The Rally du Maroc marks the final race of the 2019 Cross-Country Rallies Championship.
Rally du Maroc takes place this week | Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team will be heading to the fourth and final round of the 2019 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. Riders Sam Sunderland, Toby Price, Matthias Walkner and Luciano Benavides will be preparing for a great outcome in the Rally du Maroc in Morocco this week. KTM Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz and Mario Patro will also be joining the team before commencing on the preparation for the 2020 Dakar Rally.
The infamous Rally du Maroc will be celebrating its 20th edition in 2019. It consists of over 2,500 kilometres of racing and is close to the town of Erfoud in the Sahara Desert.
The Rally du Maroc will start on Friday, October 4 before ending on October 9 at Fez.
Sam Sunderland (Red Bull KTM)- What to Expect?
Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing
“Now the pressure is off, it will be nice to have a good safe run in Morocco without having to take any unnecessary risks. The best thing is, we’re able to test things and change a lot of settings mid-race. You’re not able to do that so much in a championship fight as you don’t want to change the way the bike feels or try something extreme that might not work at all. With no pressure, we can try new things as the rally goes on and to have that opportunity to test under full race conditions is a real advantage. I’m a racer though, racers always want to win, so when we get to Morocco I’m still going to be taking things seriously,” says Sunderland as quoted from KTM Factory Racing.
Luciano Benavides (Red Bull KTM)- What to Expect?
Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing
“This is the first race of the season that I’ve done before, so I’m hoping to feel comfortable straight away with the nature of the rally and the terrain. My main goal is to earn enough points to win the Junior Championship – this has been the target since the beginning of the season – but I’m also hoping to finish on the podium in the overall. If I ride a good, strong race I believe I can do it. I’ve put in a lot of training and preparation for this round so hopefully, it all pays off.”
Toby Price (Red Bull KTM)- What to Expect?
Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing
“The Atacama Rally went really well for me – it was a great way to come back after so long off the bike and I was really happy with my performance. I still have a bit of work to do on the wrist, but the plan for Morocco is just to take each day as it comes and try and build on my speed. I’m hoping for a good, safe finish and then continue building for the Dakar in January.”
Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM)- What to Expect?
Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing
“I’m really looking forward to racing in Morocco. It felt great to be back on the bike at the last round, but took me a while to get back up to speed, especially on the super-fast pistes. The terrain in the Sahara should be quite similar to Saudi Arabia so it will give us a good chance to work on our set up. The goal is to get some good time on the bike and make it to the finish healthy.”
Laia Sanz (Red Bull KTM)- What to Expect?
Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing
“I’m excited to go to Morocco because I was forced to miss last year’s event due to feeling unwell, so it’s nice to be almost back to full fitness now. Because I’ve not ridden all the rounds of the championship, the focus at the Rally du Maroc is to ride a safe race and do some good preparation for Dakar. Of course, when you put your helmet on things change and you want to get your very best result but really the goal is to concentrate on training. It will be good to spend time with the whole team and hopefully, we can continue to find good settings on the bike for the best possible start next year.”
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