Honda Dominates 2023 Rally-Raid World Championship: Victories in Dakar Rally and Manufacturers’ Championship

2023-10-19 09:55:52

The Dakar Rally was won by Red Bull KTM driver Kevin Benavides, and his brother Luciano Benavides won the overall victory in the Rally Raid World Championship on a Husqvarna. As far as the most publicized decisions go, Honda came away empty-handed this year.

However, the Japanese have worked in all events of the world championship to win the constructors’ championship of the 2023 Rally-Raid World Championship. The Honda Racing Corporation achieved this by always sending the entire team to the start – at the Rallye du Maroc there were five factory drivers! A clear advantage, because the two best pilots from a manufacturer are included in this rating. Failures can be compensated for in this way.

At the finale in Morocco, Pablo Quintanilla (3rd) and Nacho Cornejo (5th) contributed a total of 27 points to the manufacturers’ championship, while Husqvarna and KTM only crossed the finish line with one driver each and therefore ‘only’ collected 25 and 20 points. “Here in Morocco we have won another W2RC manufacturer’s title for Honda and we are very proud of that,” said HRC team manager Ruben Faria. «This is the work of the entire team. As a team we showed great quality and cooperation.”

And of course the motorcycle, the CRF450 Rally, also plays its part. In Morocco, HRC used a new motorcycle for the first time, with which it aims to win the Dakar in January. Honda kept a low profile regarding what improvements were incorporated into the motorcycle. However, Ricky Brabec suffered a technical failure. KTM ace Matthias Walkner described this motorcycle as “very innovative”.

Final standings Rally Raid World Championship 2023, manufacturers’ classification

1 Honda, 155 points
2 KTM, 147
3 Husqvarna, 134
4 Hero, 86
5 GASGAS, 39

Status Rally Raid World Championship 2023 following 5 of 5 events Pos Driver Team Points 1 Luciano Benavides (ARG) Husqvarna Factory Racing 100 2 Toby Price (AUS) Red Bull KTM 96 3 Adrien Van Beveren (FRA) Monster Energy Honda 76 4 Ross Evan Branch (BWA) Hero Motorsports 58 5 Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Monster Energy Honda 55 6 José Ignacio Cornejo (CHI) Monster Energy Honda 52 7 Daniel Sanders (AUS) Red Bull GASGAS 39 8 Ricky Brabec (USA) Monster Energy Honda 38 10 Skyler Howes (USA) Husqvarna Factory Racing 34 11 Sebastian Bühler (POR) Hero Motorsports 25 12 Matthias Walkner (AUT) Red Bull KTM 13 13 Kevin Benavides (ARG) Red Bull KTM 43 14 Franco Caimi (ARG) Hero Motorsports 11 15 Mason Klein ( USA) BAS KTM 4 16 Sam Sunderland (GB) Red Bull GASGAS 0 Rallye du Maroc 2023, overall standings following stage 5 of 5 Pos Driver (Nation) Team Time (hh:mm:ss) 1 T. Price (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 15:56:43 2 L. Benavides (ARG) Husqvarna Factory Racing 03:00:00 3 P. Quintanilla (CHL) Monster Energy Honda 03:12:00 4 R. Branch (BWA) Hero Motosports Rally 04:44 :00 5 T. Schareina (ESP) Honda 08:40:00 6 I. Cornejo (CHL) Monster Energy Honda 12:59:00 7 A. Van Beveren (FRA) Monster Energy Honda 35:52:00 8 B. Cox (ZAF) Bas World KTM Racing 01:09:54 9 S. Bühler (DEU) Hero Motosports Rally 01:12:16 10 R. Dumontier (FRA) Dumontier Racing 01:23:22 11 L. Santolino (ESP) Sherco Tvs Rally Factory 01:26:28 12 P. Lucci (ITA) Bas World KTM Racing 01:31:03 13 J. Lepan (FRA) Duust Diverse Racing 01:34:31 14 R. Gonçalves (PRT) Sherco Tvs Rally Factory 01 :38:35 15 H. Koitha Veettil (IND) Sherco Tvs Rally Factory 02:18:28
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