2023 Sonora Rally: Toby Price leads full factory line-up heading to Mexico
Round three of the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship, the Sonora Rally, heads to Mexico this week with a full-factory list of riders from KTM, Husqvarna, GASGAS, Hero and Honda back in action as the series heads to North America for the first time.
The Sonora Rally is making its first appearance on the world championship calendar this week, beginning April 22 to 28 inclusive as the W2RC hits its middle round of five.
Toby Price leads the points standings after taking runner-up spot in both the Dakar and Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. He’ll be joined this week by four riders on the comeback trail after a string of injuries beset leading contenders in both those previous rounds.
The FIM start list (see below) features 14 RallyGP riders, including all 13 factory riders in the 2023 championship. That means Kevin Benavides and Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) return as well as Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders on the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing 450s.
Price holds the points lead ahead of Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge winner, Adrien Van Beveren on the Monster Energy Honda), four points apart – 46 points to 42 respectively. Dakar champion Kevin Benavides is third with 38 despite missing round two due to breaking his femur in late February.
Local knowledge is going to count
The Sonora Rally is nothing new to some of the entry but particularly the North American contingent of Ricky Brabec, Skyler Howes and Mason Klein plus previous podium finisher Jose Cornejo.
Brabec and Howes have taken victories in Sonora and all have plenty of experience in this desert particularly three-time winner Brabec who basically compares it to his back yard. For our money, these guys start as favourites.
“I am stoked that the championship is coming close to home for me.” Says Ricky. “It’s comfortable for me to head down to Mexico and race especially since I have done so well there. It’s not gonna be easy, we have all teams joining in on this but hopefully we can give our best job and come out on top.
“Sonora Rally is full of the unknown and typically it’s a fun event to attend, with great trails, dunes, food and people. Happy to head this way here in one week and hope to have a good result before our summer break.”
Rally 2 class
The Rally2 category has seven riders on the line. Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing), perched at the top of the standings with 50 points, but will have Dakar class winner Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna HT Rally Raid) back for company this week. Bradley Cox is also back with BAS World KTM Racing after crashing out of the Dakar.
The Chinese team Kove is fielding two riders in the W2RC for the first time after its rally-raid debut in the Dakar: Niels Theric and Sunier Sunier. Sonora Rally will also launch the Rally3 class with three riders entered.
Full moto class entry list:
Sonora Rally Schedule:
April 22: administrative and technical scrutineering in Parque La Ruina plus private test on the Cerro Colorado race track and the first competitor briefing.
April 23: Prologue from Hermosillo to Hermosillo kicking off with the start ceremony in Parque La Ruina then the 10km prologue to decide starting positions for stage 1
April 24: Stage 1 Hermosillo–Hermosillo (total length / special: 333 km / 168 km).
April 25: Stage 2 Hermosillo–Peñasco (total length / special: 541 km / 286 km).
April 26: Stage 3 Peñasco–Peñasco (total length / special: 466 km / 350 km).
April 27: Stage Peñasco–Peñasco (total length / special: 485 km / 248 km).
April 28: Stage 5: Peñasco–San Luis Río Colorado (total length / special: 398 km / 139 km).
A route that ventures into every nook and cranny of Sonora
Race organiser Darren Skilton and his have plenty of experience and have worked hard on their first FIM/FIA World Championship event.
The route stretches for nearly 2300km, with 1200 km of selective sections with the ranchlands surrounding the capital of Sonora being wide, flat and fast between the low sharp mountains.
Riders will wind through cacti so old, and so massive, they will seem as giants. They cast some of the only shadows in Sonora save for the mountainous piles of stone or sand.
Stage 2 will see them head westward to the Gulf of Cortez and follow its coast northward until Puerto Peñasco. Although it doesn’t appear at first glance, the loose khaki coloured earth makes up much of the land which leads to the Sea of Cortez. In the heat of Mexico’s unrelenting sun, the beaches are soft and it’ll be tough for racers despite the scenary.
The race sets up camp in Puerto Peñasco for three nights in a beach bivouac. Stages 3 and 4 will loop around the fishing port and its famous beaches with stage 3 special the longest of the week at almost 350 km. These stages will also venture south-east to explore the full width of this part of the state.
Stage 5 retracks the northwest course of stage 2 and to end in San Luis Río Colorado, the “home” of the Sonora Rally, on the border with the US state of Arizona. The path to the border being pretty featureless in places.
Photo Credit: Rally Zone + Monster Energy Honda | Meht
