Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pablo Quintanilla is off to a good start in the 2017 OiLibya Morocco Rally today, handily winning Stage 1 of the five-stage event to assume the provisional rally lead.
The defending FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion, Quintanilla of Chile was strong right from the start of the 272-kilometer timed special stage today. After qualifying third in yesterday’s prologue, kept picking up speed as the day wore on, pulling nearly two minutes ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Matthias Walkner of Austria. Quintanilla went on to win the stage with a time of 3 hours, 2 minutes and 10 seconds. He is currently 1 minute and 51 seconds ahead of Walkner in the rally’s provisional overall standings. Red Bull KTM’s Sam Sunderland, the reigning Dakar Rally Champion, finished third with a time of 3:06:41, and he sits another minute and 40 seconds behind Sunderland.
“It was a long day and I’m happy I got the win,” Quintanilla said. “We left the bivouac very early in the morning and got to the start of the timed special before 9 a.m. The special stage was quite fast. There were lots of parallel tracks, and with low visibility due to the dust it was easy to make a mistake. Navigation was tricky, and for some kilometers it was difficult to follow the road book. I felt really good on my bike. I got a good pace right from the start and kept my momentum until the end of the timed special. I didn’t do any big mistake, and I’m really satisfied with my performance today.”
American rider Ricky Brabec may be in for a rough time at the OiLibya Morocco Rally. The Monster Energy Honda star is battling the flu, and that may have been a big factor in his seventh-place finish today, although he didn’t mention is illness post-stage.
“Stage one was really fast,” Brabec said. “It’s always hard to get out from a long liaison to racing at full gas on high-speed pistes. There were a lot of notes, so it made it a little bit difficult to go at full speed and read that quickly. We’ll get used to it, and we’ll prepare our stuff for stage two and then on to a marathon stage in the sand dunes.”
Contesting his first Morocco Rally, American rider and former AMA Supercross and Motocross star Andrew short finished the day in 33rd place.
“It was a rough day for me, but I felt that I learned a lot,” Short said. “Today I had to adapt pretty quickly to the high demands of a very long and tricky stage. I struggled with the road book in some parts, and when I got to the start of the timed special my odometer went to zero. It was something new for me. You don’t really learn unless you are racing, and all in all I’m happy I’m doing what I’m doing right now. It was pretty cool to get out there and see the speed of the top guys. I got to see their style and also get a clearer understanding about the way the organization works with the checkpoints and the refuelling. To get that experience is good for me, and I know what to expect in the future.”
Tomorrow’s stage two of the 2017 OiLibya Morocco Rally is basically a loop route around the city of Erfoud, a total distance of 388 kilometers with a timed special stage of 364 kilometers.
2017 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship
OiLibya Morocco Rally
Morocco
Results: October 6, 2017 (Stage 1 of 5)
Stage 1
1. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing/3:02:10
2. Matthias Walkner (AUT) Factory Racing Team/+00:01:51
3. Sam Sunderland (GBR) KTM Factory Racing Team KTM/+00:04:31
4. Kevin Benavides (ARG) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:05:36
5. Paulo Goncalves (POR) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:05:46
6. Antione MEo (FRA) KTM Factory Racing Team/+00:07:38
7. Ricky Brabec (USA) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:12:33
8. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA) Yamaha Motor Europe/+00:13:04
9. Joan Pedrero (ESP) Sherco TVS Rally Factory/+00:13:04
10. Alessandro Botturi (ITA) Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team/+00:14:24
2017 OiLibya Morocco Rally Provisional Overall Standings (after Stage 1 of 5)
1. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing/3:11:20
2. Matthias Walkner (AUT) Factory Racing Team/+00:01:34
3. Sam Sunderland (GBR) KTM Factory Racing Team KTM/+00:04:14
4. Kevin Benavides (ARG) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:05:53
5. Paulo Goncalves (POR) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:06:30
6. Antione Meo (FRA) KTM Factory Racing Team/+00:12:47
7. Ricky Brabec (USA) Monster Energy Honda Team/+00:13:01
8. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA) Yamaha Motor Europe/+00:13:09
9. Joan Pedrero (ESP) Sherco TVS Rally Factory/+00:13:39
10. Alessandro Botturi (ITA) Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team/+00:16:02
Race Schedule – OiLibya Rally of Morocco 2017
Super Stage | Sept 5 | Fes | SS: 12.16km | Total: 54.34km
Stage 1 | Sept 6 | Fes – Erfoud | SS: 272.80km | Total: 859.14km
Stage 2 | Sept 7 | Erfoud – Erfoud | SS: 364.50km | Total: 388.94km
Stage 3 | Sept 8 | Erfoud – Erg Lihoudi | SS: 577.90km | Total: 595.70km
Stage 4 | Sept 9 | Erg Lihoudi – Erfoud | SS: 455.07km | Total: 482.04
Stage 5 | Sept 10 | Erfoud – Erfoud | SS: 188.15km | Total: 232.06km
Total SS: 1,870.58km | Total Rally: 2,612.22km
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