Hero Motosports Team Rally Complete Another Solid Stage In The Rallye Du Maroc

Hero MotoSports Team Rally carried its momentum from Stage 3 into Stage 4 and delivered yet another solid performance.

Joaquim Rodrigues, who is in contention for a good finish at the rally, registered the fifth fastest time of the day. This is his best stage since winning the prologue and it sees him climb three places in the overall standings, and he is now in eighth position.

Franco Caimi had a mixed day, at first being able to push hard and set good times, but later making a navigation error and losing time. Eventually, he finished just outside the Top 10 in 11th position.

After finishing second in Stage 3, Sebastian Buhler was the second rider to start Stage 4. With difficult navigation in the stage, Buhler had to ride very carefully to avoid getting lost. A composed ride from him saw him finishing the stage in 15th place.

Stage 4 was a whopping 367km, the longest special stage of the rally. It was one last foray into the same area of the Saharan desert where the competitors have spent the last 2 stages. Coming up is the last stage of the rally, a relatively shorter 290km stage and 150km liason in the desert to the South of the bivouac at Zagora.

Joaquim Rodrigues, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “Today was a good day for me. I tried to push from the start to gain some time on the other competitors. I was able to find a good rhythm. Towards the end, I caught up to other riders and it was a little dangerous riding in their dust, so I settled down my pace to ensure I finished safely.”

Franco Caimi, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “It is good to be back in the Bivouac after such a long day of riding. The stage had its ups and downs. I started well and got a good rhythm, but also made a navigation error later in the stage and lost some time. After that, I took it a little easy and tried to find a good rhythm again to bring the bike to the finish.”

Sebastian Buhler, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “It was a difficult stage for me as I started towards the front and the navigation on this stage was tough. But this is a good learning experience for me. I felt good on the bike and looking forward to the last day tomorrow.”

Provisional Stage 4 rankings
1 Daniel Sanders GasGas Factory Racing 3h 50m 34s
2 Matthias Walkner Red Bull KTM Factory Team + 00m 36s
3 Pablo Quintanilla Monster Energy Honda Team + 02m 55s
4 Joan Barreda Bort Monster Energy Honda Team + 05m 47s
5 Joaquim Rodrigues Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 06m 17s
11 Franco Caimi Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 14m 36s
15 Sebastian Buhler Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 20m 10s

Provisional Overall rankings after Stage 4
1 Matthias Walkner Red Bull KTM Factory Team 14h 47m 02s
2 Pablo Quintanilla Monster Energy Honda Team + 00m 37s
3 Daniel Sanders GasGas Factory Racing + 05m 46s
8 Joaquim Rodrigues Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 36m 13s
24 Franco Caimi Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 20h 37m 58s
26 Sebastian Buhler Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 40h 30m 42s