World Rally-Raid Championship

2023 Sonora Rally: Romain Dumontier dominates Rally2

3 Mins read
Credit: Romain Dumontier

Romain Dumontier elected to skip the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, but the Dakar Rally champion still has a 100% win percentage on the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship season after dominating the Sonora Rally in Rally2.

After finishing second in the Prologue, Dumontier did not take long to show he has no signs of rust from missing the ADDC as he won all five stages of the main rally. He also had moments of running in the top ten overall, which meant competing alongside riders from the premier RallyGP category, but backed off in Stage #2 due to the dust. Even Dumontier’s most tumultuous day in the third leg, during which cactus thorns got stuck in his arm and he had to stop to repair his torn roadbook, still ended with him winning by two minutes and twenty-one seconds.

By the end, Dumontier had over seventeen minutes on Jacob Argubright and was thirty-six clear of points leader Paolo Lucci.

Although the victory tightens Lucci’s points lead to just three with Dumontier second, the latter is skeptical on if he will run the next race, the Desafío Ruta 40, in August. What is certain, however, is that the Frenchman will run the season-ending Rallye du Maroc.

“A great experience this rally is, beautiful sand tracks, around the cactus, and sometimes super fast,” remarked Dumontier. “I didn’t really know how to position myself at the start of this rally. I hadn’t had the opportunity to train with the rally bike and a roadbook since the Dakar in January, but the automatisms came back well!”

The top three remained almost fully consistent throughout the rally. While Dumontier stood at the top each day, Argubright, an American who is more than familiar with desert racing in Mexico, finished second in all five stages. The final step of the podium traded hands a few times but was mainly occupied by Lucci with the exceptions of Stage #2 and #5; Bradley Cox was third in the former while series newcomer Kerim Fitz-Gerald did so at the latter.

Cox impressed in the Prologue when he set the fastest time of all riders, but went on to finish seventh in the overall after being plagued by mechanical issues. He described the rally as a “super tough week for me with a lot of lows after the massive high of winning the prologue but I’m healthy and more learning in the bag.”

Neels Theric barely missed the podium in his début as a Kove Moto factory rider. Theric and team-mate Sunier, as well as their National Moto colleague Mike Johnson, had to race the rally without their tuned suspension systems as they were confiscated by customs. Despite riding on stock suspensions, which was two sizes smaller than his usual setup and too soft in the rear, Theric was able to finish fourth while Sunier placed ninth.

In finishing fifth, Konrad Dąbrowski beat Cox for the Junior Trophy given to riders under the age of twenty-five. Conversely, Francisco Arredondo won the Veteran Trophy (over forty-five years) ahead of Nathan Rafferty and Petr Vlcek.

Rally2 overall results

FinishNumberRiderTeamTimeMargin
117Romain DumontierHT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing11:48:21Leader
296Jacob ArgubrightDUUST Diverse Racing12:06:08+ 17:47
346Paolo LucciBAS World KTM Racing Team12:24:29+ 36:08
4114Neels Theric*Kove Moto12:35:57+ 47:36
523Konrad DąbrowskiDUUST Diverse Racing13:01:46+ 1:13:25
655Kerim Fitz-Gerald*BAS World KTM Racing Team13:08:51+ 1:20:30
721Bradley CoxBAS World KTM Racing Team13:18:57+ 1:30:36
860Francisco Arredondo*BAS World KTM Racing Team14:59:31+ 3:11:10
989Sunier*Kove Moto15:34:29+ 3:46:08
1053Nathan Rafferty*BAS World KTM Racing Team15:45:08+ 3:56:47
1154Mario Garrido*Mario Garrido16:27:32+ 4:39:11
12105Morrison Hart*Mo Industries16:31:17+ 4:42:56
1331Petr Vlcek*Montáže Brož Racing Team16:56:08+ 5:07:47
1430Jiří Brož*Montáže Brož Racing Team18:40:05+ 6:51:44
* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

Rally2 stage winners

StageRiderTime
PrologueBradley Cox43:28
Stage #1Romain Dumontier1:39:12
Stage #2Romain Dumontier1:34:31
Stage #3Romain Dumontier3:43:19
Stage #4Romain Dumontier2:41:14
Stage #5Romain Dumontier1:21:49

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 Rally2 standings

RankRiderPointsMargin
1Paolo Lucci66Leader
2Romain Dumontier63– 3
3Jean-Loup Lepan45– 21
4Jacob Argubright35– 31
5Toni Mulec30– 36
6Michael Docherty24– 42
7Mathieu Dovèze17– 49
T-8Dominique Cizeau Girault13– 53
T-8Neels Theric13– 53
10Jan Brabec12– 54
T-11Jon Florea11– 55
T-11Konrad Dąbrowski11– 55
T-11Mirjam Pol11– 55
14Bradley Cox10– 56
15Sunier9– 57
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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