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 | Driver | 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 |
| 8 | Dominique Cizeau Girault | 13 | – 53 |
| 9 | Neels Theric | 13 | – 53 |
| 10 | Jan Brabec | 12 | – 54 |
| 11 | Jon Florea | 11 | – 55 |
| 12 | Konrad Dąbrowski | 11 | – 55 |
| 13 | Mirjam Pol | 11 | – 55 |
| 14 | Bradley Cox | 10 | – 56 |
| 15 | Sunier | 9 | – 57 |