2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship
Andalucia Rally
GASGAS Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland became the 2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Champion after wrapping up the Andalucia Rally in fifth, marking the first world title for GASGAS in rally competition.
As racing seasons go, it couldn’t really have gone much better for Sam Sunderland. Kicking off 2022 by winning the biggest race of them all, the Dakar Rally he took an early lead in the 2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship.
Round two, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, was up next and the GASGAS Factory Racing star’s winning ways continued. Riding a faultless race and still stoked on his Dakar win, the Brit claimed his second victory on the bounce to further extend his points lead at the top of the world championship.
After a couple of cancellations and postponements in the racing calendar, Sam didn’t line up for FIM World Rally-Raid Championship duty again until the Rallye du Maroc in early October. In what was perhaps his most crucial result of the season, Sam overcame the discomfort of a pre-race crash to put in a gutsy performance and place fifth overall to maintain his championship lead.
Heading into this year’s final round, the Andalucia Rally, Sam needed just three points to be crowned world champion.
A runner-up finish on stage one continued his promising start before the second day of racing was cancelled due to bad weather. A couple of mistakes on the penultimate stage and an unfortunate time penalty ruled out any chance of ending the season with a podium result.
Knowing that he just needed to complete the final stage to be crowned champion, Sam did exactly that to lift the 2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship trophy surrounded by the entire GASGAS Factory Racing team.
Sam Sunderland – 2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Champion
“Amazing! It’s been a crazy year with the Dakar win and then winning in Abu Dhabi, but then we had a big gap over the summer. We were back in action for the last round in Morocco but that one was tough as I hurt my wrist in a crash before we even started. But with the championship on the line, I had no choice but to push through it and my result there really made things easier for the final round. I had a couple of close calls yesterday and after that, and knowing that getting on the overall podium would be almost impossible, I kept things super steady. I’m really grateful to have the GASGAS Factory Racing team behind me, it’s been an amazing year, and I know we’re all looking forward to celebrating this one!”
Rounding out the top three in the championship were Team Monster Energy Honda’s Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren on 59 and 58-points respectively.
Husqvarna’s Luciano Benavides was fourth on 52-points, tied with Pablo Quintanilla, José Ignacio Cornejo sixth on 39-points. KTM’s top two riders were Kevin Benavides and Matthias Walkner on 36 and 35-points respectively in seventh and eighth.
Skyler Howes and Joaquim Rodrigues rounded out the top-ten in the standings with Toby Price 12th on 25-points after crashes throughout the season forced him to retire.
2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship Final Standings
| Pos | Rider | Team | Total |
| 1 | S. SUNDERLAND (GBR) | Team Gas Gas Factory Racing | 85 |
| 2 | R. BRABEC (USA) | Team Monster Energy Honda | 59 |
| 3 | A. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) | Team Monster Energy Honda | 58 |
| 4 | L. BENAVIDES (ARG) | Team Husqvarna Factory Racing | 52 |
| 5 | P. QUINTANILLA (CHL) | Team Monster Energy Honda | 52 |
| 6 | J. CORNEJO FLORIMO (CHL) | Team Monster Energy Honda | 39 |
| 7 | K. BENAVIDES (ARG) | Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 36 |
| 8 | M. WALKNER (AUT) | Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 35 |
| 9 | L. SANTOLINO (ESP) | Team Sherco Rallye | 34 |
| 10 | S. HOWES (USA) | Team Husqvarna Factory Racing | 31 |
| 11 | J. RODRIGUES (PRT) | Team Hero Motorsports Rally | 26 |
| 12 | T. PRICE (AUS) | Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 25 |
| 13 | R. BRANCH (BWA) | Team Hero Motorsports Rally | 21 |
| 14 | F. CAIMI (ARG) | Hero Motosports Team Rally | 20 |
| 15 | J. BARREDA BORT (ESP) | Team Monster Energy Honda | 17 |
| 16 | R. GONÇALVES (PRT) | Team Sherco Rallye | 14 |
| 17 | X. DE SOULTRAIT (FRA) | Team HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing | 6 |
| 18 | A. MARE (ZAF) | Team Hero Motorsports Rally | 5 |
| 19 | M. MICHEK (CZE) | Orion – Moto Racing Group | 2 |
Van Beveren wins the 2022 Andalucia Rally for Honda
Adrien Van Beveren took his first victory as a rider for the Monster Energy Honda Team, after a great performance on the last stage of the Andalucia Rally. And there was a second reason to celebrate: the title of Manufacturers FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion.
There was a lot of tension in this last day, reaching Cadiz after a 100 kilometres special stage (plus 300 km of liaison). Riders had the chance to experience an intense journey speeding in large dirt roads, but also challenged to navigate in small mountains in more slow and technical terrains.
In the end Adrien Van Beveren was 16 seconds faster than Kevin Benavides and won another stage. In the overall standings the Frenchman could celebrate an emotional victory, having his family right beside him.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Kevin Benavides opened the fourth stage of the final round of the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship. Benavides knew that it would be hard to make up time on the leader over the relatively short timed special.
Setting off first into the stage early this morning, Benavides gave his all, pushing hard on the rocky, slippery tracks in the hope of staying ahead of his chasing rivals.
Topping the timesheets right up until the final few kilometres of the special, a small mistake cost Kevin around 20 seconds, and the stage win. However, despite incurring a six-minute penalty on day one, the Red Bull KTM rider’s consistent performance throughout the event secured him second place overall, just over three minutes from the winner.
Luciano Benavides has finished the 2022 Andalucia Rally in third place overall. A strong ride on the short, final stage of the Spanish event saw the Husqvarna Factory Racing rider secure his second consecutive event podium, claiming fourth overall in the final 2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship standings.
With the times extremely close between the top three, a small mistake by Luciano later in the special cost him several valuable seconds, and with a sizeable advantage to the fourth-placed competitor, Benavides decided to ease his pace slightly over the final kilometres to ensure a safe podium finish.
Santolino finished the Andalucia Rally in fourth, ahead of Sunderland, with Schareina sixth.
Of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally riders in the RallyGP standings, Ross completed the rally in seventh place, with Joaquim less than 2 minutes behind in ninth. Ricky Brabec was eighth and Goncalves 10th.
Adrien Van Beveren – P1
“This is not Dakar, but for me it was very important to win here in Andalucia. I knew Kevin Benavides would push a lot, so I had to go as fast as I could. I must say this victory goes also to my family that is here today with me. They are always on my back supporting me…This is a very emotional day. The Honda CRF450 RALLY is really amazing, comfortable, safe and allows me to reach a great performance. I am so happy to deliver this first victory to Honda since they welcomed me like family. Now I am looking forward to the next Dakar.”
Kevin Benavides – P2
“It was a good stage for me today. It was really tricky, there was a lot of navigation as well as a lot of mountains and kind of enduro-style tracks. I knew that everyone would push today and so I really had to go for it – I only lost about 15 seconds to Adrien (Van Beveren), even though I was opening the stage, so I’m really happy with that. Unfortunately, losing stage two due to the weather and with the event so short, I couldn’t quite regain the time I lost to the penalty on day one. It’s frustrating, but in the end, I know I did my best here and I have a really strong pace. With two months to go to Dakar I’m feeling really confident. This season doesn’t look so good on paper, I had an issue at the Dakar, and again in Abu Dhabi, but my speed has been right up there with the best. The team have done a great job with the bike, and it has worked well both here in Spain and at the previous round in Morocco, so that’s super encouraging, too. We have some time now to finish testing and prepare ourselves for the 2023 Dakar. I’m really looking forward to it, and hope to finish on top.”
Luciano Benavides – P3
“I’m happy to complete the last day of the rally – it was another crazy stage of hard navigation and really tough tracks. It was shorter than the previous days, but it was still quite challenging due to the tricky navigation and less visible pistes. There were also many, many rocks and stones, so it was hard to find a good rhythm. I made a little mistake near the end, but I knew if I stayed at a solid pace, my third place would be safe, so I eased off a little in the final kilometres to bring it home safely. To get back-to-back podiums from here and Morocco and to be able to share the podium with my brother feels great, and the result has moved me up to fourth in the world championship, so I’m really pleased with that, too. It’s important to finish the season strong, with good speed and no injuries, so the plan now is to carry this form to Dakar.”
Ross Branch – P7
“Overall, it has been a good rally for me. We have shown that we have the speed to compete with the other teams, and that has helped my confidence. The bike is running well and the team is working hard. This is exactly what we needed for our Dakar preparation. I think we have a great chance to excel at the Dakar rally, and I am looking forward to it.”
Ricky Brabec – P8
“I am just happy to finish the race safe. Overall the rally was good, the first day wasn’t the best for us – we had a lot of trouble finding the rhythm. Out here is definitely tough for me, coming from California – I like the open desert – and here there are a lot of tracks and small roads. Now I am happy to get home in one piece and start focussing in the Dakar. I am also happy to get to race number 2 two years in a row. The all team did a great job, the Honda CRF450 RALLY is really good. Looking forward for the Dakar 2023!”
Joaquim Rodrigues – P9
“This is another good finish for the team. I am happy to make it to the finish line here after my crash in Morocco. The bike has been running well, and we have finished the Championship. Now we turn our attention to the Dakar Rally, starting in a few months.”
2022 Andalucia Rally Overall
| Pos | Rider | Time | Gap |
| 1 | A. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) | 9:58m48 | 0:00:00 |
| 2 | K. BENAVIDES (ARG) | 10:02m02 | +0:03:14 |
| 3 | L. BENAVIDES (ARG) | 10:05m25 | +0:06:37 |
| 4 | L. SANTOLINO (ESP) | 10:11m43 | +0:12:55 |
| 5 | S. SUNDERLAND (GBR) | 10:14m10 | +0:15:22 |
| 6 | T. SCHAREINA (ESP) | 10:17m22 | +0:18:34 |
| 7 | R. BRANCH (BWA) | 10:18m26 | +0:19:38 |
| 8 | R. BRABEC (USA) | 10:19m10 | +0:20:22 |
| 9 | J. RODRIGUES (PRT) | 10:19m38 | +0:20:50 |
| 10 | R. GONÇALVES (PRT) | 10:24m40 | +0:25:52 |
| 11 | JI. CORNEJO FLORIMO (CHL) | 10:41m31 | +0:42:43 |
| 12 | S. BÜHLER (DEU) | 10:44m25 | +0:45:37 |
| 13 | F. CAIMI (ARG) | 11:02m50 | +1:04:02 |
| 14 | HN. KOITHA VEETTIL (IND) | 25:40m40 | +15:41:52 |
