26/08 - Catalão (GO) / Paracatu (MG) - 3rd Stage
Initial Liasion: 22.20 km
Special Test: 209.86 km
Final Liasion: 128.39 km
Total: 360.45 km
A hard and technique special in the third stage of the 22nd edition of the Rally dos Sertões was disputed on Tuesday (26th). Starting from Catalão (Goiás State), the stage finished in Paracatu, which receives the Rally dos Sertões for the first time in history. There were 360.45 km in total, with the largest special edition disputed so far in 2014 (209.86 kilometers).
In bikes, the Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM Red Bull Factory Team) won again. The leader of the FIM World Cross Country Rally and the Rally dos Sertões champion in 2010 closed the special with the time of 2h36min10s. The Brazilian Jean Azevedo (Honda Mobil de Rally) was the first runner-up, followed by the Portuguese Paulo Gonçalves (Team Honda HRC).
Overall, Coma - who also won the 1st stage - leads with 5h18min37s, 3min19s lead to Gonçalves and 3min34s to Azevedo. Thirty-six motorcycles remain in the dispute.
"It was a little bigger stage, a hard day, where I was trying to take as much time to recover. It was a good stage, but always difficult to find an appropriate pace", said Coma.
For the experienced Jean Azevedo, who is disputing his 19th Sertões, it was a day with the characteristics of the event. "It was a longer day, with characteristics similar to those of yesterday, with less bumps, curves and slow sections. It was a typical day of Sertões and fun to ride", said.
Quads
Fourteen quads completed the 3rd stage of the Rally dos Sertões on Tuesday. The Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros (Taguatur Racing), who had won the prologue in Goiânia, got the victory in the 3rd stage with the time to 2h46min58s. With the result, the rider also took the overall leadership with 1min57s advantage for Robert Nahas (RNN Sports), who finished fourth on Tuesday, and 3min45s ahead of Polish Rafal Sonik (Sonik Team), who was third in the day.
UTVs
Twenty UTVs remain in the fight for the title of the Rally dos Sertões. The victory in the 3rd stage was with André Sawaya and Eduardo Costa (S2 Rally / Bike Box), who recorded the time of 2h51min02s. The category is also well balanced and not repeated winners in the first stages.
Denisio Casarini and Eduardo Shiga (Casarini Can-Am) were the first runner-up and are in the overall leadership, but with the duo Rodrigo Varela / John Arena (Divine Stove Rally Team) just 30 seconds behind.
4th Stage: Paracatu (MG) / São Francisco (MG)
On Wednesday (27th), the competitors depart towards São Francisco (Minas Gerais State) in the dispute of the 4th stage of the Rally dos Sertões 2014. There will be 585.30 km in total on the fourth day (135.24 km of initial liaison, 363.85 km of special and 86.21 km of final liaison).
Between Goiânia and Belo Horizonte, Sertões will go through five more cities. Three will host the rally for the first time: Catalão, Paracatu and São Francisco. Caldas Novas and Diamantina complete the route.
Besides bikes, quads and UTVs, the Sertões also has disputes in the categories of cars and trucks. There are seven stages, more than 2600 km. The dispute has 197 competitors in total from seven countries: Brazil, Chile, Spain, France, Poland, Portugal and the UK. In bikes and quads category, the Sertões will also be valid for the FIM World Cross Country Rally.
Communication FGCom - www.fgcom.com.br -