Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of Hero MotoCorp, has kicked off its 2022 Andalucia Rally campaign with the qualifying stage on October 19. It will be held till October 23. With the administrative and technical checks been already completed, the 4-rider team of Joaquim Rodrigues, Franco Caimi, Ross Branch, and Sebastian Buhler took to the start line.
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The short 9.6 km stage, set around the Grand Dos Hermanas Racecourse, was of strategic importance as the top 15 overall finishers would get to pick their starting position for the much longer first stage of 320 km, set to take place on October 20. JRod and Ross completed the stage in the 5th and 8th positions respectively. Buhler finished in 11th place while Franco had a crash during the stage which put him in 14th place in the RallyGP classification.
The 2022 edition of the Andalucia Rally is the final round of the newly formed World Rally Raid Championship. The remaining days of the rally will see the riders cover four stages and 1965 km with 1053 km of competitive sections. The first full stage of the rally on October 20 will consist of 146 km of liaison sections in addition to the 319 km race distance.
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Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, said, “We are happy to be back in Spain for the Andalucia Rally. This is the last race of the World Rally Raid Championship and the last race before the Dakar Rally. The Andalucia Rally is unique in the championship as it does not take part in the desert, but instead in the hills and countryside in the south of Spain.”
He further added, “It is good to have all four of our riders back on the start line, especially JRod, who has recovered from his crash in Morocco. It was a little unfortunate for Franco, who had a crash in the Qualifying stage, but he is ok and the bike is fine, so we are all set for Stage 1 of the Rally.”
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