and five stages, Brabec and Quintanilla finished second and third, respectively, resulting in two riders on the podium. Cornejo finished the race in seventh place, despite a crash in Stage 4.
The Kazakhstan Rally scheduled for April was cancelled due to the situation in Ukraine, and the Andalusia Rally scheduled for June was postponed to October due to a local heat wave.
In early June, the team announced the addition of a new rider, Adrien van Beveren. With the departure of Barreda, the team will head into the second half of the 2022 season with a new organization.
In the Rallye du Maroc held from October 1 to 6, newcomer van Beveren showed great compatibility with the team and the CRF450 RALLY by finishing fourth overall with two stage wins. Brabec finished third, his second consecutive podium finish.
The final round of the 2022 season, the Rally Andalucía, was held from October 18 to 23. Quintanilla, who was injured in the Rallye du Maroc, was unable to compete, but van Beveren fought brilliantly to win the event for the first time since his transfer. In the riders' standings, Brabec finished the season in second place.
The Monster Energy Honda Team had fought for the top positions, consistently finishing on the podium, and despite missing out on the riders' title, Honda took the manufacturers' crown to become the first champions of the new RallyGP era. With this team, Honda aims to win the Dakar Rally in early 2023 for the first time in two years.
Index
1.Monster Energy Honda Team 2022 in action
2.The Five Phases of Dakar Rally History
3.The Dakar Rally You Didn’t Know
4.Regulations Make the Dakar Rally Special