2023 Sonora Rally: Massimo Camurri masterful in Rally3

The Rally3 class, which is intended for production bikes with limitations not imposed on the higher RallyGP and Rally2 categories, made its 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship début at the Sonora Rally.

Only three riders were entered, guaranteeing everyone a medal provided they reach the finish. Massimo Camurri led the way by a wide margin as he won all six days, consisting of the Prologue and five stages; he was one of three class winners at Sonora to achieve the feat alongside Rokas Baciuška in T4 and Romain Dumontier in Rally2, though Dumontier did not win the Prologue.

Camurri set the tone from the get-go when he won the Prologue by over sixteen minutes on the field. Stage #2 saw the closest margin of victory when he won by 4:22, though it came after he crashed twenty-three kilometres into the stage due to an obstacle on the road that was not reported. Two days later, he recorded a stage win so lopsided as it totalled nearly one and a hour hours at 1:28:49.

Although he entered the last day with a very convincing advantage of 1:28:49, Camurri elected to take a conservative approach for the stage to avoid disaster. This strategy allowed Ardit Kurtaj scoring his first stage victory while Camurri finished 2:06 back.

“Psychologically I knew I had a good lead but I also knew that it was possible to ruin everything with little,” Camurri explained. “I decided to play defence and not take any risks. I achieved a second-place class finish about two minutes behind the first, but I managed to secure the race victory.

“Honestly, at the start I didn’t expect any of this. I did my best and despite a few falls I managed to fulfill a dream.”

Kurtaj, a 2024 Dakar Rally hopeful, wrote regarding the final day that he “woke up this morning and thought to myself (there is still a little something that can be done without driving like a daredevil). I did that too, the whole time, nothing but full throttle, everything that I could. It turned out to be right, today I won a stage. It’s an incredible feeling to win a stage in the W2RC. I’ll be back soon.”

The Austrian winning Stage #5 was the only position change of any kind in the class as the five previous legs all had the same finishing order of Camurri, Kurtaj, and Alexander Chepurkó.

“2 months after surgery, with no time to get back in shape, yet here I am. 3rd place in my category and one more trophy to my beautiful collection,” wrote Chepurkó. Nicknamed “Silk Rider”, he was running his first race of 2023 after spending February and March undergoing treatment for a broken humerus. “I thank my family, friends and team for support! Wouldn’t do it without you!”

Rally3 overall results

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	57	Massimo Camurri	Freedom Rally Racing	15:59:16	Leader
2	59	Ardit Kurtaj	High Desert Adventures	17:25:59	+ 1:26:43
3	58	Alexander Chepurkó	DUUST Diverse Racing	20:30:29	+ 4:31:13

Rally3 stage winners

Stage	Rider	Time
Prologue	Massimo Camurri	58:40
Stage #1	Massimo Camurri	2:06:37
Stage #2	Massimo Camurri	2:10:00
Stage #3	Massimo Camurri	5:16:30
Stage #4	Massimo Camurri	3:34:19
Stage #5	Massimo Camurri	1:51:04

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

* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

W2RC Rally3 standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Massimo Camurri	25	Leader
2	Ardit Kurtaj	20	– 5
3	Alexander Chepurkó	16	– 9