After Rallye du Maroc, the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship is back in Europe for the last stop. Monster Energy Honda Team is strongly motivated. Starting on the 19th of October, the Andalucia Rally is synonymous of intense and technical tracks where dust sometimes is the worst enemy.
Between October 19th and 23th, the action of the FIM Cross-Country World Championship is back with the fourth and last stop of the calendar. The Andalucia Rally follows the Dakar Rally, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Rallye du Maroc bringing with it a drastic change in format and above all in conditions. A total of 1952 kilometres will be covered over four stages, corresponding to 1014 km of selective sector in the Spanish provinces of Cádiz and Seville.
The Monster Energy Honda Team will be for sure on the spotlight after the victory in the previous edition. Now the squad starts with three CRF450 RALLY bikes in the experienced hands of Ricky Brabec (USA), José Ignacio Cornejo (Chile) and Adrien Van Beveren (France). Pablo Quintanilla (Chile) won’t be racing since he is recovering from an injury cause by a crash in the Rallye du Maroc.
With a comfortable lead in the Constructors’ World Championship, Honda has proven its consistency in the toughest conditions. The sporting results speak for themselves, with emphasis on the silver achieved by Quintanilla (Dakar Rally) and by Brabec (Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge), who was also bronze recently in the Rallye du Maroc.
Ruben Faria - General Manager: “After the Dakar, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Rallye du Maroc this stage of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship represents a dramatic change for our team. Our riders are more connected with desert dunes, that’s for sure, but this does not mean less ambition. Andalucía is a completely different scenario, but, as always, we are ready for the challenge! This is another great opportunity for the team to evolve and prepare for the next Dakar. We have been here before and we know conditions are tough for bikes and riders – it won’t be easy to overtake due to the amount of dust and narrow paths. The prologue will certainly play a major role in how the race unfolds, so we have to be competitive right from the start. Our desire and determination to win are all we think about, and the same goes for maintaining and even furthering our lead in the Constructors' Championship”.
Ricky Brabec 2 - “My expectations for the last stop of the World Championship are pretty high, as a racer and a former champion! I am feeling good and strong. So we hope to finish this season in the best possible way and prepare the Dakar 2023. Looking forward to start in Andalucia!”
José Ignacio Cornejo 11 - “I am ready for this last race in Andalucia. This season is almost over and my performance has been quite regular. My goal is to finish in this same solid way, being clever and achieving the best possible final result. ”
Adrien Van Beveren - “After Rallye du Maroc we have been doing some training in the south of Portugal. The terrain is completely different from the desert, but I am sure it’s a great preparation for Andalucía. It is also nice to have two races back to back, you don’t loose the feeling and rhythm. In Morocco I struggled a little bit because I was out of races for a while and now I know I am at my best level. In addition, I love the technical terrain of Spain, so expectations are quite high. “
Source Monster Energy Honda Team
