Monster Energy Honda’s Ricky Brabec scored his first career FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship stage win during Stage 3 of the OiLibya Morocco Rally on Sunday, following a difficult Stage 2 on Saturday that was forced to be negated by race officals due to the difficulty in negotiating the flooded rivers that crossed the Stage 2 route; the stage was officially carried by Yamaha Factory Racing’s Adrien Van Beveren.
Brabec, who had been the fastest of the factory Honda riders when Stage 2 of the Morocco Rally was halted at Checkpoint 1, was fastest again in the first leg of the two-day marathon stage on Sunday. The route, which led riders through the Erfoud and the Lihoudi Erg regions was clearly to his liking as he set a fast time in the timed special, which was reduced to 142.79 kilometers again because of the dangerous flood waters in the rivers. Brabec posted a time of 1 hour, 30 minutes and 15 seconds that not only gave him his second career rally stage win (the first came in the 2017 Dakar Rally). KTM Factory Racing’s Matthias Walkner finished second, just 10 seconds behind Brabec. Brabec’s stage win also vau;ted him to third overall in the Morocco Rally provisional overall standings.
“I had a tough time over the previous days with a bad cold that meant that I didn’t feel at all comfortable over the first day, but I think that the heat has done me some good.” Brabec said. “I’m really happy to have won this first stage in the world championship, and for the two final stages we will see if we can help the team get a result. The navigation today was pretty difficult in some spots. It was a really fast track today, so it was fairly easy to look down and take your time. Some parts were really confusing with all the tracks going in every direction, which was tough. The bike feels good. The rougher terrain for me is better. I was raised in California, and our deserts are pretty rough, so I’m used to that and it’s one of my strong points. We’ll see what tomorrow has to bring. I can open the track well and get a top five in the stage. The speed is there for us; it just comes down to navigation at that speed, which is tough. We’ll get there eventually. I’m still learning how to go fast and read the roadbook at the same time. We’re working on it.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Pablo Quntanilla finished third just 42 seconds behind Brabec, but the Chilean received a 20-minute penalty for missing a waypoint in the confusing Stage 2, which dropped him to 11th overall.
2017 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship
2017 OiLibya Morocco Rally
Morocco
Results: October 8, 2017 (Stage 3 of 5)
Stage 3
1. Ricky Brabec (USA) Monster Energy Honda Team Honda/01:30:15
2. Matthias Walkner (AUT) KTM Factory Racing Team/00:00:10
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Husqvarna Factory Rally Team Husqvarna/+00:00:42
4. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA) Yamaha Motor Europe/00:02:40
5. Kevin Benavides (ARG) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:02:57
6. Joan Pedrero (ESP) Sherco TVS Rally Factory/+00:04:00
7. Antoine Meo (FRA) KTM Factory Racing Team/+00:06:24
8. Laia Sanz (ESP) KTM Factory Racing Team/+00:07:38
9. Joaquim Rodrigues (POR) Hero Motorsports Team Rally/00:07:38
10. Alessandro Botturi (ITA) Yamalube Official Rally Factory Team/00:09:17
2017 OiLibya Morocco Rally Provisional Overall Standings (after 3 of 5 stages)
1. Matthias Walkner (AUT) KTM Factory Racing Team/06:12:21
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:09:44
3. Ricky Brabec (USA) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:10:57
4. Joan Pedrero (ESP) Sherco TVS Rally Factory/+00:15:17
5. Antoine Meo (FRA) KTM Factory Racing Team/+00:16:58
6. Joaquim Rodrigues (POR) Hero Motorsports Team Rally/+00:26:45
7. Laia Sanz (ESP) KTM Factory Racing Team/+00:28:05
8. Adrien Metge (FRA) Sherco TVS Rally Factory/+00:30:48
9. Mario Patrao (POR) Jetmar KTM Portugal/+00:31:01
10. Paulo Goncalves (POR) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:32:14
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