Ross Branch Finishes Prologue in Second Place

Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, Hero MotoCorp, has kicked off its campaign at the 47th edition of the Dakar Rally. This is the ninth consecutive appearance of Hero MotoSports at the world’s toughest race.

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Hero MotoSports team at Dakar Rally 2025 (Photo: Business Wire)

Competing with a stellar line-up of three Rally GP class riders - Ross Branch, Sebastian Buhler, and Nacho Cornejo - the team started the rally on an optimistic note by finishing a short, yet challenging 29 km Prologue stage.

Defending FIM World Champion Ross Branch stormed to an impressive second-place finish, setting the tone right for the team's campaign. His teammate Sebastian Bühler crossed the finish line clocking the 9th fastest time, while Nacho Cornejo finished at the 20th position – all three of them competing in the Rally GP class.

335 vehicles made it to the start line of Dakar 2025, after successfully completing the administrative and technical scrutineering in the previous days. There are 580 competitors representing 52 nationalities at this Dakar. 134 of them are on motorbikes, which include 21 top-tier riders in the Rally GP class, and another 113 competing in Rally 2.

The weather at Bisha has been unfavourable so far, with strong winds and sandstorms making Dakar 2025 very challenging for the competitors at the bivouac, even before the official start!

Dakar 2025 which started today with a Prologue will continue for 12 stages spanning 7,700 kilometers across the vast Arabian desert. For the first time, FIM and FIA vehicles will go on separate courses across almost a staggering 45% of the overall distance. New and upgraded challenges await the competitors, including the return of the 48-hour Chrono stage - a challenging two-day effort where competitors are forced to shut off their engines at sunset, and survive on their own in secluded areas set up in the middle of the desert.

Stage 1 will be a 500 km loop exploring the desert south of Bisha. Except for sand, competitors will be racing on all sorts of surfaces including rocky and stony surfaces.

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Press Contact: corporate.communication@heromotocorp.com