Hero Motorsports’ Ross Branch Wins World Rally Raid Championship
Hero MotoSports Team Rally’s Ross Branch won the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship title after finishing the Rallye Du Maroc 2024, the fifth and final round of FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) 2024. Retaining the championship title, Hero rider Ross, has shown some of his best skills since the beginning of this season.
He also secured 2nd position at Hero MotoSports’ first-ever Dakar podium at Dakar 2024, in the month of January. A month later he again secured the second position in the Championship at Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. He then finished fifth at both Rally Raid held in Portugal in April and another in Argentina in June. The impressive performances made him lead ultimately earning him the championship title.
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The Hero team, at the 25th edition of Rallye Du Maroc were represented by three riders namely, Ross Branch, Nacho Cornejo, and Sebastian Buhler. The rally later took an adventurous turn, following a straightforward lead at Marrakech, despite rain and floods, that washed out the terrain making it more difficult, resulting in several competitors retiring midway due to accidents and injury. Hero rider Sebastian Buhler had to withdraw in Stage 2 after a crash, leaving Branch and Cornejo to continue the competition and have an upper hand. The rally, which spanned nearly 2,500 kilometers across the Sahara desert, concluded after six days near to the Algerian border.
When Ross’s closest competitor withdrew from the race due to injury, it became clear that he only needed to finish the rally to secure the World Championship title. With the whole team focused on ensuring Ross’s safe completion, Nacho Cornejo putting his own race performance aside, stayed by Ross’s side throughout the week. It was time to celebrate, relax, and unwind before they gear up for the next season.
Since the rally World Championship for motorbikes began in 2003, only ten riders have made their mark in FIM history, now Ross Branch becomes the eleventh and the first African to win the title. In just their eighth year of racing, Hero MotoSports has achieved its first FIM World title. They had almost won this year’s Dakar Rally. This victory secures the Indian manufacturer’s place among the elite, making them the sixth manufacturer to earn a FIM World title and the first to break KTM’s long-standing championship streak since 2014.
With this iconic win, Hero MotoSports, once started as a rookie team in 2016, looks forward to the 2025 season, beginning with the Dakar Rally in January.
