Wednesday, 5 October 2016
3rd Special: Tagunite - Erfoud
Link section: 58 km – Special: 315 km – Link section: 17 km - Total: 390 km
After a magical night under the protection of the stars and in particular the constellation of Orion, the participants breakfasted copiously before taking to the trail once more for a 58 km road link and a 315 km Special.
At the start of this third selective section, they crossed a group of tricky little dunes before striking out on the rolling and sometimes pebbly trails that wind their way towards the valley. The Special then took in an alternating menu of sandy patches and rapid trails, skirting the geological site made famous by the films The Mummy and 007 Spectre!
Kevin Benavides (Honda) won his first special on a FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship rally: “Yesterday was a tough stage for me but this morning I attacked right away and overtook several riders. At the start it was a bit tricky with the dust but I felt good on my Honda and quickly settled into a very fast pace. I made a little navigation mistake but nothing serious. I am really happy to have won but sad for my colleagues who had some mechanical issues.” Toby Price (KTM) came in second in the Special ahead of Matthias Walkner (KTM), Sam Sunderland (KTM) and Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna).
Xavier de Soultrait (Yamaha), who is still the first amateur on the leader board, was 6th: “I could have done better today”, says the man from France, “I am really feeling confident and comfortable on the bike. After the refuelling I should have been in the top five but a stone must have cut my rear tyre and the mousse was coming out through a big hole. I rode the last 100 km sitting on the bike, nice and easy.”
Pela Renet (Husqvarna) was 7th followed by Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha), Rodney Faggotter (Yamaha) and Shane Esposito (KTM) from the US, who is discovering cross-country rallies with a bike from the Orlen team. For a rookie, this 10th place is quite a surprise.
Toby Price has taken back the top spot on the leader board with a lead of 1'58 over Sam Sunderland, 2'29 over Benavides and 11'16 over Quintanilla, who is a contender for the title.
It was a bad day for Honda! At km30, Paulo Gonçalves had a mechanical problem and rode back with his team, Ricky Brabec was immobilised on the trail alongside the road with a burned out battery, it seems. He too had to wait for his team to pick him up.
It has been a bad couple of days for Alessandro Botturi (Yamaha) who broke a wheel yesterday and was taken back to bivouac by the organisers, but was unable to start this morning. Slovakia’s Svito (KTM) was also dogged by ill fortune, returning via the road while Kuba Piatek joined the road after 100 km. The young Pole is not yet fully back in shape physically and is here to get some training in. These five riders will be reclassified between 10th and 15th place and will be able to take part in the 4th Special tomorrow morning.
Judith Tomaselli