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Walkner's victory is KTM's third consecutive win in the series with Toby Price and Sam Sunderland earning the 2018 and 2019 titles, before the 2020 series was can- celled due to the pandemic. Third in Morocco, Australian Sanders goes into the 2022 Dakar Rally as one of the dark horses on the red GasGas. "Opening the final stage was pretty cool," Sanders said. "After around 80 kilometers the naviga- tion became a bit more tricky, so I had to slow my pace to make sure I was on the right path. I actually had a small crash in the dunes, but I was up quick and straight back on a decent rhythm. I'm really happy to have finished third on this stage after open- ing and overall, it's been a great week. To end it with a podium and secure the first podium result for GasGas in the World Champi- onship is really cool." Fourth in Morocco went to early rally leader Brabec. The Californian won Stage 3 but dropped from the leading trio over the next two stages, ending the rally happy, as he finalizes his preparation for Dakar 2022. "I'm happy to finish another rally, it's been good training for the Dakar," Brabec said. "I'm also very excited for the Honda team to be on top of the podium. Un- fortunately, we couldn't have two Honda riders on the final podium. It takes a lot of guts to win a stage and it takes a lot of cour- age to open a stage: only three riders have opened this rally, and I think we opened the most difficult stages. I'm really look- ing forward to the Dakar and this was just training. I made a couple of mistakes and missed out on the podium on the last day, but at least we'll get home safe and sound and get back to training to be ready for the Dakar." Fifth and the first Yamaha home went to Frenchman Adrien van Beveren from Rockstar Ener- gy Husqvarna's Lucio Benavides, one place ahead of brother Kevin on the Red Bull KTM. Joaquim Rodrigues bought his Hero Motorsports entry home in eighth ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha's Andrew Short, with Jose Ignacio Cornejo fending off fellow Monster Energy Honda rider Joan Barreda for the final position in the top 10. The rally was the first competi- tive two-wheeled entry for Toby Price since he broke his shoul- der at the 2021 Dakar Rally. The Australian finished strong, taking fourth on the final stage and eventually coming home in 13th. "It's good to get the last day done, and out of Morocco in one piece," Price said. "I picked up a small penalty for speeding in today's stage but all-in-all I can't complain. It's good to get the first one under the belt after being off the bike for so long, and I'm look- ing forward to Abu Dhabi now to see what we can do there." CN OVERALL 1. Pablo Quintanilla (Hon) 2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 3. Daniel Sanders (GG) 4. Ricky Brabec (Hon) 5. Adrien Van Beveren (Yam) IN THE WIND P54 Matthias Walkner's second place was enough to clinch the 2021 FIM Cross- Country Rallies World Championship crown.