RACE SUMMARY

Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters - Hero MotoCorp, concluded their campaign at the 2022 edition of Rallye Du Maroc, with two riders finishing in the top 10 positions. This was indeed a mini-Dakar, with the riders covering 2330 km in pure desert conditions.

The Hero MotoSports team of four was back racing on the desert terrains after almost a 7-month gap since Abu Dhabi, owing to the cancellation and postponement of certain races. Having utilised the break well to train and prepare, the team showcased a phenomenal performance in Morocco. They bagged the top positions on multiple days, and even led the overall scorecard of a World Championship race – a first for an Indian manufacturer team.

Stage 5, the last stage of the race started today from the bivouac in Tan-Tan taking the riders on a 380 km final sprint along the Atlantic Coast and back to the city of Agadir. The coastal setting offered magnificent landscapes for the competitors to pass through in what was a spectacular conclusion to Rallye du Maroc.

Ross Branch, in his second appearance in Hero colours, delivered a stellar performance all throughout the rally - bagging two consecutive stage wins, a stage podium and another top 5 stage finish. In the fifth and final stage today, he finished with the 7th fastest time. However, a time penalty that he faced in one of the earlier stages cost him a good overall finish. Back safe in Agadir after a week in the desert, the Botswanan finds himself at 8th in the overall Rally GP class standings.

Continuing his steady performance all through the race, Franco Caimi finished today’s stage at 6th, just ahead of Ross. Having constantly improved his performance throughout the six days of racing, the Argentine has earned himself a commendable 9th place on the overall Rally GP Class rankings table.

For Sebastian Bühler, Rallye Du Maroc was a return to the saddle after almost a year of absence from races, owing to an injury. The young rider from Portugal faced some difficulty getting into rhythm at the start of the rally. However, his persistent run through the week gave him a great opportunity to reclaim his pace and feeling with the bike. Having finished the last stage in top 10, Buhler has moved up to the 12th place in the overall Rally GP class standings.

For Hero’s veteran Joaquim ‘JRod’ Rodrigues, Maroc did not go as well as expected. With two crashes in two consecutive stages, the Dakar stage winner made the tough decision to exit from the race after Stage 2 to avoid further injury that would hamper his preparations for the upcoming races - especially the Dakar 2023. In spite of that, JRod stayed on with the team till the end, in a bid to keep the riders motivated.