- 2 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:08Welcome back to the desert, welcome to Mexico, welcome to the Sonora Rally.
00:13This is the ninth edition of this remarkable event, but the very first time it has been
00:17part of the FIM and FIA calendar.
00:20After the Dakar and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, we are gearing up for round three of this
00:25year's World Rally Raid Championship.
00:28Some of the biggest names in the sport have arrived in Sonora, most of them for the first
00:32time, and they can't wait to get started.
00:42Very happily looking forward to it, hopefully we'll be here for many years.
00:45I'm really excited, this is obviously my favorite race of the year.
00:49The scenery and everywhere we get to race through is just absolutely beautiful, I just love being
00:53here and love racing my dirt bike, so I'm going to have fun.
00:57It's good to see a lot of new faces here.
01:00It's cool to see, I've already this morning had three, five, six, five, say, that's my
01:04first time doing a rally, so yes, Sonora's a good place to do it, and hopefully it treats
01:09us well.
01:10You know, it's very awesome that the FIA is here, you know, you get to see the big
01:14dogs that are so feeding worldwide and rally, and that's the first time ever in history that
01:18they're here.
01:19Yeah, we need to watch out, there's going to be quite a lot of cactus on the edges of the
01:23roots, so yeah, I'm really looking forward to, you know, get to know the real Mexico from
01:28the local people and explore the place, and yeah, it should be quite cool.
01:32I'm very excited to be here, I've never been down here, and this is actually where a lot
01:34of my family is from, where my family originated from, and unfortunately I've never been here,
01:38so it's been nice to be down here, learn how it is, and you know, be with the whole team.
01:43It all kicked off with a 10-kilometer prologue around the town of Hermosillo.
01:50Five, four, three, two, one, go again, woo!
01:57The autodrome Cerro Colorado is normally used for drag racing, but here it was the 115 vehicles
02:03of the Sonora Rally tearing down the track as they fought for the best possible starting
02:07position on stage one.
02:12The 10 quickest competitors in the FAM Rally GP and FIA classes would get to choose where
02:17they set off the following day.
02:19Bradley Cox from Rally 2 was actually quickest on two wheels, but he wasn't a part of the
02:23draw and he would have to start after the elite factory riders.
02:26The FIA World Championship leader Sebastian Loeb was fourth, he actually needed a tow back
02:31to the bivouac from his closest rival Nasser Al-Ateer, who was second behind Yazid Al-Rajid.
02:35In the bikes, the prime choice went to W2RC leader, Toby Price.
02:41Yeah, a couple of tight, tricky corners in there and I missed a couple here and there,
02:45but all in all, yeah, the race is only just new, so yeah, a long way to go yet.
02:51So plenty of racing to go and looking forward to what Sonora will bring.
02:57Most of the riders gathering for the draw and the briefing that evening were eager to discover
03:01Sonora, but Ricky Brabeck knows this rally well.
03:03He is the record four-time winner in the bikes.
03:07Yeah, you know, it's been two years since I've been here and I'm happy to be back here
03:10in Hermosillo.
03:12I had success the last time we were starting in Hermosillo, so we're hoping again for another
03:17successful rally.
03:17We have a lot of experience, we try to do our best.
03:21We check our car, everything working very well and I am sure we can enjoy because we hear
03:27a lot of nice desert here in Sonora and yeah, the landscape is nice.
03:33And we are happy, you know, really to be here.
03:40On to the first proper day of rallying with a loop around Hermosillo.
03:44Watch out for that cactus and make sure you don't get stung early.
03:48Nacho Corneca would be opening the piece for the bikes with Loeb setting off first in the
03:52cars.
03:54This was a technical first outing where competitors would theoretically benefit from occasionally
03:59easing off the gas.
04:00A total of 355 kilometres to cover with 170 against the clock.
04:07It wasn't the best day for Price who chose to start in sixth place.
04:11The big Aussie lost eight minutes after a navigation mistake, meaning he's already on the back foot.
04:19Kevin Benavides, the winner of this year's Dakar, is already back in action just two months
04:23after he suffered a leg fracture.
04:25The Argentine is obviously not on top form, he was 12th on this first stage.
04:32Skylar Howes is the defending champion in Sonora, the Husqvarna star, a couple of minutes
04:37down today in sixth place.
04:42Stage honours went to Tosha Shirena, who is riding for Honda, but not with the factory
04:47team.
04:49Over in the cars, Nasser Alatia set out his stall with a dominant stage one victory.
04:53After two rounds of the W2RC, the Qatari trails low by 16 points at the top of the standings,
04:59but he managed to put two minutes and 42 seconds into the Frenchman today.
05:04Loeb lost a bit of time opening on the narrow tracks, cutting the bushes back with the side
05:08of the car in his words, but he will be in a good position to attack tomorrow as he continues
05:12his quest for a first W2RC crown.
05:17The Red Bull Cannon factory team have brought their full armada in the T3s, but it was their
05:21rivals celebrating on stage one.
05:24Joao Ferreira was second quickest in his X-Rade Yamaha, a minute down on Matthias Ekstrom,
05:28who has again traded his Audi for a south racing buggy.
05:34There are only two quads competing in Mexico.
05:37Rodolfo Guioli has an eye on the W2RC podium, but so far he has been second best in the Dakar
05:43Finisher by Smedes-Cancis.
05:47Rocas Petruska meanwhile is in a league of his own in the T4s, with Dakar winner Eric Goxal
05:52sitting out the season to focus on his studies.
05:55Everybody's just happy to be underway.
05:59Looking forward to getting in the more open desert because today we're still quite technical.
06:04But yeah, the bike feels good and happy to be here racing in Mexico.
06:10Today was a good stage, and we win the stage, and it was the beginning of the Sonora Rally.
06:19We are looking really for tomorrow, tomorrow will be a long day for everybody.
06:25We open and we try to do our best.
06:40The sun rising on stage two of the Sonora Rally.
06:45The drivers will head west from Hermosillo to the Sea of Cortez before cruising north to
06:49Puerto Penasco.
06:50The special has been shortened to 162 kilometres for safety reasons.
06:56Coastline.
06:58Cactus.
07:00And crashes.
07:02It was a dramatic day in the bikes as the defending champion Skylar Howes took an early
07:06spill.
07:06The American was forced to abandon his favourite rally with shoulder injuries, but he was thankful
07:11to have avoided more serious damage, notably thanks to his airbag jacket.
07:16In the meantime, Daniel Sanders powered to the stage victory in spite of opening and grabbed
07:21the overall lead from Shirena.
07:26It was good to get into the rhythm again.
07:29I'm sure we're going to be up the front tomorrow and have to focus on the road book again.
07:34But it was a miserable day for the other gas gas factory rider, Sam Sunderland.
07:38He crashed out at Kinometer 24 after overshooting a high speed right turn.
07:43Luckily, the world champion escaped serious injury, but he still had to abandon.
07:47Poor old Sunderland is yet to finish a rally this season after crushing out the Dakar and
07:52just before Abu Dhabi.
07:53It's the only one who wish him and Howes a speedy recovery.
08:01Shirena, on the other hand, keeping up his very consistent start.
08:04The Spaniard isn't a part of the W2RC this season, but only lost a minute and 15 to Sanders
08:09to remain second overall at the rally.
08:14Toby Price was third today, but he is now nine minutes off the pace.
08:22In the cars, Sebastian Loeb came roaring back to take the stage win and the overall lead.
08:27The BRX man enjoys hunting down a victory in Mexico.
08:30He won here six times during his glittering WRC career.
08:36Alatea lost a bit of time opening the piece, trying to squeeze that T1 Plus of Toyota Hilux
08:41between the Cactus.
08:42He and co-driver Machu Pomell were still satisfied enough with their performance and their gap to
08:47develop overall.
08:48It's just a measly three seconds.
08:56Gaelin Shichery was forced to do the last 45k of the stage without front-wheel drive, but
09:01he still came fifth behind the Brazilian Baumgart brothers who are also in pro-drive hunters.
09:06The Frenchman third overall.
09:08Rokas Pachuska took a comfortable win in T4 but it was a hard-fought day over in the
09:12T3s with just over three minutes separating the top five.
09:16Top of the par was the three-time Dakar winner Chaleco Lopez who is now up to second overall
09:21behind Ekstrom.
09:24We are ready for tomorrow, we are going to try to push a little bit and try to get the
09:32need of the overall but at least we are going to try.
09:41Stage three and disaster for the FAA World Championship leader Sebastian Loeb.
09:48Today's loop around Puerto Peñasco features the longest special of the rally at 350km and
09:54there is a real mix of terrain with sand, tarmac, stony tracks and dry riverbeds.
10:00It was another early start for the bikers with Sanders leading them into the stage at
10:046.30am sharp.
10:06It was followed by Shirena and Breivik who was sat with a 15 minute penalty for changing
10:10his engine overnight.
10:11The Honda factory riders not having the best time so far at this rally.
10:19Sanders on the other hand was having a ball.
10:22Opening has historically been one of the toughest aspects of rally ride in the bikes but the
10:26introduction of bonus seconds for the leading three riders this season has really changed
10:30the game.
10:31Chucky pocketed a whopping 6 minutes 54 of bonuses here to open up a sizeable gap overall.
10:38The Aussie moving one step closer to his first big overall victory in the sports.
10:48Topi Price lost 7 minutes 40 to his compatriot but he still did better than most jumping
10:52up to 4th place overall.
10:56Shirena continuing to outdo the Honda factory riders like Breivik who got a one minute speeding
11:01penalty and finished on the same time as Price.
11:03The Spaniard is still second overall 7 minutes behind Sanders.
11:09Yeah I'm really happy with my navigation another day in the dust.
11:14Super fast day and yeah I'm super happy to fight with the top riders for the overall
11:21and yeah focus on tomorrow in stage 4 and yeah only 2 to go.
11:26It turned out to be a pivotal day in the cars and Nasser Al-Atea was unquestionably the big winner.
11:34And that's because Sebastian Loeb's BRX Hunter ended up in a ditch at kilometer 12 meaning
11:39he couldn't finish the stage.
11:40Even worse it turned out that his co-driver Fabian Loecker had a minor shoulder fracture
11:45so they had to withdraw from the rally completely.
11:47They wouldn't score any points in the W2RC.
11:53And Al-Atea wasn't the only beneficiary of Loeb's troubles.
11:56Yazid Al-Raji stormed to the stage win going up to 2nd place overall.
12:05Al-Atea came third on the day and he now leads the rally by almost 3 minutes from Al-Raji.
12:10More importantly he's in an excellent position to open up a big lead in a championship.
12:19There was also a fine performance from Sebastian Halpern who was 2nd in his mini
12:23but the day belonged to Al-Raji.
12:28Today is a really, really stage. We enjoy a lot and it's not easy to open sometimes.
12:34And the team will do a great job like always and everything is going well with us.
12:38Yesterday we are lucky but today we come back and we push again.
12:42I hope I continue like that until the finish of the rally.
12:47It was another good day for the non-Red Bull drivers in T3 as Ekström took his 2nd stage victory
12:52by almost 4 minutes from Ferreira.
12:55The Swede now leads Cristina Gutierrez by almost 10 minutes overall
12:58with Puchuska nearly half an hour clear in the T4s.
13:01Chaleco Lopez ground to a halt early due to a mechanical and dropped that to 7th place overall.
13:09After a long day out in the wilderness, there's nothing like returning to HQ for a few home comforts.
13:16It was a very good stage in general and the start was a little bit strange to see Sebastian having
13:45an accident.
13:46But after we had a good night stage and it was really a good mixture of a bit of everything.
13:51So we had some units, a bit of sandy tracks and some stones and fast and slow technical.
13:57So I think it was a really cool stage, very similar to something we see during the Dakar.
14:08To stage 4, another loop around Puerto Penasco.
14:11The competitors will head east passing close to the American border
14:14before making their way back to the fishing port.
14:17But today is going to be less about the sea and more about the sand.
14:21There's more than one way to surf in this part of the world.
14:38It's a slightly shorter day with around 250 kilometres against the clock.
14:42The riders will have to make sure they stick to the tracks because there are plenty of hidden dangers in
14:47the off-road vegetation.
14:51A chance to also see these beautiful white dunes which could catch a few people out.
14:55A chance to see this at the start of the night.
15:01Los Branch has been having fun here but hasn't quite found the speed to match the top guys.
15:06He must've won a seventh overall.
15:09Romain Dumontiers sits 12th, but he's dominating in Rally 2.
15:13And Branch's hero team mate Sébastien Vula sits just inside the top ten overall, after four stages.
15:20Price picked up the stage win today, even if the gaps were minimal.
15:23With bonus seconds, he only made up a minute and 40 seconds on Sanders, while he did close
15:28the gap on Luciano Benavides in the fight for the final podium spot.
15:33Yeah, it was another fast wide open day, so as you see the tracks behind us, it's pretty
15:38much what it is all day, so it's really difficult to try and make time on guys, but we're still
15:45in a good position.
15:46Yeah, it's been a fun rally so far, and yeah, enjoying it, so one more day to go.
15:51Yeah, all in all, I enjoyed the day, it was really some fast pace with some bumps, so I
15:57enjoy the day, and yeah, looking forward for tomorrow, looks like the positions in the front
16:02are really tight, so I will do my best tomorrow and see what we can do at the end.
16:08Sanders still looking supreme as he opened for the third day in a row, bagging over five
16:13minutes of bonuses, it's hard to see anybody stopping him from taking overall victory.
16:22Adrian van Beveren won't be doubling up after Abu Dhabi, but he still had some fun in the sand,
16:26and he wasn't the only one.
16:43Nasser Al-Ateer cruising his way towards another overall victory.
16:46The Qatari claimed a stage four win by four and a half minutes from Al-Rajji, opening up a lead
16:51of more
16:51than seven minutes overall. Barring any final day accidents, he's heading back to the top of the
16:56world championship standings.
17:02Yeah, it was difficult, similar yesterday, and it's a lot of navigation, but okay, we did a good job,
17:09we started peeping today, and we catch everybody, and yeah, I'm really quite happy, you know, to make
17:15a good stage, and except one puncher we have front, you know, and it's okay.
17:23It was another tough day in the pro-drive paddock, as Guerlain Shicharri suffered electrical failure.
17:28The Frenchman had been leading the stage after reverting to his settings from last year's rally
17:32to Maroc, which he won. Al-Rajji couldn't keep pace with Al-Ateer, but the Saudi was still the best
17:38of the rest, and after his historic victory in Abu Dhabi, he's on course to come second in Mexico,
17:43sitting over five minutes clear of Sebastian Halpern.
17:49Another solid effort from the Argentine to come third on the day.
17:55This time in the T3s, it was all about the Red Bulls. They got all five of their
17:59boogies into the top five on the stage. Seth Quintero getting his best result so far in second,
18:05while stage winner Mitch Guthrie snatched the overall lead from Matthias Ekstrom.
18:11Yeah, the terrain was definitely a little bit more difficult today.
18:13The start was super rocky, so we probably went a little bit too slow in there just to make sure
18:17we didn't get any punctures, but it was definitely a different day than what we're used to.
18:21Honestly, I had a lot of fun. It was a really good time. I love Mexico. I love racing out
18:25here.
18:25I'm having an amazing time meeting everybody, so excited for tomorrow. Unfortunately,
18:29tomorrow's the last day, but excited to race it, and hopefully we'll be back soon.
18:33Yeah, we're really happy. I had a good day. Stage four was awesome. We've had a good rally so far,
18:38just haven't got a stage win yet, so it's good to have one of those under our belt.
18:41Calen did a great job. The car was great. Mechanics did awesome, and big battle tomorrow.
18:46One more stage to go. It's a short one, so it's going to be a sprint, and we're excited.
18:51Yeah, I think the results, the first couple of days we're getting our feet, but as people got
18:55into the rhythm and they got to see what Sonora looks like and experience the friendliest of the
19:01people and all the great food we've had here in Penasco, you know, at the end of the stage today,
19:05there was a lot of people going, man, this is great. I've never seen anything like this before,
19:08and racing to the cactus and on the beach, and they just loved it, so I think the overall
19:13impression has been very positive, and I think it's put the world's eyes on Sonora, which is,
19:18you know, kind of, you know, a nice thing for us, and I think kind of what one of our
19:21main goals was
19:22to show the state of Sonora and to show Mexico to the rest of the world.
19:32Four stages down, one to go. It's time for the final sprint shootout of the Sonora Rally 2023.
19:46Only 139k of special on the menu, heading from Puerto Penasco to San Luis, Rio, Colorado.
19:53Sanders rounded out his week on a high note with a third stage victory.
19:57After various injury problems in recent years,
20:00the 28-year-old finally has his first world championship victory,
20:03and a thoroughly deserved one at that.
20:14Toby Price held on to his world championship lead, finishing third among W2RC riders,
20:18but Luciano Benavides and Adrian Van Beveren are breathing down his neck, while Sanders climbs up to fit.
20:26Cool, really, really excited to finally get my first win in rally. It's been a long time,
20:32and a lot of bad luck, so finally, yeah, got to get to celebrate the first win, and yeah,
20:38it's really good for the Red Bull Gas Gas team, how we got a win, so yeah.
20:42Sanders winning ahead of Shirena and Luciano Benavides, as Romain Dumontier conquered the Rally 2 class with five consecutive wins.
20:54Paolo Lucci still leads him in the championship, but it's now only by three points.
21:03Nassimo Camuri dominated the first Rally 3 event of the season, while Laisvides Cancius extended his W2RC lead with victory
21:10in the quads.
21:28Sanders winning the ninth Sonora Rally by 8 minutes 12 from Shirena, with everybody else over 15 minutes back.
21:34Matthias Valkner rounding out the top five for Red Bull KTM.
21:37The W2RC is hutting up nicely with two rounds to go, only nine points now separating price, Luciano Benavides and
21:44Van Beveren up at the top.
21:48As expected, Nassar Alati have finished the job in the cars, winning by over six minutes from Yazid Al-Rajid.
21:55The Saudi finishing in style with the stage five honours.
22:04Yeah, really, it was an amazing weekend, you know, and we are so happy to win this race after a
22:10big crash in Abu Dhabi, and now we have a big lead for the championship and to defend our championship,
22:18you know, and yeah.
22:19Thanks for the people, thanks for the organization, thanks, you know, for all the support this race, you know, for
22:27us it's very important.
22:33Allatia and Al-Rajid leading in the X-Ride minis of Halpern and Denis Kratov, with Juan Cruz-Yacopini in
22:39fifth place.
22:41The W2RC leaderboard now looks very different indeed, Allatia leads by 30 points from Al-Rajid, with the unfortunate lobe
22:48now 35 points off the pace.
22:52David Zia took the final stage win in the T3s, as Guthrie secured the overall victory ahead of Ekstrom.
23:01Austin Jones now leads the championship by just a single point.
23:06Four of the five Red Bulls in the top five, with Seth Quintero paying the price for roofing off a
23:10wheel on stage one.
23:12An impressive showing from Ekstrom to finish as the runner-up.
23:16It's as tight as can be at the top, with only one point separating Jones and Quintero.
23:20Guthrie is still very much in the fight as well, before we head to Argentina over the summer.
23:25Finally, Rokas Pachuska was unbeatable in the T4s, taking all five stages to win by almost two hours.
23:35Only three other crews took part in Sonora, and they couldn't lay a finger on the Lithuanian.
23:40Rebecca Busi was the best of the rest, followed by Shinsuke Umeida and Eduardo Ponce.
23:46In the championship, Pachuska now has a huge lead over Erik Goksha, who has only done the Dakar this year.
23:51The 23-year-old is well on course to defend his title.
23:55And so we come to the end of the Sonora Rally, a time to celebrate and reflect on what has
24:00been a memorable week.
24:04It was a pleasure to be here, you know, Mexico first time for me and for Sonora Rally.
24:09The organization is good, you know, we have a good time.
24:13Yeah, thanks for them, and I also want to thank Red Bull Cannon Factory, because happy to be here,
24:18you know, they bring the bag, you know, in good pace, and just we need to use that.
24:22And yeah, we used it good. We finished in our Category 1, and we are now leading more points now,
24:28and yeah, we are now safe, and I hope we can win the World Championship.
24:33The W2RC hopefuls will now have a well-earned break before Round 4 in Argentina at the end of August.
24:39Thanks for joining us for the New Look Sonora Rally, and we'll see you again in 2024.
24:43The W2RC hopefuls will now have a well-earned break before.
24:44The W2RC hopefuls will now have a well-earned break.
24:55We'll see you again in 2024.
24:55You
Comments