Team HRC has a good day in the Oilibya Morocco Rally, with Paulo Goncalves taking the stage win and Joan Barreda reassuming the overall lead.
Team HRC’s Paulo Gonçalves and Joan Barreda pulled ran one-two in the third stage of the OiLibya Morocco Rally today, with Barreda retaking the rally lead as well.
Gonçalves set a fast pace in he 274-kilometer special stage that was run in the the M’hamid desert region south of Zagora, posting a winning time of 2 hours 47 minutes and 20 seconds.
“Finally, today I had a stage without any mistakes,” Goncalves said. “I set out to attack, I made up some time and won the stage. Tomorrow will be another day, a very important one, as I will be opening the track which is always a good thing. I will do my best, as always, to get the best possible result, but let’s not forget that the most important thing here is to fine-tune everything, as this is the last test before the Dakar, so we can’t fall and pick up injuries as we are so close to the Dakar and there wouldn’t be time to recover.”
But Barreda was back on form after his fourth-place finish yesterday, finishing just 1 minute and 18 seconds behind his Team HRC teammate. With Red Bull KTM’s Sam Sunderland finishing fifth, about 6.5 minutes behind, Barreda, the Spanish star is also back in the overall really lead by 3 minutes and 57 seconds.
“Today was a day where we started from behind,” Barreda said. “The objective was to catch up with the riders ahead. They set a very fast pace all day long, but thanks to our concentration we were able to make it, in other words: mission accomplished.”
Former World Motocross Champion Mathias Walkner of Austria kept the Red Bull KTM flag flying high with a third-place finish in Stage 3. KTM Warsaw Rally’s Pablo Quintanilla finished fourth.
After three days spent trekking through the southern portion of Morocco, tomorrow’s Stage 4, also called West Cap, will feature routes that lead to Agadir. The terrain is described as parallels tracks that will again present a difficult navigational challenges as the competitors cross an oasis. The stage also passes through a very picturesque valley. Tomorrow’s special stage will total 293 kilometers, with 348 kilometers of liaison.
2015 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship
2015 OiLibya Morocco Rally
Morocco
Results: October 7, 2015 (Round 6 of 6)
Stage 3
1. Paulo Goncalves (POR)-Hon/2 hours, 47 minutes, 20 seconds
2. Joan Barreda (SPA)-Hon/+00:01:18
3. Mathias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:03:01
4. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI)-KTM/+00:05:05
5. Sam Sunderland (GBR)-KTM/+00:07:48
6. Kevin Benavides (ARG)-Hon/+00:16:18
7. Ruben Faria (POR)-Hus/+00:18:42
8. Pierre-Alexandre Renet (FRA)-Hus/+00:18:56
9. Alain Duclos (FRA)-She/+00:19:45
10. Joan Pedrero (SPA)-She/+00:20:25
2015 OiLibya Rally Overall Standings (After 3 of 5 rounds)
1. Joan Barreda (SPA)-Hon/8 hours, 51 minutes, 59 seconds
2. Sam Sunderland (GBR)-KTM/+00:03:57
3. Mathias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:05:22
4. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI)-KTM/+00:06:06
5. Paulo Goncalves (POR)-Hon/+00:06:34
6. Kevin Benavides (ARG)-Hon/+00:42:16
7. Ruben Faria (POR)-Hus/+00:43:48
8. Olivier Pain (FRA)-Nom/+00:44:51
9. Joan Pedrero (SPA)-She/+00:48:00
10. Jacopo Cerutti (ITA)-Hus+01:20:13
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