The Spaniard leaves it all on the table in stage five of the Sealine Cross Country Rally in Qatar, landing the overall win for Team HRC.
Team HRC’s Joan Barreda may be the outright fastest rally rider in the world today, but rally raid races don’t always go to the swift, and the Spaniard showed a level of improved maturity that certainly helped him at the Sealine Cross Country Rally in Qatar today.
Rather than finish the five-day race with a blazing pace that could lead to a crash or parts breakage, a steady pace in Qatar allowed Barreda to steal the overall win and secure his second career FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship win and his first win since joining the factory Honda CRF450 Rally squad. Barreda completed the full timed distance over the five days in 20 hours, 28 minutes and 46 seconds.
Barreda’s teammate Hélder Rodrigues took the final stage victory ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Ruben Faria, earning himself a place on the final podium too after a string of steady daily performances. Rodrigues’ win capped a strong performance by Team HRC, which claimed four of the five stage wins in Qatar. Barreda, meanwhile, rode conservatively–by his own standards anyway. He caught main rival Marc Coma and then kept the Red Bull KTM rider in check all the way to the finish line, using Coma’s primary tactic against him.
“I’m really pleased,” Barreda said. “Finally, after a whole week of really hard work, I’ve made it. I’m really happy for the victory, for the team, and for Honda. We have won here in Qatar, and we are leading the World Championship too. This is a just reward for all the hard work that the team has done.”
The Qatar win also vaults Barreda into the World Championship lead, replacing teammate and reigning FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion Paulo Gonçalves at the head of the leaderboard. Gonçalves was sixth in stage five and finished fifth overall in the rally. Coma has moved to second place in the standings, a mere one point behind Barreda.
Sealine Cross Country Rally
Um Sa’id, Qatar
Results: April 25, 2014 (Stage 5 of 5)
Stage 5
1. Helder Rodrigues-Hon/04:17’59
2. Ruben Faria-KTM/+00:01:06
3. Joan Barreda-Hon/+00:03:55
4. Marc Coma-KTM/+00:05:59
5. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+00:10:13
6. Paulo Goncalves-Hon/+00:11:57
7. Jakub Piatek-KTM/+00:28:16
8. Mohammed Albalooshi-KTM/+00:30:05
9. Santosh CS-KTM/+00:35:00
10. Mohammed Abu Issa-Yam/+00:35:57
Overall Results (After 5 of 5 stages)
1. Joan Barreda-Hon/20:28’46
2. Marc Coma-KTM/+00:01:23
3. Helder Rodrigue-Hon/+00:01:50
4. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+00:07:19
5. Paulo Goncalves-Hon/+00:08:40
6. Mohammed Albalooshi-KTM/+03:12’36
7. Mohammed Abu Issa-Yam/+04:15’10
8. Rafal Sonik-Hon/+04:47’26
9. Julián Villarrubia-Hon/+04:59’39
10. Jakub Piatek-KTM/+05:30’06
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