Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters - Hero MotoCorp , crossed the finish line of the first stage at Rally Du Maroc 2024 recording an impressive performance. Ross Branch became the fastest rider of the Stage, and with his victory, the Indian manufacturer has taken the lead position at the race.

Rallye Du Maroc is the 5th and final race of the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) 2024. Hero team pilot Ross Branch has maintained his #1 spot on the rankings table since the 2nd race of this season. An impressive start now at the Maroc Rally further solidifies his fighting chance to claim the World Championship title.

Ross Branch: "I’m happy to have finished Stage 1 with a good result. It was a really tough one—definitely one of the most challenging Stages I’ve ever ridden at Rallye Du Maroc! The tracks were really beaten up and washed away from yesterday’s rains, but I managed to pull through. Nacho did an amazing job opening the track, I can only imagine how much more difficult it would have been for him. Opening the Stage tomorrow will be a mammoth task, but we’re pushing forward with confidence."

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders has completed the revised stage one of the 2024 Rallye du Maroc as runner-up. Making his competitive return to the team in Morocco, Sanders covered the 180 kilometers of timed special stage a mere 48 seconds behind the stage winner. Luciano Benavides, also making his return to Red Bull KTM, finished in a strong fourth place on the short but demanding stage.

With flooding affecting the area between Marrakech and Zagora following Sunday’s prologue, organizers of the 2024 Rallye du Maroc decided to bring Tuesday’s route forward to today, Monday, in order to ensure the safe passage of all competitors. As such, riders enjoyed a later start today, entering the 180-kilometer special at just after 10am to take on what still proved to be a significant test of navigation skill for all.

Sanders got his Rallye du Maroc off to a strong start, placing third-quickest on the event’s short qualifying prologue. Maintaining his momentum, he was fast straight out of the gate today on his KTM 450 RALLY, clocking in second at the first checkpoint of stage one at kilometer 42. The Australian then increased his pace to take the lead on time for the next 100 kilometers, navigating without error through the washed-out riverbeds and rocky tracks of the special.

As the terrain of the stage changed to dunes in the second half of the special, Sanders came into his own, making excellent time across the sand. A small error cost ‘Chucky’ dearly however, losing him close to two minutes to his rivals. Regrouping and pushing hard for the finish, Daniel was able to cross the line in second for the day.

Daniel Sanders: “Day one at Morocco is done! It was good to get the prologue out of the way yesterday – that helped us settle back in to racing and gave me a good start position for today. Stage one started with a load of riverbeds and stony terrain, so it was a really good test of the bike and the improvements we’ve made over the last few months. I made a couple of mistakes early on, but then quite a big one at around kilometer 140, which cost me a couple of minutes, unfortunately. It’s frustrating as it spoiled all the hard work I had put in leading up to that point, really. Other than that, I felt good, and the speed is definitely there – we’ll see how we get on tomorrow.”

Benavides was the seventh rider to enter today’s timed special, following his result from Sunday’s opening prologue. After taking time to settle into a good rhythm, it wasn’t long before the 29-year-old began to up his speed and push hard to make up ground on his rivals ahead. A small mistake in the first 40 kilometers cost the Argentine a little time, but the reigning World Rally-Raid Champion got his head down and soon began to eat into their advantage.

At the midway point of the special, Luciano placed fifth on the time sheets and, after navigating well through the dunes encountered in the latter half of the stage, was able to move up another place to ultimately claim fourth at the finish.

Luciano Benavides: “I’m super happy with how stage one has gone here in Morocco. Although it’s not the best result, it’s been a good stage in terms of finding my rhythm after coming back to racing after my injury. At the beginning of the stage, I didn’t feel too comfortable, especially in the super-tricky riverbeds – they were really stony, and I didn’t want to risk too much so early in the rally. I made a small navigation mistake there too, but after that, I was able to settle into a good pace and make up some good time. I felt really good in the dunes and was able to push more and more as the stage went on. I know it’s just the beginning, but so far, I feel really confident and I’m looking forward to the rest of the race.”

Tuesday’s stage two is set to challenge riders with a loop of 472 kilometers, starting and finishing in Zagora, 314 kilometers of which will be timed special stage.

The Rallye Du Maroc for 2024 headed out into the hardest terrain today for the opening stage proper, the result of which has been Honda’s Tosha Schareina taking third place and an ideal position for more taxing kilometres across the tracks and dunes.

In what could be seen as a decisive day for both World Championship chasers so early on in the rally, Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren didn’t have a perfect day.Heading into this round placed second in the championship, Brabec had an issue in the dunes leaving him to ride the remaining kilometres in considerable knee pain, eventually coming home in 11th over 19 minutes back.With potential damage to his knee ligaments, the American finished the stage and immediately went to hospital. This has left Brabec little choice but to withdraw from the rally in order to focus on being 100% fit to defend his Dakar crown in January.

Pablo Quintanilla finished proceedings 7’18” off the lead but struggled to find his pace through the technical sections. The Chilean was happy to be fifth though in what he felt was a long stage under the heat of the Moroccon sun.

Adrien Van Beveren started the stage fifth, a position that was going to cause him some issues as he caught the riders ahead then suffering navigation problems to contend with, this nudged him to seventh and just over 10 minutes to the leader.

Pablo Quintanilla: I finished the first stage, but it was a rough one as it felt really long. It was not too long on the paper but the riding was very hard indeed. The beginning was super rocky with many dangerous notes but also the navigation was tricky and because of the rain it was hard to find the piste. Honestly, I didn’t feel so good today and I couldn’t ride to my best pace during the stage so I was struggling a little bit to try and figure out the technical sections. The good thing is I am here and now we have four long days coming up to look forward to.

Ricky Brabec: It’s a little bit of a bummer, but you know it’s racing and it’s part of it. I caught Pablo early on and we were riding really well together but then soon as we got to the dunes, I jumped a dune but when I landed I bottomed the frame out on the moguls that was on the other side. That meant the first thing that hit the ground was my right leg which absorbed all the energy in the landing. For the remainder of stage I then had to take it easy. It’s a bummer I’m out as I’ve let the team down as I felt that this was the rally for me to shine, but Dakar is more important.

Adrien Van Beveren: It was a tough day, I started in fifth and caught the guys up in front quite quickly. I tried my best across the terrain that was really rough but the navigation was quite confusing and it was very difficult to find the right piste. It was the first day that we’ve used the new tablet in race conditions and it meant I wasn’t quite so confident finding my rhythm so I didn’t have all my speed but I’m focused as always as tomorrow is another day.

Tosha Schareina: Today was another hard day at the office, the first 30km was super gnarly so I tried to ride smoothly and with confidence as it was really easy to crash and damage the bike. I tried to push in the dunes and taking the third place today has put us in a really good position for tomorrow.

Provisional Results – 2024 Rallye du Maroc, Stage 1

1. Ross Branch (BWA), Hero, 2:16:57

2. Daniel Sanders (AUS), KTM, 2:17:45 +0:48

3. Tosha Schareina (ESP), Honda, 2:18:45 +1:48

4. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 2:23:12 +6:15

5. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL), Honda, 2:24:15 +7:18

Provisional Standings – 2024 Rallye du Maroc (after 1 of 5 stages)

1. Ross Branch (BWA), Hero, 2:34:09

2. Daniel Sanders (AUS), KTM, 2:34:57 +0:48

3. Tosha Schareina (ESP), Honda, 2:35:39 +1:30

4. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 2:40:54 +6:45

5. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL), Honda, 2:41:40 +7:31