Barreda wins Stage Two on the OiLibya Rally of Morocco; teammate Jeremias Israel finishes second.
Team HRC’s Joan Barreda showed once again why he is worthy of being called one of the fastest rally riders in the world, as he won state two of the OiLibya Rally of Morocco, Sunday.
Barreda showed his mettle in the stage from Erfoud to Merzane, but his new Team HRC teammate, Jeremías Israel, was almost as impressive, finishing second. Helder Rodrigues and Paulo Goncalves, likewise, had a solid day and continue to be among the top four overall.
Barreda didn’t want to suffer another navigation error during Sunday’s sand dune-filled stage, but he did. Even so, he showed that he can navigate as well as he can ride. Starting at the front of the field, Barreda ran alone out front and had a solid run to win the stage and further extend his overall lead in the rally. Barreda now leads Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma, who finished third again in stage two, by over 3 minutes.
“I’m really happy,” Barreda said. “We did a lot of preparation for this stage yesterday. We knew that there was going to be a lot of navigation. It was an incredible pace. I navigated without mistakes, impeccable, until kilometer 160. We really pushed, opening the way in the dunes. In the end I made a slight error thinking that we could get back on the track further on, but I was able to rectify it without losing too much time. But that’s the way it is; if you push that hard you can expect some navigational errors.”
After being penalized in stage one for missing the final checkpoint, Israel rebounded nicely to run well early in the stage, only to be slowed by the dust of the riders ahead of him. Still, second place was not bad for the Chilean, who is still getting acquainted with his factory Honda CRF450 Rally.
“It was a really fast stage until we got up to the dunes, which made it interminable,” Israel said. “I had to eat a bit of dust in the final part, when I reached Jordi Viladoms and Chaleco, and I had to slow the pace down. I’m happy to have finished, and the bike performed really well. After a year out, I’m starting to get back into racing again. I’m getting used to Honda HRC, too. Very happy to be here and to have finished the second stage. I want to congratulate Joan Barreda. What a win!”
Behind Israel came two Red Bull KTM riders—Coma and Sam Sunderland, with Portuguese riders Helder Rodrigues and Paulo Goncalves finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
Tomorrow’s stage runs from Erfoud to Zagora with 313 kilometers against the clock, which will mark the longest special stage of the rally.
FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship
OiLibya Rally of Morocco (Round 6 of 6)
Morocco
Results: October 5, 2014 (Stage 2 of 6)
Stage 2
1. Joan Barreda-Hon/02:26:14
2. Jeremias Israel-Hon/+00:02:00
3. Marc Coma-KTM/+00:02:01
4. Sam Sunderland-KTM/+00:02:20
5. Helder Rodrigues-Hon/+00:05:42
6. Paulo Goncalves-Hon/+00:06:10
7. Ruben Faria-KTM/+00:06:23
8. Chaleco López-KTM/+00:06:40
9. Toby Price-KTM/+00:07:05
10. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+00:08:12
OiLibya Rally of Morocco Overall Standings (After 2 of 6 stages)
1. Joan Barreda-Hon/05:30:25
2. Marc Coma-KTM/+00:03:22
3. Paulo Goncalves-Hon/+00:07:29
4. Helder Rodrigues-Hon/+00:09:03
5. Ruben Faria-KTM/+00:10:58
6. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+00:15:05
7. Chaleco López-KTM/+00:16:27
8. Sam Sunderland-KTM/+00:17:06
9. Kuba Przygonski-KTM/+00:27:32
10. Joan Pedrero-She/+00:35:41
Tomorrow’s Stage
Stage 3, Erfoud to Zagora
Liaison: 24 km
Special Stage: 313 km
Liaision: 26 km
Total Distance: 363 km
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