World Rally-Raid Championship

2023 Sonora Rally: Brendan Crow wins National Enduro

3 Mins read
Credit: Brendan Crow

Brendan Crow wasn’t planning to run the Sonora Rally at first but changed his mind in early April just weeks before the race. That turned out to be one of the best choices he could have ever made as he won the National Enduro class and was the best finishing bike in general of the National entries.

While the decision to take part came on short notice, leaving him with just three weeks to prepare compared to the roughly seven months in 2022, Crow played a masterful performance as he won by nearly an hour and twenty minutes over Francisco Alvarez. He also minimised errors to just ten minutes of penalties for speeding.

Crow scored the most stage wins with three, taking the Prologue and Stages #1 and #4, while Alvarez claimed the last. Ashley Thixton, the only other multi-time victor, placed fifth overall after having to overcome penalties and a Stage #4 crash.

“Funny that it was completely different from last year even though it was only 6 months ago,” wrote Crow. “Learned even more this year and lookin forward for more!”

Although not winning, Alvarez still claimed the Road to Dakar to receive free registration for the 2024 Dakar Rally. Crow had won Sonora’s RtD in 2022 by finishing third overall; while he did not redeem the spot to race at Dakar 2023, he is ineligible to repeat as a former winner.

Matt Sutherland joined Crow and Alvarez on the overall podium and was the only other rider to finish within two hours of the winner. Sutherland competed in the Malle Moto class for riders without assistance from teams. He and Alvarez were among seventeen Road to Dakar riders.

When limited to strictly Enduro competitors, third place is held by Mike Johnson who overcame an early clutch issue and having to race with stock suspension due to the original tuned setup being seized by customs. Johnson, the owner of Rally Comp which supplied metering devices for bikes at Sonora, raced for Chinese manufacturer Kove Moto in just their second World Rally-Raid Championship start; his team-mates Neels Theric and Sunier rode in the W2RC-sanctioned Rally2 division, the former also finishing fourth overall in his class. After Sonora, Johnson and Sutherland will immediately head to the neighbouring state of Baja California to take part in the Mexican 1000; Sutherland and Matthew Glade, who finished nineteenth overall, are part of the Ultimate Ironman Challenge for solo riders doing both events on their own.

Ben Howard, the only adventure bike rider in the sea of enduro bikes, placed thirtieth overall. Adventure bikes like his Yamaha Ténéré 700 are lager and heavier than their enduro counterparts.

“It was crazy from start to finish,” recapped Jordan Dukes, a rally raid newcomer making his Sonora début“The drive down, crossing the border into Mexico, getting to know other competitors, learning how to use the navigation equipment, sharing the course with Legendary riders, support staff, and the course.

“Everyday had new challenges. The terrain was challenging, the heat and the distance was overwhelming.  

“In the first 10 kilometers of the first day I crashed 3 times and realized I was in over my head. 1200 kilometers of racing with 2200 total bike kilometers in 6 days. Dozens of get offs, countless near life experiences, and a few broken parts.”

National Enduro overall results

FinishNumberRiderTeamTimeMargin
1513Brendan CrowBrendan Crow16:37:36Leader
2526Francisco AlvarezFreedom Rally Racing17:56:38+ 1:19:02
3501Matt Sutherland #Matt Sutherland18:24:08+ 1:46:32
4543Mike JohnsonKove Moto19:46:22+ 3:08:46
5526Ashley ThixtonFreedom Rally Racing19:46:59+ 3:09:23
6539Ben LauderdaleDiespro Adventour20:00:38+ 3:23:02
7507Lance WebbTeam 150 Racing21:10:32+ 4:32:56
8506Scott ThorntonTeam 150 Racing21:27:18+ 4:49:42
9532Ronald VenterFreedom Rally Racing21:39:54+ 5:02:18
10517Devon MahoneDevon Mahone22:29:08+ 5:51:32
11540Gavin FergusonM2 AV Consulting22:42:17+ 6:04:41
12515Digby NorrisTriple F Racing23:21:12+ 6:43:36
13529Gregorio MartosFreedom Rally Racing23:45:22+ 7:07:46
14519Douglas ZacarasDouglas Zacaras23:50:42+ 7:13:06
15511Mario MendozaMario Mendoza27:35:43+ 10:58:07
16542Paul Mumford #Paul Mumford32:01:13+ 15:23:37
17516Bryan PedersonBryan Pederson38:27:44+ 21:50:08
18523Jatin JainDiespro Adventour39:17:28+ 22:39:52
19508Matthew Glade #RallyMotoShop47:36:44+ 30:59:08
20502Billy TrappM2 AV Consulting50:04:34+ 33:26:58
21510Hector Guerrero #Mocedi Racing Team51:38:03+ 35:01:27
22530Henry CubidesFreedom Rally Racing54:36:38+ 37:59:02
23533Dwain BarnardFreedom Rally Racing55:36:48+ 37:59:12
24537Donald HattonFreedom Rally Racing59:14:21+ 42:36:45
25541Mike MyersM2 AV Consulting68:04:49+ 51:27:13
26521Benjamin Myers #Benjamin Myers71:32:47+ 54:55:11
27538Miguel DonovanGeek Racing80:42:00+ 64:04:24
28514Vladimir Malyarevich #Vladimir Malyarevich81:03:07+ 64:25:31
29536Jordan DukesOff Piste Adventure81:47:37+ 65:10:01
30528Ben Howard #^Ben Howard86:41:40+ 70:04:04
31518John SuvantoJohn Suvanto88:05:05+ 71:27:29
32505Ryan NariñoRyan Nariño104:58:31+ 88:20:55
33534Andreu MiróAndreu Miró105:56:36+ 89:19:00
34520Alexander Kachaev #Alexander Kachaev119:10:28+ 102:32:52
DNF503Matthew RansomOff Piste AdventureDNFN/A
DNF531Étienne GélinasFreedom Rally RacingDNFN/A
DNF527Juan RecioFreedom Rally RacingDNFN/A
DNF504Patrick ReyesPatrick ReyesDNFN/A
DNF509Weston CarrHigh Desert AdventuresDNFN/A
DNF524Sebastián OlarteDiespro AdventourDNFN/A
DNF522Tibi ImbuzanTibi ImbuzanDNFN/A
DNS535Luke StalkerOff Piste AdventureDNFN/A
DNS512John HensonHenson Factory RacingDNFN/A
Underscore – Road to Dakar participant
# – Malle Moto rider
^ – Adventure rider

National Enduro stage winners

StageRiderTime
PrologueBrendan Crow46:24
Stage #1Brendan Crow2:33:03
Stage #2Ashley Thixton2:12:10
Stage #3Ashley Thixton5:24:43
Stage #4Brendan Crow3:47:26
Stage #5Francisco Alvarez1:33:46

Overall winners

ClassNumberCompetitorTeamTime
T1201Nasser Al-AttiyahToyota Gazoo Racing10:29:55
T3302Mitch GuthrieRed Bull Off-Road Junior Team11:17:24
T4400Rokas BaciuškaRed Bull Can-Am Factory Racing11:51:05
RallyGP18Daniel SandersRed Bull GasGas Factory Racing11:01:09
Rally217Romain DumontierHT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing11:48:21
Rally357Massimo CamurriFreedom Rally Racing15:59:16
Quad162Laisvydas KanciusAG Dakar School15:33:14
National Car/UTV605Sara Price*SP Motorsports17:14:04
National Enduro513Brendan Crow*Brendan Crow16:37:36
National Malle Moto501Matt Sutherland*Matt Sutherland18:24:08
* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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