Hero MotoSports team begins with bang; Branch3rd in Prologue: Dakar 2023
Yanbu (Saudi Arabia), 31 Dec 2022: Hero MotoSports Team Rally, began Dakar 2023 on a strong note with all the three riders finishing in the top-8 and Ross Branch clockling a blistering 8min 31sec to take the third spot in the opening Prologue that set the world’s toughest and dangerous rally rolling in the desert sands on Saturday.
Branch finished third behind leader Toby Price and Daniel Sanders, both from Australia. J Rod finished sixth, Sebastian Buhler was 8th and Franco Caimi was 22nd..
Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of Hero MotoCorp, has fielded four riders for the Dakar Rally 2023 marking the team’s seventh consecutive appearance at the Dakar.
At Dakar 2022, Hero MotoSports became the first Indian manufacturer’s team to win a stage at the prestigious rally and now for Dakar 2023, the team will have a rider squad of four members – Franco Caimi, Joaquim Rodrigues, Ross Branch, and Sebastian Buhler – two of them being Dakar stage winners.
Dakar 2023 marks the seventh Dakar for Joaquim Rodrigues (JRod), who won a stage at the Dakar 2022 and is returning to Saudi Arabia with the hopes of rewriting his success. JRod has been with the team since its inception in 2016.
The team spent several months in training and testing around the world. Team riders Caimi and Buhler returned to racing after several months of recovery from their crashes in 2021.
This is the seventh Dakar for Joaquim Rodrigues (JRod), who won a stage at the Dakar 2022. After its inception in 2016, the Hero team started taking part in the Dakar from 2017 with pioneer CS Santosh becoming the first to complete the gruelling Dakar representing Hero.
JRod’s performances at the inaugural season of the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) were consistent and he is returning to Saudi Arabia with the hopes of rewriting his success.
It will be the first Dakar for Ross Branch in Hero MotoSports Team Rally colors after coming on board in February 2022. Ross, however, is no stranger to the Dakar, having participated in the Rally on four previous occasions, and achieving a stage win in 2020. His performance in the first year with Hero MotoSports has been great, as he brought several stage wins and stage podiums for the team at various international rallies.
Caimi and Buhler missed the 2022 Dakar owing to unfortunate crashes in the last months preceding the Rally. However, they have recovered well over the year, and have put up highly competitive performances at the last few races of the W2RC 2022.
