KTM Slovakia’s Stefan Svitko takes the early lead in the 2016 Afriquia Merzouga Rally in a day of difficult navigation.
KTM Slovakia’s Stefan Svitko got off to an excellent start in the 2016 Afriquia Merzouga Rally by winning the opening stage ahead of Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team members Helder Rodrigues and Adrien Van Beveren in Morocco today.
After starting 11th, the 33-year-old Svitko tackled the opening dune section in the Merzouga Erg dunes and then skillfully navigated the Erg Chebbi dunes on the route that ran from south to north in Morocco. Svitko completed the timed special stage with a time of 2 hours, 48 minutes and 42 seconds.
“It was a short but good ride with many dunes, hors-piste and pretty tough navigation,” Svitko said of the stage.
Rodrigues was lucky to stay on the pace after getting lost in the dunes. Strong riding by the Portuguese rider allowed him to make up some of that lost time and still finish second, 2 minutes and 4 seconds behind Svitko.
“Today was probably one of the toughest days of racing I can recall, so to finish second is obviously a great result,” Rodrigues said. “I got to start the stage with the faster group of riders, and we all soon realized how difficult navigation was going to be. I tried to push as much as I could and make sure I didn’t make any mistakes. [Around] 12 kilometers into the special test I got lost but luckily didn’t lose time getting back on track. I’m happy we got this first stage over and done with as we got a good taste of what to expect from the days ahead. I’m feeling great on the bike so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s stage.”
Van Beveren also found the navigation in today’s stage to be challenging, and he lost some time while trying to locate a waypoint. The Frenchman reached the finish line third, 4 minutes and 18 seconds off the lead pace.
“It was a good first day for us,” Van Beveren said. “Navigation was very difficult so it was tough to find a good race pace. My goal was to stay focused and not make any mistakes. I had some trouble spotting a waypoint but remained calm and soon found the right tracks. I lost some time, but it’s not that important. The race will be very long, and the key is to know how to find your way out of such tricky situations. Helder and I will be among the first riders to start stage two so we need to stay focused on our navigation and keep working hard for a good overall result.”
American rally fans may be happy to learn that Team HRC’s Ricky Brabec also had a good day in the opening stage, finishing fourth, ahead of teammate Kevin Benavides. Brabec is only 4 minutes and 20 seconds out of the lead heading into tomorrow’s stage, which will feature two special tests. The riders will begin with a start their day with a 31-kilometer special test in the dunes before facing a second special test of 150 kilometers later in the route. Tomorrow’s total distance is 341 kilometers.
2016 Afriquia Merzouga Rally
Morocco
Results: May 23, 2016 (Stage 1 of 5)
Stage 1
1 Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/2 hours, 48 minutes, 42 seconds
2. Helder Rodrigues (POR)-Yam/+00:02:04
3. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA)-Yam/+00:04:18
4. Ricky Brabec (USA)-Hon/+00:04:20
5. Kevin Benavides (ARG)-Hon/+00:04:46
2016 Afriquia Merzouga Rally Overall Standings (after 1 of 5 stages)
1 Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/2 hours, 48 minutes, 42 seconds
2. Helder Rodrigues (POR)-Yam/+00:02:04
3. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA)-Yam/+00:04:18
4. Ricky Brabec (USA)-Hon/+00:04:20
5. Kevin Benavides (ARG)-Hon/+00:04:46
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