2023 Sonora Rally: Romain Dumontier dominates Rally2

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

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	17	Romain Dumontier	HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing	11:48:21	Leader
2	96	Jacob Argubright	DUUST Diverse Racing	12:06:08	+ 17:47
3	46	Paolo Lucci	BAS World KTM Racing Team	12:24:29	+ 36:08
4	114	Neels Theric*	Kove Moto	12:35:57	+ 47:36
5	23	Konrad Dąbrowski	DUUST Diverse Racing	13:01:46	+ 1:13:25
6	55	Kerim Fitz-Gerald*	BAS World KTM Racing Team	13:08:51	+ 1:20:30
7	21	Bradley Cox	BAS World KTM Racing Team	13:18:57	+ 1:30:36
8	60	Francisco Arredondo*	BAS World KTM Racing Team	14:59:31	+ 3:11:10
9	89	Sunier*	Kove Moto	15:34:29	+ 3:46:08
10	53	Nathan Rafferty*	BAS World KTM Racing Team	15:45:08	+ 3:56:47
11	54	Mario Garrido*	Mario Garrido	16:27:32	+ 4:39:11
12	105	Morrison Hart*	Mo Industries	16:31:17	+ 4:42:56
13	31	Petr Vlcek*	Montáže Brož Racing Team	16:56:08	+ 5:07:47
14	30	Jiří Brož*	Montáže Brož Racing Team	18:40:05	+ 6:51:44

Rally2 stage winners

Stage	Rider	Time
Prologue	Bradley Cox	43:28
Stage #1	Romain Dumontier	1:39:12
Stage #2	Romain Dumontier	1:34:31
Stage #3	Romain Dumontier	3:43:19
Stage #4	Romain Dumontier	2:41:14
Stage #5	Romain Dumontier	1:21:49

Overall winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Time
T1	201	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota Gazoo Racing	10:29:55
T3	302	Mitch Guthrie	Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team	11:17:24
T4	400	Rokas Baciuška	Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing	11:51:05
RallyGP	18	Daniel Sanders	Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing	11:01:09
Rally2	17	Romain Dumontier	HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing	11:48:21
Rally3	57	Massimo Camurri	Freedom Rally Racing	15:59:16
Quad	162	Laisvydas Kancius	AG Dakar School	15:33:14
National Car/UTV	605	Sara Price*	SP Motorsports	17:14:04
National Enduro	513	Brendan Crow*	Brendan Crow	16:37:36
National Malle Moto	501	Matt Sutherland*	Matt Sutherland	18:24:08

W2RC Rally2 standings

Rank	Rider	Points	Margin
1	Paolo Lucci	66	Leader
2	Romain Dumontier	63	– 3
3	Jean-Loup Lepan	45	– 21
4	Jacob Argubright	35	– 31
5	Toni Mulec	30	– 36
6	Michael Docherty	24	– 42
7	Mathieu Dovèze	17	– 49
T-8	Dominique Cizeau Girault	13	– 53
T-8	Neels Theric	13	– 53
10	Jan Brabec	12	– 54
T-11	Jon Florea	11	– 55
T-11	Konrad Dąbrowski	11	– 55
T-11	Mirjam Pol	11	– 55
14	Bradley Cox	10	– 56
15	Sunier	9	– 57