World Rally-Raid Championship

2023 Sonora Rally: Nasser Al-Attiyah takes W2RC points lead

3 Mins read
Credit: Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool

Fate, coincidences, and irony tend to work in mysterious ways. Yes, this also happens in rally raid.

The World Rally-Raid Championship took a surprising turn at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge when Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah crashed out of the third stage while leading, allowing Sébastien Loeb to maintain his points lead.

A month later, Loeb wrecked out at the Sonora Rally as the overall leader in Stage #3, which opened the door to Al-Attiyah to leapfrog him for the top spot in the standings.

Loeb looked to be in the catbird seat early on as he and his fellow Prodrive Hunters Guerlain Chicherit and series newcomers Marcos and Cristian Baumgart occupied much of the top five in Stage #2. The following leg, however, saw him crash into a dry river that he was following when its direction changed course while he was airbourne. The accident left a small fracture in co-driver Fabian Lurquin‘s right shoulder, ending their rally.

With Loeb out of the picture, the battle for the overall win came down to the Toyota Hiluxes of Al-Attiyah and Abu Dhabi victor Yazeed Al-Rajhi. Although Al-Rajhi won Stage #3, Al-Attiyah returned the favour the next day to increase his lead to 7:22 entering the fifth and final stage.

Al-Rajhi scored the Stage #5 victory, but Al-Attiyah finished behind him by just a minute. The duo’s 1-2 finish and Loeb’s retirement enabled them to leapfrog him in the championship picture; Al-Attiyah has a thirty-point gap on Al-Rajhi.

“To come here after our big crash in Abu Dhabi and try to defend our title by winning the race wasn’t easy, but we managed to lead from for most of the event,” said Al-Attiyah. “We also had an amazing fight with Sébastien Loeb and Yazeed Al-Rajhi, and I’m happy that we now have a big lead in the championship. Our GR DKR Hilux T1+ was back to full strength, and we had an amazing race.”

Sebastian Halpern joined the Hiluxes on the overall podium for his best W2RC finish and the highest for the Mini John Cooper Works since Jakub Przygoński at the 2022 ADDC. Halpern. He beat his Mini team-mate Denis Krotov by eleven minutes.

Loeb’s retirement, along with Chicherit’s mechanical failure two days later, marred what would have otherwise been a strong outing for Prodrive. The Buamgart brothers finished seventh and ninth in their W2RC débuts, and Marcos was able to score another podium in Stage #4 when he finished third (he had placed second but was bumped down a spot due to penalties).

T1 overall results

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamTimeMargin
1201Nasser Al-AttiyahMathieu BaumelToyota Gazoo Racing10:29:55Leader
2202Yazeed Al-RajhiTimo GottschalkOverdrive Racing10:36:17+ 6:22
3205Sebastian HalpernBernardo GraueX-raid Team10:44:13+ 14:18
4208Denis KrotovKonstantin ZhiltsovX-raid Team10:55:43+ 25:48
5203Juan Cruz YacopiniDaniel OliverasOverdrive Racing11:01:30+ 31:35
6206Guoyu ZhangOriol MenaBAIC ORV11:01:43+ 31:48
7210Cristian Baumgart*Alberto AndreottiX Rally Team11:42:21+ 1:12:26
8207Yunliang ZiHe ShaBAIC ORV11:54:03+ 1:24:08
9211Marcos Baumgart*Kleber CinceaX Rally Team11:55:11+ 1:25:16
10209Eugenio Amos*Paolo CeciOverdrive Racing23:18:23+ 12:48:28
11204Guerlain ChicheritAlex WinocqGCK Motorsport28:58:40+ 18:28:45
DNF200Sébastien LoebFabian LurquinBahrain Raid XtremeDNFN/A
* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

T1 stage winners

StageDriverTime
PrologueYazeed Al-Rajhi5:18
Stage #1Nasser Al-Attiyah1:32:06
Stage #2Sébastien Loeb1:28:28
Stage #3Yazeed Al-Rajhi3:27:22
Stage #4Nasser Al-Attiyah2:40:34
Stage #5Yazeed Al-Rajhi1:13:45

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

W2RC standings

Unlike T3 and T4, T1 does not have its own standings and instead uses a championship in which the aforementioned categories can also earn points based on their finishes among all FIA W2RC entries.

Drivers’ standings

RankDriverPointsMargin
1Nasser Al-Attiyah136Leader
2Yazeed Al-Rajhi106– 30
3Sébastien Loeb101– 35
4Sebastian Halpern74– 62
5Juan Cruz Yacopini69– 67
6Martin Prokop64– 72
7Guerlain Chicherit55– 81
8Mattias Ekström #49– 87
9Seth Quintero32– 104
T-10Wei Han31– 105
T-10Guoyu Zhang31– 105
12Austin Jones30– 106
13Rokas Baciuška24– 112
T-14Denis Krotov22– 114
T-14Mathieu Serradori22– 114
16Mitch Guthrie14– 122
T-17Pau Navarro9– 127
T-17Zi Yunliang9– 127
19Eryk Goczał8– 128
20Cristina Gutiérrez7– 129
T-21Aliyyah Koloc6– 130
T-21João Ferreira6– 130
23Jean-Luc Ceccaldi5– 131
T-24Francisco Lopéz Contardo4– 132
T-24Marek Goczał4– 132
26Claude Fournier3– 133
27David Zille2– 134
# – Competed in multiple classes
Italics – T3 entry
Underscore – T4 entry

Co-drivers’ standings

RankCo-DriverDriverPointsMargin
1Mathieu BaumelNasser Al-Attiyah136Leader
2Fabian LurquinSébastien Loeb101– 35
3Timo GottschalkYazeed Al-Rajhi87– 49
4Bernardo GraueSebastian Halpern74– 62
5Dani OliveirasJuan Cruz Yacopini69– 67
6Viktor ChytkaMartin Prokop64– 72
7Alex WinocqGuerlain Chicherit55– 81
8Emil Bergkvist #Mattias Ekström #49– 87
9Dennis ZenzSeth Quintero32– 104
10Ma LiWei Han31– 105
11Gustavo GugelminAustin Jones30– 106
12Oriol Mena #Eryk Goczał, Guoyu Zhang29– 107
13Oriol Vidal MontijanoRokas Baciuška24– 112
T-14Konstantin ZhiltsovDenis Krotov22– 114
T-14Loïc MinaudierMathieu Serradori22– 114
16Dirk von ZitzewitzYazeed Al-Rajhi19– 117
17Kellon WalchMitch Guthrie14– 122
18Jean-Pierre GarcinGuoyu Zhang10– 126
T-19François Cazalet #Guillaume de Mévius, Pau Navarro9– 127
T-19Sha HeZi Yunliang9– 127
21Pablo Moreno HueteCristina Gutiérrez7– 129
T-22Stéphane DupleAliyyah Koloc6– 130
T-22Filipe PalmeiroJoão Ferreira6– 130
24Cédric DupléJean-Luc Ceccaldi5– 131
T-25Juan Pablo LatrachFrancisco López Contardo4– 132
T-25Maciej MartonMarek Goczał4– 132
27Szymon Gospodarczyk #Michal Goczał, Claude Fournier3– 133
28Sebastian CesanaDavid Zille2– 134
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