2023 Sonora Rally: Bradley Cox shines in W2RC round 3 prologue ahead of Toby Price

Rally 2 class rider Bradley Cox tops the prologue results ahead of Toby Price at the 2023 Sonora Rally, round three of the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship as action gets underway in Mexico.

Riders faced a 10-kilometer prologue startign on a drag strip and heading out into the desert to dodge cactus and duck through the trees and bushes to establish start order for main race day 1 of the 2022 Sonora Rally in Mexico. It gives the 10 fastest riders of the FIM RallyGP class chance to pick their starting order for tomorrow with all others following in finish (time) order.

Sonora Rally prologue in a nutshell:

Rally2 rider Bradley Cox in the BAS World KTM Racing team sprang a surprise, bouncing back from injury which put him out of the Dakar Rally.
The South African blasted a time quicker than all the RallyGP contenders. Sure, it was two seconds but a win is a win is a win – especially with that list of riders behind you.
Toby Price topped the RallyGP class for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing ahead of Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Luciano Benavides and privateer Tosha Schareina making the most of some factory Honda support at this race.
Slippery conditions caught plenty of the riders out with many eager to get back into action, some of them after injuries. Running on in corners was a common thread in the post prologue interviews.
Best of the pre-race favourites, previous winners and those with local knowledge for the is first W2RC round in North America, Ricky Brabec finished sixth, one place behind his Monster Energy Honda team-mate Adrien Van Beveren.
Ross Branch brought the Hero home in P7 ahead of 2022 winner Skyler Howes with Dakar champ Kevin Benavides and Daniel Sanders completing the top 10, all within 15 seconds of each other.
The rally starts for real tomorrow with a first stage composed of 340 km, 175km of which are special stage with 165 Km of liaison all looping out of base camp for the rally in Hermosillo.