Baja Spain Aragón
FIM Bajas World Cup, round 4
July 22nd-24th, 2022
After almost 600 competitive kilometres over two days in shade temperatures approaching 40°C, young rider Tosha Schareina (KTM) won Baja Spain Aragón, ahead of the two Sherco riders, Lorenzo Santolino and Rui Gonçalves.
In the quad category, Dakar winner Alexandre Giroud (Yamaha) claimed the spoils, ahead of Dani Vila (Yamaha) and Jeremy Jacomeli (Yamaha).
Its technical layout, diversity of terrain, vegetation, many pitfalls and the very high temperatures put competitors and equipment to the sternest test. Baja Spain Aragón offers excellent training for many riders for the Dakar.
It was in this spirit that Tosha Schareina (KTM) took the start of the race. Second in the Prologue behind Rui Gonçalves, he managed to overtake the Sherco rider in the first special on Saturday morning and then attempted to secure the overall victory.
The 27-year-old Spaniard explained: “Saturday, the day was long and complicated. I started behind Rui and ate dust for a long time but was finally able to get close enough to him to start first in the second stage. I was then able to ride at my own pace and gain a good lead for today.”
Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) - not yet 100% after a fall in training – rode well to take second place. “Saturday, it was very hot,” he said. “The course was fast and relatively dangerous with a lot of stones, which damaged the tyres. So, I preferred to do a reasonable race and finish in a good position.”
His team-mate, Rui Gonçalves, crashed mid-race on Saturday and injured his leg but managed to reach the finish and climbed on to the third step of the podium.
Harit Noah (Sherco) finished fourth after experiencing problems with his navigational instruments. He was followed by the two Juniors: Neels Theric (KTM) - winner of the category - and Konrad Dabrowski (KTM).
"Yesterday, it was really very, very hot...but this morning,” explained the young Pole Dabrowski. “We started from the bivouac earlier and when you're cold on the bike on the liaison, you know that the special is going to be pleasant to ride. I'm a little disappointed with my race because, during the Prologue, I got stuck behind a rider who didn't have the level but a low number. This conditioned my whole race and then, like Harit, I had problems with my navigation instruments and I lost a lot of time being careful not to speed and avoiding dangers. Now I will continue training to participate in the Rally of Morocco.”
Giroud (Yamaha) repeated his Dakar victory in the quads and took the laurels ahead of Dani Vila and Jeremy Jacomeli. His younger brother, Kevin Giroud, won the third stage on Sunday morning.
Aishwarya Pissay (Sherco) was the only woman in the field and she finished 16th. The Veteran category was won by Martin Klyver (KTM).
FIM Communications