Martim Ventura made it three in a row at the Rallye du Maroc as he claimed another impressive Rally 2 stage victory.
It was an early start in Zagora for the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders as they prepared for another long and demanding day in Morocco. Following an opening 171 km road section, 360 km of timed action awaited, with broken terrain, riverbeds, towering dunes and stone-laden tracks combining with tricky navigation to provide another stern test.
Monster Energy Honda HRC Rally 2 rider Martim Ventura was once again in blistering form. The Portuguese rider has been mixing it with the Rally GP contenders all week and today was no different. Relishing the fast tracks early on, Ventura had matched Rally GP rider Luciano Benavides for the fastest time by the 106 km mark. Settling into his rhythm, Ventura was firmly in contention for the outright stage victory – no mean feat for a Rally 2 rider. He briefly lost the lead to Benavides as they emerged from the Merzouga dunes, but responded by upping the pace and opening a 55-second advantage.
However, with around 100 km remaining, a navigation error cost Ventura approximately four and a half minutes and ended his hopes of taking the outright stage win. Nevertheless, another commanding performance saw him secure his third consecutive Rally 2 stage victory.
Preston Campbell has been enjoying his time in Morocco this week and in only his second participation at the rally, the young American has relished every kilometre. He delivered another consistent performance today to finish second behind Ventura, 7’20” adrift of his team-mate. Still occupying third place overall in Rally 2, Campbell was pleased with his riding aboard his Honda and will look to keep the pressure on as the rally heads into its final two days.
Making his Rallye du Maroc debut, Bruno Crivilin made an immediate impact with victory in the prologue at the start of the week and has continued to build his experience as the rally has progressed. Today proved particularly punishing for the Brazilian, with the dunes taking their toll and the complex navigation adding to the challenge. Crivilin eventually finished the stage in 12th position, just over 26 minutes off the pace. With valuable rally-raid experience continuing to accumulate, he will look to make the most of every kilometre over the final two days.
As the Rallye du Maroc begins to near its conclusion around Zagora, the challenges will keep coming on stage four. A total of 453 km awaits the riders as they tackle the penultimate day of competition.
Ruben Faria
General Manager
Martim did a great job again today winning the Rally 2 category. At some of the waypoints he was actually leading the stage overall and showing really good pace. Unfortunately, like several other riders, he made a navigation mistake and lost around four and a half minutes at one waypoint. After that, he backed off a little and focused on managing the rest of the stage and bringing home a good result. The most important thing for Martim is the Rally 2 category, so we need to stay focused on that until the end of the rally, especially with the championship standings in mind.
Preston also had a really good day. His navigation was strong, he showed good pace and finished second in Rally 2, so it was a very positive stage for him.
The soft dunes were tough for Bruno today. He had a crash and learned first-hand just how difficult these conditions can be. For him, being here and experiencing what the real desert is like is very important. He lost some time and finished 12th, but I think this was an important stage for his development and experience.
The team is doing well, the bikes are all good and now we’ll see what stage four brings tomorrow.
Bruno Crivilin #69
Stage: 12th | Overall: 7th
The first 100 km went well. I was pushing, feeling good and comfortable on the bike, but once we got into the dunes it took a lot of energy out of me. I found the navigation difficult and made a few mistakes, so today was a big learning experience for me. We still have two more days to go, so I’ll keep pushing and try to learn as much as possible.
Martim Ventura #84
Stage: 1st | Overall: 1st
I’m feeling good and the main thing is to stay calm. I started the special quite calmly, to be honest, while still trying to be fast and that’s been the main goal for me this week. I felt good on the bike, but towards the end I started to get tired, especially in my hands, as the terrain was so broken. After refuelling, I was following the tracks in some sections rather than doing as much navigation and when I couldn’t follow them I made a big mistake that cost me around five minutes. The rhythm is there, so I’m happy with that, but I’m still making some mistakes and that can’t happen. We’ll keep working and try to improve on that.
Preston Campbell #85
Stage: 2nd | Overall: 3rd
Stage three was good, it was a mix of everything, pretty tough navigation I thought, but I did pretty well I think. It was super fast at the end of the day, the bike was working well and I was able to push all day, so I’m pretty happy with my performance and looking forward to the last two days.
Source: Monster Energy Honda HRC
