The Chilean guides his KTM Warsaw Rally entry to the overall victory in an all-KTM sweep of the top five at the Atacama Rally in Chile.
Team KTM Warsaw Rally KTM’s Pablo Quintanilla needed a strong Stage 5 finish and a little help in the form of bad luck by Red Bull KTM’s Matthias Walkner in order to win the Atacama Rally in Quintanilla’s home country of Chile. In the end, Quintanilla got exactly what he wanted.
Quintanilla scored the win in full view of his countrymen as he finished third in the final stage while Walkner struggled home to a sixth-place finish in the stage, dropping more than 3 minutes to Quintanilla, who recorded the overall win by a mere 49 seconds after five days of racing. Quintanilla’s final finishing time was 11 hours, 7 minutes and 34 seconds. Walkner still held on for second overall with a time of 11:08:23. Walkner’s Red Bull KTM teammate Sam Sunderland of Great Britain, finished third overall with a time of 11:10:48.
Team HRC’s Paulo Goncalves finished the rally strong despite not being in the hunt for the overall win after electrical gremlins cost him over an hour to the leaders on the very first day. But that was then and today was today, and Goncalves let it all hang out as he powered to victory in today’s 100-kilometer special stage. The start was once again been delayed for 2 hours due to heavy early morning mist, but Goncalves was unfazed as he finished the special with a time of 1 hour, 25 minutes and 48 seconds, 2 minutes and 5 seconds faster than Sunderland and 3 minutes and 54 seconds faster than Quintanilla.
Fourth and fifth place in the stage went to two more Red Bull KTM factory rally riders. Australia’s Toby Price finished fourth, ahead of teammate and multi-time FIM World Enduro Champion Antoine Meo of France in what had to be a disappointing rally after he showed tremendous speed in the first couple stages, only to be stymied by speed zone infractions that cost him over 2 hours in time penalties. Still, Price rode well enough to finish 10th overall.
The FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship concludes with the OiLibya Morocco Rally, October 3-9.
2015 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship
2015 Atacama Rally
Atacama, Chile
Results: August 5, 2015 (Round 5 of 6)
Stage 5
1. Paulo Goncalves (POR)-Hon/1 hour, 25 minutes, 48 seconds
2. Sam Sunderland (GBR)-KTM/+00:02:o5
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI)-KTM/+00:03:54
4. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+00:04:05
5. Antoine Meo (FRA)-KTM/+00:05:17
6. Matthias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:05:58
7. Jordi Viladoms (SPA)-KTM/+00:06:59
8. Daniel Gouet (CHI)-KTM/+00:10:22
9. Jeremias Israel (CHI)-Hon/+00:13:22
10. José Cornejo (CHI)-Suz/+00:14:32
2015 Atacama Rally Overall Standings (After 5 of 5 stages)
1. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI)-KTM/+11 hours, 77 minutes, 34 seconds
2. Matthias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:00:49
3. Sam Sunderland (GBR)-KTM/+00:03:14
4. Jordi Viladoms (SPA)-KTM/+00:21:28
5. Daniel Gouet (CHI)-KTM/+00:37:48
6. Paulo Goncalves (POR)-Hon/+00:53:02
7. Felipe Prohens (CHI)-Pro/+01:06:14
8. Jeremias Israel (CHI)-Hon/+01:33:52
9. Mohammed Albalooshi (UAE)-KTM/+01:36:30
10. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+01:46:18
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