24 April 2023
Searing heat sees start of Sonora Rally
Hermosillo in the state of Sonora, Mexico saw the start of the third round of the World Rally Raid Championship today, Sunday, with a 10 kilometre prologue stage to decide starting positions on the road for the first big stage on Monday.
Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin sped through to fourth position as they opened the road as championship leaders encountering the majority of stones strewn across the surface, but all was taken in the stride of the Prodrive Hunter.
Guerlain Chicherit/Alex Winocq had a clearer road to attack, and that they did to be third across the line with their GCK Motorsport Hunter while the new partner team of Prodrive, X Rally showed their stunning yellow liveried cars in competition for the first time. Marcos Baumgart said, “The car is truly from another place; it’s not from this world…!” while team mate Cristian Baumgart had a very heavy landing that bent some suspension.
Tomorrow holds a 170 kilometre stage that loops into the desert, south of Hermosillo, before returning to the city where the rally has been based for the past three days. Tuesday will see the event move north to Porto Peñasco, on the shores of the Sea of Cortez, for three nights and then up to the Mexico/USA border at San Luis Rio Colorado for the finish on Friday.
Sonora Rally, Prologue
10kms
Guerlain Chicherit/Alex Winocq – Prodrive Hunter – 3rd
Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin – Prodrive Hunter – 4th
Marco Baumgart/Kleber Cincea – Prodrive Hunter – 6th
Christian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti – Prodrive Hunter – 11th
Sébastien Loeb, Bahrain Raid Xtreme
It was a nice stage for the prologue. Quite slippery for 10 kms with a lot of loose gravel on the top so as the first car on the stage we were making ‘the line’ so we will pay a few seconds for that but it’s not too bad. It was important to do a good stage and to now start the rally properly tomorrow with 170 kilometres.
Guerlain Chicherit, GCK Motorsport
Last time I was driving was in Abu Dhabi and it wasn’t great after I was ill there so I took it steady today trying to be careful. I was maybe a little bit too cautious – the time is not bad – but I was not really in the rhythm quite yet. Tomorrow is a long stage to get in the full flow so Alex and I will focus on that. It’ll be a good one.
Cristian Baumgart, X Rally
It was very nice indeed to be in the new Hunter for the first time against the clock. It was very slippery, very tricky and in all of that we hit a big hole and we bent the rear dampers but the team are fixing that immediately. This is just the beginning, we are here and looking forward to tomorrow and the bigger kilometres.
Marco Baumgart, X Rally
For the first time for me on this rally it is just excellent. I will now learn the car on the stages so for tomorrow we will make a base from the start to the finish with every turn letting me know what the car can do. The car is truly from another place; it’s not from this world…!
Gus Beteli, Bahrain Raid Xtreme Team Principal
Everyone at Bahrain Raid Xtreme is looking forward to the next round of the World Rally Raid Championship in Mexico as it is a new challenge for everyone and great to go to South America and try new terrain and tracks for all the drivers. We’re obviously looking forward to keeping the good stage results each day and retains he lead of the championship with Seb. We’d also like to welcome our new partners, X Rally, who will be running two Prodrive Hunters with all our support to give them a good result too. We’re all very much anticipating this new step.
SONORA RALLY STAGE 1
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Bahrain Raid Xtreme
A joint partnership between the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Prodrive the British motorsport and engineering group formed the joint venture Prodrive International in 2020. Building on Prodrive’s extensive experience in developing championship winning race and rally cars, its aim is design and manufacture cars to compete in the Dakar Rally and World Rally Raid Championship. BRX achieved the best finishing position, 5 with Nani Roma on debut in 2021, and 2 with Sebastien Loeb in 2021. Its Hunter cars run Prodrive EcoPower, a sustainable fuel made from agricultural waste by BRX team partner Coryton. The fuel reduces CO2 emissions by 80% compared to standard fuel.
About Prodrive
Prodrive is one of the world’s largest and most successful motorsport and technology businesses. Over 500 staff are employed across its Banbury headquarters and composites manufacturing facility in Milton Keynes. While the company is perhaps best known for motorsport, today it is just one part of an organisation that in the last decade has diversified to become a technology business working in a range of sectors and providing a range of services. Within the Prodrive Group, there are four distinct but interconnected business areas: Motorsport, operating race and rally programmes for vehicle manufacturers and global brands; Advanced Technology, providing innovative technology for the automotive, aerospace, defence, and marine sectors; Composites, developing lightweight composite components for the automotive, aerospace and marine sectors; and Brand& developing bespoke clothing and accessories for leading brands.
About Guerlain Chicherit
Born on 20 May 1978, Guerlain Chicherit made a name for himself in the 2000s as four-time freeride ski world champion. In 2005 he finished 49th in his first Dakar rally. The following year he climbed 40 places, and was fifth in 2020, his best result so far, including a stage win. In 2009 he won the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup, taking the Desert Challenge in Abu Dhabi and the Transibérico along the way. After a six-year hiatus, he came back with his own outfit – GCK Motorsport – and a plan to win the Dakar with a zero-emission hydrogen-powered vehicle by 2027.
About GCK Motorsport
Founded in 2017 by Guerlain Chicherit, GCK Motorsport showed excellent potential from the start with several podium places in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. In 2020 the team joined Green Corp Konnection (GCK), a group of industrial companies promoting innovative technologies for greener mobility. The racing arm of the group is a test bed for the ground-breaking solutions, serving to prove their reliability and high-performance in gruelling real-life conditions. One of the group’s targets is to be the first to win the Dakar with a hydrogen-powered car.
For more information please contact:
Toby Moody
BRX Media Manager
toby.moody@bahrainraidxtreme.com
+44 7860 145035