Van Beveren and Quintanilla go 1-2 at Stage 3 in Rallye Du Maroc

Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team racers continued to fare well in the FIM World Championship Bike class at the Stage 3 of the Rally Du Maroc, the fifth and final round of the 2024 World Rally Raid Championship, as Adrien Van Beveren was awarded the 1st place World Championship stage medal following Wednesday’s round, with teammate Pablo Quintanilla claiming 2nd place.

Wednesday’s 676 kilometer stage – the longest of this week’s Rally Du Maroc – looked to be in hand for the overall FIM World Championship Bike class overall event leader, Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team’s Tosha Schareina. However, a major decision by race officials at one of the neutralization area between Zagora and Mengoub Bouarfa would cost Schareina a sizable portion of time – 13 additional penalty minutes to be exact – due to a malfunctioning navigational tablet (which is not OEM on the Honda CRF 450 Rally).

Without getting into too much detail, Honda and Schareina accepted the penalty and pressed on regardless, with Schareina still holding onto the overall FIM World Championship Bike class lead by 2:55 over teammate Van Beveren with two stages remaining in the race.

Said Van Beveren, winner of the Stage 3 FIM World Championship Bike class 1st place medal: 

“Today I had a good stage, I was in Tosha’s dust for a while, then Daniel Sanders caught me so I spent half of the stage in a lot of dust. It was a bit frustrating to not be able to push in my own rhythm but I then focused, accepted the situation and kept more or less the same distance to Daniel. The last part was really stony but I enjoyed the ride, the bike is really safe and this is an important factor in this race because there is a lot of dangers and risk. I felt comfortable, I had good rhythm without the need to go faster than normal, so now I will remain focused for the next couple of days.”

And overall, on the yearlong WRRC series tour, Monster Energy’s Ross Branch (Hero Motosports) continues to stand atop the overall series championship points, placing a conservative 8th place on Wednesday.

Quintanilla wrapped up the Stage 3 day in the Moroccan desert, saying: 

“The first part of the stage (3) was really fun to ride. Some fast piste with some valleys and mixed terrain between hard pack and sandy sections. Then we had the classic Merzouga dunes, all the way to the refueling. Then, after that, we started in the rocky section, with hard pack piste. And I was feeling good. It was a good day for me. Pushing and feeling quite good, then in the rocky sections it became a bit dangerous, and I didn’t want to take any risk. But yeah, every day I’m feeling better on the bike and we’re finding the good setup. So I’m really happy.”

Thursday’s Stage 4… Will feature a 315 km Special and short 62 km Liaison, looping from Mengoub to Mengoub. 

Rallye Du Maroc Stage 3 FIM World Championship Bike class results

1st – Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda) 3:31:24  
2nd – Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda) + 4:28  
3rd – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda)  + 8:10  
5th – Ross Branch (Monster Energy/Hero) + 13:14

Rallye Du Maroc Overall FIM World Championship Bike class standings

1st – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda) 9:38:34  
2nd – Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda) + 3:05  
3rd – Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda)  + 4:55  
4th – Ross Branch (Monster Energy/Hero) + 17:10

2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (through 4 of 5 rounds) Overall Standings

1st – Ross Branch (Monster Energy/Hero Motosports), 72 points  
2nd – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 63 points  
3rd - Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 56 points  
4th – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 45 points  
5th – Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 37 points  
6th – Sebastian Buhler (Monster Energy/Hero Motosports), 29 points  
7th – Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Monster Energy/Hero Motosports), 28 points  
8th – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 26 points  
9th – Aaron Mare (Monster Energy/Hero Motosports), 25 points