put in 100 percent right to the finish . I ’ ll take a little time now to get some rest but then we ’ re soon looking ahead to the Dakar in January . For sure , it ’ s going to be another tough one , but I ’ m feeling good , the bike is great , and I ’ ll do my best as always .” Taking the overall championship victory by a meagre four points was Argentinan Husqvarna rider Luciano Benavides . The FR 450 Rally mounted rider secured the title with a hard-fought runner-up result at the Rallye du Maroc , completing what has been an exceptional season for the Argentinian . Opening the fifth and final stage of the rally today , Benavides delivered another impressive performance , completing the short , 157-kilometre timed special as second fastest . The stage result confirmed Benevides as runnerup for the event and in turn , the 28-year-old secured the world championship crown . “ It ’ s a dream come true for me ! It ’ s been a long journey to get to this point from finishing my first rally here in Morocco in 2017 ”, Benevides said . “ To finish like this against Toby on the last day of the rally while opening the stage is incredible , I can ’ t thank the team enough for all the hard work and their belief in me ! Today was crazy ! The navigation for this stage was tricky , I did get lost at some points , but I managed to get back on track quickly and make up time . I loved opening the stage on the dunes and I knew that I had to get ahead as the others would be catching me up . Finally , I ’ ve got my first World Championship ! “ Waiting for confirmation of the championship when I finished was tense , 40 minutes felt like four hours , but I knew I gave my best today as there was no other option . It was really special to start first because I could just look forward and get on with it , and no one caught me so I finished first too . I want to celebrate and enjoy this feeling for a while because although it is amazing , it ’ s been a tough season and I have trained hard so I want to rest for a week or two ! After that it ’ s full gas again because I want to keep the same rhythm and pace for Dakar as it ’ s another dream for me to win .” In the manufacturers ’ championship , it was Honda who secured the championship title with a strong showing from its deep bench at Rallye du Maroc . “ The Rallye du Maroc is over with a last stage doing two rounds in the dunes of Merzouga ”, summarised Monster Energy Honda Team ’ s manager , Ruben Faria . “ This was another fast stage and the average of over 100km / hour is symptomatic , considering that part of the road book was composed of dunes , meaning that the riders are doing great in terms of speed and navigation . Pablo Quintanilla was today at his best level , winning the stage and getting a third place in the overall standings . Adrien was better , it ’ s a pity he lost some time in the end of the stage because he was fighting for a podium position today . Nacho was the second to start but he crashed in the beginning of the stage and could not finish like he did in the previous days . Here in Morocco we got another manufacturer ’ s title of W2RC for Honda and we are very proud of that . This is the work of all the team .”
2023 Rallye du Maroc – Provisional Overall Classification [ After Stage 5 ] 1 . Toby Price ( KTM ) 15:56:43 2 . Luciano Benavides ( Husqvarna ) 15:59:43 3 . Pablo Quintanilla ( Honda ) 15:59:55 4 . Ross Branch ( Hero ) 16:01:27 5 . Tosha Schareina ( Honda ) 16:05:23 6 . Jose Ignacio Cornejo ( Honda ) 16:09:42
2023 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship Standings 1 . Luciano Benavides ( Husqvarna ) 100 pts 2 . Toby Price ( KTM ) 96 pts 3 . Adrien Van Beveren ( Honda ) 76 pts 4 . Ross Branch ( Hero ) 58 pts 5 . Pablo Quintanilla ( Honda ) 55 pts 6 . Jose Ignacio Cornejo ( Honda ) 52 pts
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