Prologue
W2RC 2023
Round 5

Ricky Brabec Sets The Pace

ma Rally of Morocco

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.

Ricky Brabec Sets The Pace

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
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
Ricky Brabec 2
Monster Energy Honda Team
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
Pablo Quintanilla 7
Monster Energy Honda Team
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
Adrien Van Beveren 42
Monster Energy Honda Team
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.

José Ignacio Cornejo
José Ignacio Cornejo 11
Monster Energy Honda Team
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

2

USA

Monster Energy Honda Team

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 Team

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 Team

Honda

11:48

13

CORNEJO José Ignacio

11

CHI

Monster Energy Honda Team

Honda

12:02


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