By RaceScene Publisher on Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Category: The Checkered Flag

2023 Sonora Rally: From The Checkered Flag’s Newsroom

The 2023 Sonora Rally marked the first time that the World Rally-Raid Championship visited the Americas. The Checkered Flag provided in-depth, live coverage of all five stages (six including the Prologue) and other related stories on social media and in article form here.

Missed any reports? Take a look below!

Pre-race stories

24 November 2022: 2023 Road to Dakar races include W2RC legs, South Africa 20 January: TCF‘s Dakar Rally newsroom 7 March: TCF‘s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge newsroom 18 March: Eduard Pons contesting rest of W2RC ahead of Dakar début in 2024 18 March: Kove Moto entering Sonora Rally 18 March: 2023 Sonora Rally route revealed 29 March: Neels Theric becomes Kove factory rider 31 March: Jean-Loup Lepan skipping Sonora Rally 31 March: 2023 Sonora Rally route tweaked 5 April: X Rally Team to début Prodrive Hunter at Sonora Rally 6 April: 2023 Sonora Rally competitors face over 1,200 km of racing 6 April: Ultimate Ironman Challenge to reward Sonora Rally/Mexican 1000 double 8 April: Rebecca Busi joins FN Speed Team for American W2RC rounds 9 April: AVID Racing Yamaha bringing “Burrito” to Sonora Rally 11 April: Francisco López Contardo resumes W2RC pursuit after paternal leave 13 April: Sunier returns to Kove for Sonora, joined by Neels Theric and Mike Johnson 13 April: Jatin Jain, Sebastián Olarte pursuing Dakar 2024 ticket at Sonora 15 April: Red Bull GasGas duo returns for Sonora 15 April: Étienne Gélinas’ Dakar 2024 quest runs through Sonora 17 April: Cameron Thixton drops Dakar 2024 plans due to funding, still supporting brother Ashley 17 April: Off Piste Adventure bringing Dukes, Ransom, Stalker to Sonora Rally 17 April: Dwain Barnard and Ronald Venter gear up for Sonora in Dakar 2024 pursuits 19 April: 116 on provisional entry list 23 April: Competitors shake down Mexico desert

Overall winners

ClassNumberCompetitorTeamTimeRecap
T1201Nasser Al-AttiyahToyota Gazoo Racing10:29:55Recap
T3302Mitch GuthrieRed Bull Off-Road Junior Team11:17:24Recap
T4400Rokas BaciuškaRed Bull Can-Am Factory Racing11:51:05Recap
RallyGP18Daniel SandersRed Bull GasGas Factory Racing11:01:09Recap
Rally217Romain DumontierHT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing11:48:21Recap
Rally357Massimo CamurriFreedom Rally Racing15:59:16Recap
Quad162Laisvydas KanciusAG Dakar School15:33:14Recap
National Car/UTV605Sara Price*SP Motorsports17:14:04Recap
National Enduro513Brendan Crow*Brendan Crow16:37:36Recap
National Malle Moto501Matt Sutherland*Matt Sutherland18:24:08Recap
Road to Dakar526Francisco Alvarez*Freedom Rally Racing17:56:38Recap
* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

Stage recaps

StageDateOverall Cars winnerOverall Bikes winnerRecap
Prologue23 AprilYazeed Al-RajhiBradley CoxRecap
Stage #124 AprilNasser Al-AttiyahTosha Schareina*Recap
Stage #225 AprilSébastien LoebDaniel SandersRecap
Stage #326 AprilYazeed Al-RajhiDaniel SandersRecap
Stage #427 AprilNasser Al-AttiyahToby PriceRecap
Stage #528 AprilYazeed Al-RajhiDaniel SandersRecap

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