The battle continues on the penultimate day of rallying on the 2024 Rallye Du Maroc
Rally of MoroccoAs the finish line of the 2024 Rallye Du Maroc draws ever closer, the fourth stage provided quite the test for the Monster Energy Honda Team riders as the long days in the saddle, intense heat and tricky terrain tested them all to the limit.
The penultimate day in Morocco was a 315km stage made up mostly of gravel tracks in canyons leading out of Mengoub. Heavy rain had badly damaged some of the tracks so it was still going to be an arduous task to be quick, master the difficult navigation while also being cautious on the very demanding terrain.
Tosha Schareina was a man on a mission following his post-stage penalty yesterday to put in a supersonic ride on his Honda CRF450 RALLY throughout the day to keep ahead and cut into the time gap to overall rally leader Daniel Sanders. Romping to a four minute gap, Schareina looked to have the stage win in his pocket only to suffer a small crash 70 kms before the finish. Getting back on the bike the Spaniard then discovered an error in the road book for the last section, causing him endless problems to find the right route.
His healthy lead vanished as he tried to get back on track, eventually losing ten minutes from the lead he’d so brilliantly built up over the previous 250kms. His end result of fourth masqueraded what an incredible ride he’d had for most of the stage but the time lost leaves him nearly 22 minutes back of the overall lead so the Spaniard will look to end his 2024 season tomorrow with a stage victory.
Adrien Van Beveren had the difficult task of starting the day in second but it proved a frustrating stage for the Frenchman as he too had the same navigation issue as Schareina finishing the day 18 minutes behind the stage winner. Van Beveren was sitting in third overall before today’s stage and having now dropped a place, he will fight to the end to take his first ever podium of the Moroccan Rally.
Setting off in third today, Pablo Quintanilla’s Rallye du Maroc adventure came to a halt just 55km into the stage after hitting a rock. For the former outright winner of the rally it was a disappointing end to his 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship season as he now refocuses for the upcoming Dakar Rally.
It’s the final day of rally action tomorrow and there’s no let up for the riders with 273km of racing against the clock around Mengoub Bouârfa. As the temperature rises, so will the battle in the manufacturers’ championship as the finish line approaches and closes what has been an exhilarating season for the Monster Energy Honda Team riders.
It is definitely not an easy race for us, early on in today’s stage Pablo had a crash, luckily he didn’t sustain a big injury but due to the fall he broke parts of the navigation system and wasn’t able to continue so he’s out of this year’s Rallye Du Maroc. Tosha started fifth and put in a huge effort to recover time, he was riding really well until 70km before the end. Then one note in the road book was not clear which caused him to lose time. In our opinion it was a note that wasn’t 100% correct as Tosha, Adrien and Luciano Benavides all tried to find the way losing precious minutes. It was really too much time to lose as Tosha finished fourth and Adrien in sixth. The good thing is the Honda CRF450 RALLY is working really well and we have one more day to try to recover as much time as we can in the standings and do a good stage.
It’s not been an easy rally, we’ve have had some crashes and problems but this is racing. Tomorrow is the last stage and we will do our best to get to the finish and get our riders on the podium.
It is definitely not an easy race for us, early on in today’s stage Pablo had a crash, luckily he didn’t sustain a big injury but due to the fall he broke parts of the navigation system and wasn’t able to continue so he’s out of this year’s Rallye Du Maroc. Tosha started fifth and put in a huge effort to recover time, he was riding really well until 70km before the end. Then one note in the road book was not clear which caused him to lose time. In our opinion it was a note that wasn’t 100% correct as Tosha, Adrien and Luciano Benavides all tried to find the way losing precious minutes. It was really too much time to lose as Tosha finished fourth and Adrien in sixth. The good thing is the Honda CRF450 RALLY is working really well and we have one more day to try to recover as much time as we can in the standings and do a good stage.
It’s not been an easy rally, we’ve have had some crashes and problems but this is racing. Tomorrow is the last stage and we will do our best to get to the finish and get our riders on the podium.
Well the day didn’t finish as I expected it to, around 55km I had a crash and I damaged my elbow and the navigation system. It was not a good day but it’s part of racing. I was riding against the sun and I hit a rock that I didn’t see and it caused me to crash. The good thing is that nothing is broken so I can continue with my training programme for Dakar. The goal now is to be ready, fit and to arrive at Dakar stronger than before.
Well the day didn’t finish as I expected it to, around 55km I had a crash and I damaged my elbow and the navigation system. It was not a good day but it’s part of racing. I was riding against the sun and I hit a rock that I didn’t see and it caused me to crash. The good thing is that nothing is broken so I can continue with my training programme for Dakar. The goal now is to be ready, fit and to arrive at Dakar stronger than before.
Today’s stage consisted of small tracks which weren’t always visible and there was a lot of navigation. It’s a type of terrain I hadn’t yet encountered in Morocco. There were a couple of notes in the road book that caused me to lose quite a bit of time, one at the beginning, one in a river and another in the final part of the stage. I will now refocus for tomorrow's final day of rallying.
Today’s stage consisted of small tracks which weren’t always visible and there was a lot of navigation. It’s a type of terrain I hadn’t yet encountered in Morocco. There were a couple of notes in the road book that caused me to lose quite a bit of time, one at the beginning, one in a river and another in the final part of the stage. I will now refocus for tomorrow's final day of rallying.
I think I got an unfair penalty yesterday so today I had a difficult mission trying to push from the beginning right to the end. I did it until the last 70km, then I made a piste mistake, one note of the road book was wrong so I ended up lost for around 30 minutes trying to get back onto the route. I am second overall, but this race doesn’t end until the finish line of tomorrow’s stage, so I know what I have to do, so I will just go for it.
I think I got an unfair penalty yesterday so today I had a difficult mission trying to push from the beginning right to the end. I did it until the last 70km, then I made a piste mistake, one note of the road book was wrong so I ended up lost for around 30 minutes trying to get back onto the route. I am second overall, but this race doesn’t end until the finish line of tomorrow’s stage, so I know what I have to do, so I will just go for it.
Rally GP Results - Stage 4
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SANDERS Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | 03:34:17 | |
2 | CORNEJO FLORIMO José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 05:31 |
3 | BENAVIDES Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 08:11 |
4 | SCHAREINA Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | + 10:18 |
5 | EVAN BRANCH Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 17:37 |
6 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | + 17:40 |
7 | SANTOLINO Lorenzo | 15 | SPA | Sherco TVS Rally Factory | Sherco | + 22:53 |
8 | MAIO Antonio | 30 | POR | Franco Sport Yamaha Racing Team | Yamaha | + 30:12 |
Rally GP Provisional Standings after Stage 4
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SANDERS Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | 13:01:25 | |
2 | SCHAREINA Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | + 21:44 |
3 | BENAVIDES Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 24:23 |
4 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | + 32:01 |
5 | EVAN BRANCH Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 45:53 |
6 | CORNEJO FLORIMO José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 53:58 |
7 | SANTOLINO Lorenzo | 15 | SPA | Sherco TVS Rally Factory | Sherco | + 01:01:53 |
8 | MAIO Antonio | 30 | POR | Franco Sport Yamaha Racing Team | Yamaha | + 02:21:29 |
