Sonora Rally – April 22nd-28th, 2023
2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, round 3
For immediate release
Saturday, April 29th, 2023
RED BULL OFF-ROAD TEAM’S JONES AND BACIUŠKA LEAD W2RC T3 AND T4 CHAMPIONSHIPS AFTER DEMANDING SONORA RALLY IN MÉXICO
• Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team’s Rokas Bakiuška wins every stage to dominate in T4
• Red Bull-backed Jones, Gutiérrez and Lopez finish third, fourth and fifth after T3 battle
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO (MÉXICO): Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA and the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team enjoyed a successful first appearance at México’s Sonora Rally and left the six-day event leading both the T3 and T4 categories in the 2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).
Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team racer Rokas Baciuška and his Spanish navigator Oriol Vidal dominated the T4 category and won every stage on their way to a comfortable victory that leaves both crew members 103 points clear of their nearest rivals in the Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championships with two races remaining.
Baciuška said: “Our aim is always P1, so to get it done feels great. It’s been a pleasure to be here. The team has been working hard all week and given me a great car to drive every single day.”
When Cristina Gutiérrez and Juan Pablo Moreno Huete suffered a belt breakage on their Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team on the final stage, Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA’s Austin Jones and Gustavo Gugelmin benefitted to move up a place to third overall behind category winner Mitch Guthrie and Swedish runner-up Mattias Ekström. That position change enabled the American and the Brazilian to take a one-point advantage over their team-mates, Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz, in the W2RC T3 Championship rankings.
Jones said: “It was a really good race and a fun time with a fight with the elements. We came back from P4 to actually get P3. I am really happy about that. I hope that we keep doing this race. It was a lot of fun.”
With Gutiérrez eventually finishing fourth overall to hold a similar position in the Drivers’ Championship, Chile’s Francisco ‘Chaleco’ Lopez and Juan Pablo Latrach recovered well from technical issues to finish fifth and maintain their title challenge. Lopez is equal fourth with Gutiérrez in the title standings.
Gutiérrez said: “We are here at the finish. We had some problems on the last stage and broke two belts about 30km before the finish. We are grateful for the team and congratulations for the winners.”
Quintero ripped a wheel off his Can-Am in the opening stage and incurred hefty time penalties as a result and finished down the rankings in 10th place. The American said: “The whole rally didn’t go the best for us but we are looking forward to getting to the next round. We lost this race about 5km into day one. I’ve been playing catch up to try and get some championship points.”
South Racing Can-Am’s managing director Scott Abraham said: “It was a good rally for the team. It was a hard fight between team-mates. We leave Sonora leading the World Championship in both T3 and T4. It was a great race for Cristina in T3 up until the last stage where she broke a belt just before the finish. A.J. (Austin Jones) had a difficult start but came through it towards the end.
“Unfortunately, the two mechanical issues for Seth and Chaleco cost them time but stage victories during the event showed the pace of the vehicles. Rokas delivered a dominant performance in T4 and takes a commanding lead in the championship.
“The team now looks forward to preparations for Baja 500 in June, before continuing the North American programme with Vegas to Reno in August and then on to Desafio Ruta 40 to continue the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship and hopefully wrap up the T4 Championship and continue to lead in T3.”
Action got underway with a 9.42km Prologue at the Autodromo Cerro Colorado, near Hermasillo. The fastest time in the FIA T3 category fell to Mitch Guthrie, who finished a tenth of a second in front of Portugal’s João Ferreira. Quintero and Lopez were fourth and fifth, while Jones and Gutiérrez were classified in seventh and eighth. Baciuška topped the T4 times.
Jones said: “I’ve done a lot of races in México before but never over here on the mainland in Hermasillo. I’ve talked a lot to my friends like Ricky Brabec, Andrew Short and Skyler Howes, who have been here on the bikes and they had really good things to say about the race. I’m only about five hours drive away from home!”
The opening selective section looped through the giant cacti and deserts around Hermasillo. Quintero ripped a wheel off his Can-Am and was forced to stop and make repairs and dropped around one hour and 40 minutes.
Gutiérrez was the quickest of the Red Bull drivers in second place, while Lopez and Jones were fifth and seventh on the narrow stage that featured a lot of cacti. Baciuška extended his lead over Eduardo Pons in T4 with the fastest time.
Stage two was scheduled to run north for 286.07km between Hermasillo and Puerto Peñasco – the fishing and resort city on the Gulf of California – but was shortened to 161.96km om safety grounds. It was a good day for former Dakar winner Lopez and the Chilean won the T3 stage to move into second place behind Ekström in the rankings. Gutiérrez and Jones climbed to fourth and fifth overall, while Baciuška continued to dominate in T4.
“It’s really dangerous out there,” admitted Jones. “Lots of big dangers on the sides of the road and very narrow the entire time with cactus and just everything wants to bite you.”
The third stage ran for 359.27km and was the longest of the event, looping through the deserts alongside the Sea of Cortez before returning to Puerto Peñasco. Lopez’s good run to second place suffered a major setback when the Chilean stopped with right wheel issues after 27km of the stage.
Ekström and Baciuška continued to dominate the T3 and T4 categories, with the Lithuanian winning for the fourth successive day to extend his lead over Pons to 29 minutes. Gutiérrez lost time in the dust of other competitors and found it difficult to overtake.
“This was the longest day of the rally, but it was also fun,” said Rokas. “A good mix of dunes and fast roads. At this rally I have found stages that are really fun to drive.”
The second loop to and from Puerto Peñasco ran for 248km and Guthrie claimed the laurels and moved ahead of Ekström by 69 seconds in the fight for the T3 win. Quintero, Gutiérrez, Lopez and Jones finished second, third, fourth and fifth on the day, with Gutiérrez retaining third in the overall standings. Baciuška was again the class of the T4 field and took a massive lead into the final day.
The final stage ran for 138.23km between Puerto Peñasco and San Luis Rio Colorado, one of the northernmost towns in México, close to the border with the USA. A clean sweep of stage wins gave Baciuška a comfortable win in T4, while Jones moved up to third in T3 at the expense of Gutiérrez when the Spaniard broke a belt on the run into San Luis Rio Colorado.
The Red Bull cars and the South Racing Can-Am Team received valuable support for the race programme from Method Wheels, Tensor Tires, Motul, Bell, Jjuan Brake Systems, Lazer and OMP.
Sonora Rally – FIA T3 standings:
1. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) MCE-5 T3M 11hr 17min 24sec
2. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 11hr 24min 02sec
3. Austin Jones (USA)/Gustavo Gugelmin (BRA) Red Bull Off-Road Junior Can-Am Maverick X3 11hr 28min 10sec
4. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Juan Pablo Moreno Huete (ESP) Red Bull Can-Am Factory Maverick X3 11hr 30min 02sec
5. Francisco Lopez (CHL)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL) Red Bull Can-Am Factory Maverick X3 11hr 58min 54sec
6. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 12hr 11min 42sec*
7. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Yamaha YXZ 1000 R Turbo Prototype 12hr 16min 18sec
8. David Zille (ARG)/Sebastien Cesana (ARG) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 12hr 59min 28sec
9. Annett Quandt (DEU)/Lisette Bakker (NOR) Yamaha YXZ 1000 R Turbo Prototype 13hr 00min 31sec
10. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (DEU) Red Bull Off-Road Junior Can-Am Maverick X3 13hr 07min 02sec
11. Claude Fournier (FRA)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Can-Am Maverick X3 13hr 26min 24sec
* denotes not registered for the W2RC
Rally leaders
Prologue Mitch Guthrie (MCE-5 T3M)
SS1-SS3 Mattias Ekström (Can-Am)
SS4-SS5 Mitch Guthrie (MCE-5 T3M)
Stage winners
Prologue Mitch Guthrie (MCE-5 T3M)
SS1 Mattias Ekström (Can-Am)
SS2 Francisco Lopez (Can-Am)
SS3 Mattias Ekström (Can-Am)
SS4 Mitch Guthrie (MCE-5 T3M)
SS5 David Zille (Can-Am)
Sonora Rally – FIA T4 standings:
1. Rokas Baciuška (LTU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) Red Bull Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 11hr 51min 05sec
2. Rebecca Busi (ITA)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 13hr 50min 16sec
3. Shinsuke Umeda (JPN)/Facundo Jaton (ARG) Polaris RZR Pro R 15hr 38min 43sec
4. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Monica Plaza (ESP) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 30hr 38min 14sec*
* denotes not registered for the W2RC
Rally leaders
Prologue-SS5 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
Stage winners
Prologue-SS3 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS1 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS2 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS3 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS4 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS5 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
Ends
For further information: contact Scott Abraham, South Racing, Email: Scott.Abraham@southracing.com, Tel: + 49 172 6662880.
www.southracing.com
Facebook group: South Racing Can-Am
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