Ben Grabham won the final stage on his way to sixth overall at Morocco. Image: Rophe/KTM Images.

HSE Motorex KTM’s starred with a final stage victory at the weekend’s OiLibya Morocco Rally, a breakout performance in the final round of the Cross Country World Championship.

The stage win hoisted Grabham up two places to sixth overall for the event, which went to Paulo Goncalves (Team HRC Honda) by less than four minutes from 2012 champion Marc Coma (Red Bull KTM) and Joan Barreda (Team HRC Honda).

“It feels great to win a stage of a world rally, especially as it was my first world rally race,” Grabham said. “After some navigation training with Marc Coma in Spain and some riding with the team before the start in Morocco, I found my speed was good on the rally bike so it was just a matter of putting together a full day of racing.

“Earlier in the race I was still making small mistakes but on the final day I made very few mistakes and took the win. All week I was pretty much just doing my thing and not getting fussed over too much, but soon as I won the final day that all changed pretty fast.

“I was getting dragged in every direction for attention from the press. It gives me some good confidence and motivation heading into Dakar.”

Goncalves’ rally win meant the Portuguese rider was crowned 2013 world champion ahead of last year’s champion Coma (click here for race report).

Grabham had visited Coma in Spain directly before the Morocco Rally and trained with the three-time Dakar champion on navigation – an investment which the Aussie hopes will help him toward his goal in the Dakar Rally on 5-18 January.