Motor

Jose "Nacho" Cornejo Wins FIM World Championship Bike Class at Stage 4 of Rallye du Maroc

Published On: 10/10/2024

Monster Energy's Nacho Cornejo clocks the fastest time of the FIM WC Bike class racers while still supporting Monster Energy teammate & overall leader Ross Branch.

Pulling double duty as a racer for the Monster Energy-backed Hero Motosports team, coupled with support rider for the overall 2024 World Rally Raid Championship Bike division leader, Monster Energy’s Ross Branch (Hero), the affable Jose “Nacho” Cornejo found his moment to shine at Thursday’s Stage 4 of the Rallye Du Maroc, winning the FIM World Championship Bike class penultimate stage, while insuring Branch made it to the finish line, protecting Branch’s overall WRRC points lead.

With the Stage 4 victory in the 315 km Special (62 km Liaison) Mengoub to Mengoub loop, won by nearly five minutes over the second-fastest FIM World Championship Bike class racer, Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team’s Tosha Schareina, Cornejo was awarded the coveted 1st place Stage Medal at the post-race festivities at the Rallye Du Maroc’s Mengoub bivouac.

“Really good stage today. Felt good all day long,” said Cornejo of his first stage victory of the 2024 WRRC series tour. “Did OK with the navigation, but my tablet, in some areas, lost the signal. So I had to pull over, then follow some other riders to know where was the way. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again tomorrow, but happy with the job done today.

“We’re almost there with the race for Ross, so tomorrow, the last day, will be all about teamwork,” he added.

For Friday’s final Stage 5 of the Rally Du Maroc, and final stage of five round 2024 WRRC season, Branch needs only to finish the stage to win the overall championship. And you can bet Cornejo, the last active teammate of Branch’s (after Sebastian Buhler crashed out in Stage 2), will be right there with Branch the entire way over the 376 km (273 Special, 103 Liaison) loop from Mengoub to Mengoub.

Said Branch, who placed 3rd today in the FIM World Championship Bike class: “Today was good. A fun stage. A lot of the riding that I like and brought it home safely. Bit of tricky navigation and I made a bit of a mistake, but didn’t lose too much time. One more day to go.”

Leading the FIM World Championship Bike class at Rally Du Maroc is Schareina. The Spaniard has a near ten minute gap over 2nd place class racer and Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team teammate, Adrien Van Beveren.

“Today was another rough day at the office. We had difficult vision (dust) from the beginning to the end, and we tried to push the entire way,” said Schareina, who clocked a 3:44:35 – with no penalty time – on Stage 4. “On the last 70 km we did a bit of a mistake because the roadbook was wrong. We took another way and lost 30 minutes trying to find the right direction. This race doesn’t end until the last moment. Another stage tomorrow. And we know what we have to do and we will go for it.”

Added Van Beveren: “Today the terrain was tough with not so visible small tracks, lot of gravel and stoney, but good. The bike (Honda CRF 450 Rally) was very good, but I was a bit confused with the roadbook, so we recognized that and will make adjustments for tomorrow.”

Lastly, and most unfortunately, Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team’s Pablo Quintanilla suffered a gnarly, high speed get off early on in Stage 4. And, though he came through just a bit shredded (road rash, no broken bones), his Honda CRF 450 Rally took the brunt of it – and was unrideable, forcing the Chilean out of the competition.

“Well, unfortunately, the rally ends today for me,” explained Quintanilla. “I had a crash around kilometer 55. I had damaged my right elbow and the bike was pretty destroyed. I feel bad to end the race like this, but we know it’s part of racing and these things can happen. The good thing is that I have no broken bones, so I can keep my training program going for Dakar (Jan. 3-17, 2025), so that makes me feel more relief – thinking about the next weeks. I feel bad for all the hard work the team did for me for all the race, but it is what it is and from here I will focus on Dakar.”