Austria’s Matthias Walkner wins the tricky stage and moves up four positions in the overall standings; Marc Coma still leads.
Red Bull KTM’s Matthias Walkner leaned on teammate Jordi Viladoms for a little navigational help before breaking away and winning the long and arduous Stage 2 at the Sealine Rally in Qatar today, although fellow Red Bull KTM rider Marc Coma is still the overall leader.
Coma took full advantage of this season’s new rules and opted to start sixth in the 476-kilometer stage to give himself the best advantage of following the tracks and putting more time on his competition. KTM Warsaw Rally Team rider Pablo Quintanilla was first on the road, and Team HRC’s Paulo Goncalves set the early pace, but Coma masterfully used his starting advantage to increase his overall lead in the rally, taking over the stage lead by Checkpoint 2.
But Walkner was on the move, and he caught Coma and took over the stage lead at Checkpoint 4 before going on to win the day with a time of 4 hours, 6 minutes and 9 seconds. Red Bull KTM rider swept the top three positions today as Viladoms came through second, 2 minutes and 8 seconds behind Walkner, and Coma came in third another minute and 59 seconds behind Viladoms. Walkner was happy with the win.
“It was quite okay,” he said. “(Jordi) Viladoms did a really good job and made the navigation work. Now we have to work hard again tomorrow.”
Coma was able to add just under 2 minutes to his overall really lead on Team HRC’s Joan Barreda, who finished fourth today and now trails his rival by 2 minutes and 3 seconds.
“It was a very long stage,” Coma said. “I start sixth and try to catch everybody and did that at kilometer 160 and then I was opening. The last part in the dunes we make a big group together. It’s just the second day, another 400 kilometers tomorrow, and everything is possible. It was not easy to find the rhythm.”
Barreda, who finished 6 minutes and 4 seconds off of Walkner, said that he does not favor the new starting procedure that allows the stage winner to choose his starting position.
“The new rule makes it impossible to control the race,” Barreda said. “You can go as fast as you want but it doesn’t get you any good results. You get controlled from outside, and I’m not in favor of that. [But] I’m happy with today, which has been a really hard day. One where it was really tough to keep up the concentration with such a lot of complicated navigation. In the first few kilometers I pulled alongside Marc [Coma]. He took over first, and from then on we took it in turns to open the track.”
Tomorrow’s stage will send the competitors on a 392.52-kilometer route that starts 3.58 kilometers from the Sealine bivouac and finishes 1.21 kilometers from the overnight base.
2015 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship
Sealine Rally
Qatar
Results: April 21, 2015 (Round 2 of 6)
Stage 2
1. Matthias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/4 hours, 6 minutes, 9 seconds
2. Jordi Viladoms (SPA)-KTM/+00:02:08
3. Marc Coma (SPA)-KTM/+00:04:07
4. Joan Barreda (SPA)-Hon/+00:06:04
5. Sam Sunderland (GBR)-KTM/+00:08:06
6. Mohammed Albalooshi (UAE)-KTM/+00:10:11
7. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI)-KTM/+00:14:10
8. Paulo Goncalves (POR)-Hon/+00:14:30
9. Armand Monleón (SPA)-KTM/+00:36:13
10. Jakub Piatek (POL)-KTM/+00:38:72
Sealine Rally Overall Standings (After 2 of 5 Stages)
1. Marc Coma (SPA)-KTM/6 hours, 20 minutes and 17 seconds
2. Joan Barreda (SPA)-Hon/+00:02:03
3. Sam Sunderland (GBR)-KTM/+00:04:56
4. Jordi Viladoms (SPA)-KTM/+00:06:09
5. Mathias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:08:56
6. Mohammed Albalooshi (UAE)-KTM/+00:11:20
7. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI)-KTM/+00:12:08
8. Paulo Goncalves (POR)-Hon/+00:14:32
9. Rafel Sonik (POL)-KTM/+01:06:11
10. Armand Monleón (SPA)-KTM/+01:07:21
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