American rally riders Skyler Howse and Ricky Brabec have finished first and third in the Rallye du Maroc. Howes of the Husqvarna factory team has stormed to second place on the fifth and final stage of the 2022 Rallye du Maroc to secure his first ever FIM World Rally-Raid Championship win. 

The American completed five incredible days of rally racing in the Moroccan desert to ultimately finish just over seven minutes ahead of second-placed Luciano Benavides and Brabec.

Right from the start of this year’s Rallye du Maroc, both Howes and Benavides were able to deliver solid stage results day after day as they fought for the overall honours in Morocco. A one-two finish on day three saw the FR 450 Rally-mounted racers rise to the top of the event standings, and despite losing a little time while opening stage four, the pair reclaimed the top two positions on Thursday’s stage five with an excellent display of speed and navigation over the 290-kilometre timed special.

As the sixth rider into today’s stage, Skyler knew he would have an excellent opportunity to chase down and catch the riders ahead and in turn make up the valuable minutes he needed to finish on the podium. Remaining focussed, despite the added pressure, Howes delivered an impressive ride on the route back to Agadir, making the absolute minimum of errors to place second on the stage, just six seconds behind the leader. The result was enough to top the final rally timesheets by seven minutes and 13 seconds and secure a memorable overall victory in Morocco.

Howes’ victory marks the 30-year-old’s first world championship race win, an impressive achievement that comes down to not only the commitment put in by himself and the team over the year developing the FR 450 Rally, but also Skyler’s focus and work ethic. Now, with his confidence high, the likeable American will shift his attention to the Sonora Rally in Mexico later this month.

Finishing stage five in third, a mere nine seconds behind teammate Howes, Luciano Benavides cemented himself into second place in the overall results. Including Benavides’ impressive stage win on day three, the young Argentinian displayed immense skill and pace over the course of the five-day event to claim a well-deserved podium. Feeling hugely comfortable on his FR 450 Rally following a summer of training and testing with the team, Luciano’s confidence and pace is now at an all-time high. Benavides now looks forward to carrying his momentum through to the final round of the season, and on to the Dakar Rally, beginning late December.

And that’s a wrap on Rallye du Maroc 2022! For GASGAS Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland, it wasn’t quite the result the current FIM World Rally-Raid Championship leader was looking for, but fifth overall in what was a seriously competitive line-up was a strong finish nevertheless. More importantly, Sam extended his championship lead to 22 points with just one round to go - the Andalucia Rally later this month.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Kevin Benavides has successfully completed the 2022 Rallye du Maroc in sixth place. Following a tough start to the event where Benavides opened stage one, the Argentinian fought back hard, delivering strong stage results to ultimately finish inside the top six. Toby Price, who also showed great pace during the event, unfortunately crashed out of the competition yesterday on stage four but thankfully received no serious injuries. 

Ultimately completing the stage in eighth place, just under six minutes down on the winner, Kevin secured his sixth-place finish overall. Despite not quite being the result he had hoped for, the former Dakar Champion was able to take many positives from the event. With one FIM World Rally-Raid Championship round remaining before the Dakar Rally in January, Benavides will be aiming to finish his 2022 season on a high before switching his focus to the big one in Saudi Arabia early next year. 

Unfortunately crashing out of the rally on stage four, Toby Price was thankfully given the all-clear by medical staff and sustained no serious injuries. We hope to see the two-time Dakar Champion back aboard his KTM 450 RALLY as soon as possible.

Skyler Howes: “We’re at the finish of the Morocco Rally and I finished first, which is super cool! The final stage was quite technical actually, it wasn’t a walk in the park. The navigation was tricky, and I did a couple of circles out there which slowed me down a little bit. I was still able to finish second on the stage, which was enough to win the overall, and I have to admit it’s the coolest thing of my whole life! Honestly, I’m over the moon. It’s a dream come true to take the win here in Morocco, and the plan is to carry this momentum on to the Dakar Rally.”

Luciano Benavides: “We’ve finished stage five, the last day of the rally. I really wanted to go for the stage win today but made a small mistake that ended up costing me some time. Nevertheless, I finished third on the stage, really close to the winner and second overall, which is amazing. I can’t describe this moment – I have worked so hard since last year to be in this position right now, and to have such a good feeling on the bike. It’s not only me, but the whole team have also done an incredible job on the bike and have worked so hard here in Morocco. This result is a big thank you to them. I can’t wait for Andalucia now, the next round, and of course the Dakar in January.”

Sam Sunderland: “That’s the Rallye du Maroc done for another year. It’s been a tough one and I haven’t been at my best this week. But day by day I improved and with some small changes to the bike things got better as the race went on. All week there were some tricky navigation points and today was no exception. Seven kilometers in and quite a few of us couldn’t validate it and then we were all just riding in dust which made us all slow our pace. It was frustrating but all in all, I’m happy and I didn’t try to force the issue or take any risks. Fifth is good for the championship and now it’s on to Andalucia in a couple of weeks.”

Kevin Benavides: “Although I’m really happy with my riding and how the bike feels, I didn’t have the best finish to my rally today. I started third, but then early on at around kilometer 15, a group of us struggled to find one waypoint and that ended up in all of us riding together for the whole stage. After that it was really tough to make up time because you were always in someone else’s dust. After the refueling we set off again to the finish and it was more like a motocross race with us all together. All-in-all I’m happy with my performance here in Morocco. After leading out the first stage, it was tough to get that time back and it made our strategy difficult too. But over the whole rally I think I opened over 600 kilometers, which is really good experience for my navigation and speed. Next up is the race in Spain before the Dakar early next year, so the team will continue to work hard and hopefully we can get back onto the podium.” 

2022 Rallye du Maroc – Stage 5 Provisional Classification

1. Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) 1:37:30
2. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 1:37:36
3. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 1:37:47
4. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 1:39:00
5. Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 1:40:05
6. Ross Branch (Hero) 1:41:14

2022 Rallye du Maroc – Provisional Overall Classification (after final stage)

1. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 16:30:29
2. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 16:37:42
3. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 16:41:17
4. Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) 16:42:36
5. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 16:45:20
6. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 16:50:40