Bradley Cox finished the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship on a tear as he won the Rally2 class at the final two races of the season, but his campaign was ultimately a story of “what could have been”. He hurt his elbow on the first day of the Dakar Rally, which sidelined him for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge before mechanical issues plagued him at the Sonora Rally, and he ended the calendar fourth in points.
Still, closing out the year by winning the first stage of the Rallye du Maroc and never letting go of the overall lead was a pretty nice consolation prize ahead of next year’s Dakar. Cox won the Prologue and Stage #1, eventually building up such a strong advantage that he could ride more conservatively on the final day and finish fifth but still take the outright win with ease.
Romain Dumontier was the only Rally2 rider to score podiums in every race he entered, winning at Dakar and Sonora followed by a third at the Desafío Ruta 40 and second in the Rallye du Maroc. While he dominated the class in his two victories, the pair of non-wins were still displays of consistency as he never finished a stage lower than fourth. Even when he missed the podium in Stage #4, it was only by a minute and a half to Paolo Lucci.
“A season full of pitfalls but we managed to get through to the end,” Dumontier described the year. He finished runner-up in the 2022 Rally2 standings.
Lucci entered Morocco trailing Dumontier by thirteen points but was unable to overtake him in the championship or rally overall. He was the lone Rally2 rider to enter all five rounds but crashed out in Argentina.
“Would have preferred to go up one more step but things didn’t always go the way I hoped,” commented Lucci, “but in the end I’m happy and grateful for all the experiences brought home and for getting the chance to try until the end.”
After winning three stages at the Desafío Ruta 40, Michael Docherty continued his momentum by claiming two more in Morocco. However, his rally ended on the final day when he overshot a dune and hit his head on his bike’s handlebars, followed by a mechanical issue that formally prevented him from continuing.
Rally2 was the largest class in Morocco by a wide margin with a staggering ninety-seven entries. Many of the near-century were preparing for the 2024 Dakar Rally, while others were hoping to use the event to earn free registration for Dakar via the Road to Dakar. Toby Hederics won the latter as he finished an impressive sixth in his W2RC début.
Jane Daniels entered her first W2RC race just days after securing her fourth FIM Women’s EnduroGP World Championship. While still new to rally raid with only a few months of experience, she finished thirtieth in class and right behind fellow female rider Yael Kadshai. Kadshai was also the highest finishing woman at the unrelated Morocco Desert Challenge in April. Steff Rowe, another entry in the Rallye du Maroc’s Women’s Trophy, retired after hurting her left arm by crashing into a rock shortly after Stage #4 began.
With such a massive field, it was not surprising that there were plenty who did not make it to the end. Twenty failed to finish, ranging from the aforementioned riders gearing up for Dakar to W2RC regulars, with some getting into horrendous accidents.
Kove Moto brought a quartet of bikes to Morocco, though the Chinese manufacturer’s national riders Fang Xiangling and Sunier were the only ones to reach the finish. Xavier Flick, the team’s new factory rider, withdrew after Stage #1 to return to France following his father’s death. Neels Theric retired after an unusual but violent accident in Stage #4 when Julien Jagu and his fellow riders got lost on a plateau without a CAP reading (basically a compass direction); Jagu turned around to rejoin the course amid a cloud of dust, only for Theric to slam into his bike at nearly 100 kilometres an hour. Lucci, who was among the lost competitors, activated the distress signal for them and they were airlifted to hospital. Despite the impact, Theric only suffered a broken hand while Jagu broke his elbow.
While Dumontier had the perfect bookends to 2023, Konrad Dąbrowski suffered the opposite as he missed Dakar due to appendicitis before a Stage #2 crash in Morocco led to a concussion and broken shoulder. The stage also saw Matthieu Jauffraud rupture his Achilles and fracture his tibia, while Modestas Siliunas‘ bike ignited into flames that Quad champion Laisvydas Kancius tried to extinguish using his vehicle to no avail.
Tobias Ebster, who stunned the Rally2 world by winning the class in Abu Dhabi, sustained a shoulder dislocation and labrum tear two kilometres into the opening stage. Gioele Meoni, son of the late Dakar Rally legend Fabrizio Meoni, broke his shoulder after losing control of his bike along a small mountain in Stage #4.
Rally2 overall results
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 32 | Bradley Cox | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 17:06:37 | Leader |
| 2 | 30 | Romain Dumontier | HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing | 17:20:05 | + 13:28 |
| 3 | 31 | Paolo Lucci | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 17:27:46 | + 21:09 |
| 4 | 76 | Jean-Loup Lepan | DUUST Diverse Racing | 17:31:14 | + 24:37 |
| 5 | 44 | Tommaso Montanari* | Fantic Rally Team | 19:10:41 | + 2:04:04 |
| 6 | 71 | Toby Hederics* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 19:11:16 | + 2:04:39 |
| 7 | 106 | Jaromír Romančík* | Orion – Moto Racing Group | 19:18:51 | + 2:12:14 |
| 8 | 41 | Jeremy Miroir* | Fantic Rally Team | 19:21:25 | + 2:14:48 |
| 9 | 109 | Diego Llanos* | Xraids Experience | 19:26:48 | + 2:20:11 |
| 10 | 43 | Jan Brabec* | Strojrent Racing | 19:38:30 | + 2:31:53 |
| 11 | 39 | Benjamin Melot* | Team Esprit KTM | 19:57:07 | + 2:50:30 |
| 12 | 110 | Salvador Guiomar Vargas* | Xraids Experience | 20:20:27 | + 3:13:50 |
| 13 | 70 | Jérôme Bas* | Team Giroud Universal Ride | 20:23:47 | + 3:17:10 |
| 14 | 54 | Josep Pedró Subirats* | Xraids Experience | 20:48:19 | + 3:41:42 |
| 15 | 94 | Alexandre Vaudan* | Team Casteu | 21:01:13 | + 3:54:36 |
| 16 | 49 | Fang Xiangliang* | Kove Moto | 21:22:16 | + 4:15:39 |
| 17 | 72 | Tomás de Gavardo* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 21:28:12 | + 4:21:35 |
| 18 | 53 | Thomas Kongshøj* | Joyride Race Service | 21:34:03 | + 4:27:26 |
| 19 | 45 | Sunier* | Kove Moto | 21:37:32 | + 4:30:55 |
| 20 | 107 | Dušan Drdaj* | Orion – Moto Racing Group | 21:53:56 | + 4:47:19 |
| 21 | 83 | Marshall Méplon* | Marshall Méplon | 22:04:45 | + 4:58:08 |
| 22 | 46 | Cesar Rojo* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 22:06:54 | + 5:00:17 |
| 23 | 128 | Clément Artaud* | Team Dumontier Racing | 22:16:51 | + 5:10:14 |
| 24 | 88 | Jérémie Gerber* | Nomade Racing | 22:19:14 | + 5:12:37 |
| 25 | 48 | Jeremy Poncet* | Xtrem Garage | 22:25:07 | + 5:18:30 |
| 26 | 108 | Julien Dalbec* | Nomade Racing | 22:37:12 | + 5:30:35 |
| 27 | 136 | Guillaume Borne | Africa Rallye Team | 22:41:41 | + 5:35:04 |
| 28 | 105 | Martin Prokeš* | Orion – Moto Racing Group | 22:43:40 | + 5:37:03 |
| 29 | 133 | Yael Kadshai* # | Nomade Racing | 22:54:52 | + 5:48:15 |
| 30 | 131 | Jane Daniels* # | Fantic Rally Team | 22:56:57 | + 5:50:20 |
| 31 | 67 | Bruno Leblanc* | Bruno Leblanc | 23:01:53 | + 5:55:16 |
| 32 | 98 | Fabien Domas* | Drag’on Rally Team | 23:37:06 | + 6:30:29 |
| 33 | 87 | Damien Bataller* | Team DB Racing | 23:39:22 | + 6:32:45 |
| 34 | 100 | Stéphane Brunaud* | Nomade Racing | 23:44:07 | + 6:37:30 |
| 35 | 90 | Adrien Costes* | Nomade Racing | 23:56:24 | + 6:49:47 |
| 36 | 123 | Fabian Von Thuengen* | HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing | 24:04:58 | + 6:58:21 |
| 37 | 122 | Weston Carr* | HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing | 24:24:12 | + 7:17:35 |
| 38 | 125 | Ganzorig Chuluun* | HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing | 24:37:36 | + 7:30:59 |
| 39 | 115 | Adrien Roland* | RM Nature et Énergie | 24:38:37 | + 7:32:00 |
| 40 | 112 | Sébastien Herbet* | Team Dumontier Racing | 24:52:23 | + 7:45:46 |
| 41 | 66 | Bertrand Domet* | DOM Team | 24:53:20 | + 7:46:43 |
| 42 | 65 | Arnaud Domet* | DOM Team | 24:55:16 | + 7:48:39 |
| 43 | 80 | Mykolas Paulavicius* | Mykolas Paulavicius Dakar Team | 25:07:59 | + 8:01:22 |
| 44 | 85 | Jean-Philippe Révolte* | Révolte Racing | 25:21:43 | + 8:15:06 |
| 45 | 82 | Christopher Jautard* | Nomade Racing | 25:46:08 | + 8:39:31 |
| 46 | 74 | Mathieu Feuvrier* | Nomade Racing | 25:55:00 | + 8:4*;23 |
| 47 | 57 | Gad Nachmani* | Club Aventura Touareg | 25:57:16 | + 8:50+ 39 |
| 48 | 104 | Benjamin Bourdariat* | RS Concept Team | 26:03:49 | 8:57:12 |
| 49 | 97 | Maxime Pouponnet* | Team Maxime Pouponnet | 26:06:47 | + 9:00:10 |
| 50 | 63 | Javier Campos* | Javier Campos | 26:13:46 | + 09:07:09 |
| 51 | 61 | Jim Moisa* | Enduro Normandie Rally Team | 26:26:31 | + 9:19:54 |
| 52 | 118 | Benjamin Lepelley* | Team Dumontier Racing | 26:55:20 | + 9:48:43 |
| 53 | 84 | Carl Searles* | Searles2Dakar | 27:05:49 | + 9:59:12 |
| 54 | 81 | Jonathan Savel* | Jonathan Savel | 28:04:58 | + 10:58:21 |
| 55 | 102 | Borja Pérez Casimiro* | Borja Pérez Casimiro | 28:12:35 | + 11:05:58 |
| 56 | 120 | Ramon Vidal Bregante* | Ramon Vidal Bregante | 28:18:36 | + 11:11:59 |
| 57 | 55 | Max Bianucci* | Nomade Racing | 28:21:47 | + 11:15:10 |
| 58 | 99 | Craig Searles* | Searles2Dakar | 28:48:47 | + 11:42:10 |
| 59 | 56 | Rémy Brochart* | RM Nature et Énergie | 28:53:11 | + 11:46:34 |
| 60 | 40 | Jon Florea* | Gerula Racing | 29:11:48 | + 12:05:11 |
| 61 | 95 | Rémy Moreau* | Nomade Racing | 30:07:59 | + 13:01:22 |
| 62 | 124 | Axel Mustad* | HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing | 30:18:48 | + 13:12:11 |
| 63 | 50 | Thomas Georgin* | Enduro Normandie Rally Team | 31:12:08 | + 14:05:31 |
| 64 | 78 | Stéphane Bouvier* | Team BS Adventure | 31:27:21 | + 14:20:44 |
| 65 | 51 | Mathieu Girard* | Nomade Racing | 31:45:57 | + 14:39:20 |
| 66 | 58 | Dennis Mildenberger* | Nomadas Adventure | 31:53:51 | + 14:47:14 |
| 67 | 114 | Alexandre Yon* | Enduro Normandie Rally Team | 32:22:46 | + 15:16:09 |
| 68 | 37 | Mathieu Dovèze* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 36:40:04 | + 19:33:27 |
| 69 | 86 | Guillaume Martin* | Nomade Racing | 37:01:16 | + 19:54:39 |
| 70 | 103 | Loïc Peyrichout* | Team LPC | 40:54:28 | + 23:47:51 |
| 71 | 89 | Paul Costes* | Nomade Racing | 41:14:12 | + 24:07:35 |
| 72 | 134 | Christian Aboud | Africa Rallye Team | 48:14:54 | + 31:08:17 |
| 73 | 96 | Frédéric Baudry* | Nomade Racing | 56:55:10 | + 39:48:33 |
| 74 | 116 | Slawomir Sypien* | DUUST Diverse Racing | 71:15:10 | + 54:08:33 |
| 75 | 62 | Frédéric Grignion* | RM Nature et Énergie | 80:02:34 | + 62:55:57 |
| 76 | 69 | Jorge Escobedo Gil* | Pedrega Team | 81:55:58 | + 64:49:21 |
| 77 | 121 | John Spelier* | HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing | 83:18:38 | + 66:12:01 |
| DNF | 33 | Michael Docherty | BAS World KTM Racing Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 34 | Konrad Dąbrowski | DUUST Diverse Racing | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 36 | Dominique Cizeau Girault | Xraids Experience | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 38 | Neels Theric* | Kove Moto | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 59 | Darren Goodman* | Nomadas Adventure | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 64 | Modestas Siliunas* | AG Dakar School | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 73 | Matthieu Jauffraud* | Matthieu Jauffraud | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 91 | Samuel Fremy* | Nomade Racing | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 92 | Gediminas Satkus* | AG Dakar School | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 93 | Julien Jagu* | Julien Jagu | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 101 | Guillaume Rosier* | Guillaume Rosier | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 113 | Perrick Demonceaux* | Dems Machine | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 117 | Jakub Krezymon* | DUUST Diverse Racing | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 119 | Steff Rowe* # | Steff Rowe | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 126 | Gioele Meoni* | Dakar4Dakar | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 127 | Ferran Zaragoza Rosa* | Pedrega Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 129 | Xavier Flick* | Kove Moto | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 137 | Tobias Ebster* | Kini Rally Racing Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 139 | Romain Bouzigon* | Team Esprit KTM | DNF | N/A |
Bold – Junior Trophy competitor
Italics – Veteran Trophy competitor
# – Women’s Trophy competitor
Rally2 stage winners
| Stage | Rider | Time |
| Prologue | Bradley Cox | 58:20.5 (11:40.5) |
| Stage #1 | Bradley Cox | 3:33:37 |
| Stage #2 | Michael Docherty | 3:08:59 |
| Stage #3 | Romain Dumontier | 3:24:03 |
| Stage #4 | Michael Docherty | 3:50:54 |
| Stage #5 | Paolo Lucci | 2:00:01 |
Overall winners
| Class | Number | Competitor | Team | Time |
| T1 | 201 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 14:49:09 |
| T2 | 251 | Ronald Basso* | Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body | 22:14:17 |
| T3 | 315 | Marek Goczał | EnergyLandia Rally Team | 16:22:12 |
| T4 | 403 | João Ferreira | South Racing Can-Am | 18:26:24 |
| T5 | 506 | Michiel Becx* | Team de Rooy | 21:32:34 |
| RallyGP | 8 | Toby Price | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 15:56:43 |
| Rally2 | 32 | Bradley Cox | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 17:06:37 |
| Rally3 | 164 | Cheikh Yves Jacquemain | Africa Rallye Team | 23:42:39 |
| Quad | 186 | Alexandre Giroud* | Drag’on Rally Team | 21:07:24 |
| Open Auto | 601 | Jérôme Cambier* | MD Rallye Sport | 21:21:46 |
| Open SSV | 653 | Tomas Mickus* | BRO Racing | 21:42:23 |
| Road to Dakar Bike | 71 | Toby Hederics* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 19:11:16 |
| Road to Dakar SSV | 420 | William Grarre* | Team Horizon Off-Road | 21:50:39 |
W2RC Rally2 standings
| Rank | Rider | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Romain Dumontier | 99 | Leader |
| 2 | Paolo Lucci | 82 | – 17 |
| 3 | Jean-Loup Lepan | 71 | – 28 |
| 4 | Bradley Cox | 60 | – 39 |
| 5 | Jacob Argubright | 35 | – 64 |
| 6 | Michael Docherty | 33 | – 66 |
| 7 | Konrad Dąbrowski | 31 | – 68 |
| 8 | Toni Mulec | 30 | – 69 |
| 9 | Mathieu Dovèze | 28 | – 71 |
| 10 | Dominique Cizeau Girault | 23 | – 76 |
| 11 | Neels Theric | 13 | – 86 |
| 12 | Jan Brabec | 12 | – 87 |
| T-13 | Jon Florea | 11 | – 88 |
| T-13 | Jiří Brož | 11 | – 88 |
| T-13 | Mirjam Pol | 11 | – 88 |
| 16 | Sunier | 9 | – 90 |
