Monster Energy Honda’s Joan Barreda has proven to be hard to beat in the Baja Aragón Rally, and the Spaniard proved it once again with a win in the 34th edition of the race, which wrapped up on July 23 in Teruel, Spain.
“It is not easy to win the Baja Aragon, and I am very happy to have won four times here,” Barreda said. “Although I have had some minor mishaps, I feel satisfied to have been able to overcome the circumstances when things weren’t going right. I put in a good performance, and so I’m happy about it. We were looking for pace in this rally, and I think we showed greater rhythm than the rest of the participants. Throughout the weekend we have attacked, and it went well.”
Barreda led the Baja Aragón Rally from the start, and he never relinquished that lead through the event’s four special stages. In the final stage, he once again set the fastest time to cement the win over fellow Spaniard and Sherco TVS Factory rider Joan Pedrero, by 6 minutes and 17 seconds.
Pedrero split the Monster Energy Honda squad on the podium but only after third-place finisher Michael Metge of France was assessed a 5-minute penalty after a navigational error. Metge would have finished less than 3 minutes behind Barreda and landed an easy second place if not for the penalty. Nevertheless, it was Metge’s second career podium finish at the Baja Aragón.
“In the end I finished on the podium, but I think what counts here are the good feelings that I’ve had all weekend, with good pace too,” Metge said. “I was really getting to grips with the rally bike, and enjoyed it without taking any risks. I was always in the fight. It was a shame about the penalty because the GPS didn’t work, and I followed the wrong track and made it late to a checkpoint. It was great training for us, and I’m really happy for Joan [Barreda] who won the race.
The Atacama Rally in Chile will be the next major event on the world rally calendar, although the Monster Energy Honda team will once again divide its efforts. Former FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion Paulo Gonçalves and teammate Kevin Benavides will race the Atacama Rally, while Barreda, Metge and Ricky Brabec will race in the Vegas to Reno cross country desert race in the U.S.A.
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