Saturday 6 October
6th leg: Tibniya – Cairo
Special: 308.58km – Road Section: 132.57 km - Total: 441.15 km
This morning, as Venus pointed the way to Cairo from high in the star-studded sky, the competitors in the Pharaohs’ Rally left their last bivouac for a Special section of over 300 km followed by a road section that took them back to the foot of the pyramids and the final podium.
It’s never over till it’s over, as all the riders know, and yet again each and every one of them gave it their all. In the end, Paolo Goncalves won the Special, Joan Barreda won the Rally and Jordi Viladoms clinched second place in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, ahead of the young man from Poland.
The first to arrive at the Pyramids, Pal Ullevalseter expressed his emotions: “The Pharaohs’ Rally is the only rally that takes place In a real sandy desert and I really had a ball. It was magnificent! It’s a pity I broke my gearbox but I rode these last few days to train for the Dakar.”
It was a great first win for Joan Barreda: “It was important for the team as a whole and for me to end this rally on a win, said the young Catalan. It was a fast race but tricky to navigate and physically tough. This win is the reward for a huge amount of work by the whole team in preparation for the Dakar!”
Second in the overall rankings, Jakuk Przygosnki from Poland tried to make up time on Barreda: “At the start of the special, he said, I slowed down to let him go by in the hope that he would get lost. He did make some mistakes but each time he came back… I finished in good form, which proves that I am in good physical shape. I covered a lot of kilometres without making any mistakes. The riders’ level was high and this third place in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship is really nice and gives us all fresh motivation.”
Jordi Viladoms came in third in this last leg, behind Salvatierra, and third in the overall rankings. The 15 points for 3rd place added to the 34 he had amassed over the season confirm him as second in the Championship behind the winner, Marc Coma. “The end of this rally was really tough for me, he said, as my injured ribs were really hurting. It was important for me to finish this rally as I realised I had a chance to get this second place in the World Championship after Paulo made a navigation mistake. My adventure clearly shows that you should never give up. Three days ago I had lost all hope but I really wanted to carry on to make the most of this superb rally and get some training in. I suffered to finish but I was rewarded and this second place marks the end of the best year I’ve ever had in cross-country rallies: a 4th place in the Dakar, a first win in Sardinia and now a podium in the World Championship!”
In Quad, Lukasz Laskawiec won the race and the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Cup in the Quad class 29 seconds ahead of Rafal Sonik. “It was a tough season for me, said the Polish rider, but I had prepared well. I am happy to have won but I am tired now. It was a difficult race because of the heat and the route, but it was really beautiful at the same time. All season, I was pretty much neck and neck with Sonik. We have almost the same Quad, we ride at the same speed and we were really fighting for seconds. Finally I beat him by just 30 seconds. Now the season is over and I shall have a bit of free time before the Dakar.”
In second place, Rafal Sonik is philosophical: “That’s racing! Here, the key moment was on the second day when Lukasz rode over me because he lost control of his Quad and when I went around a dip in the sand, he went straight through it and hit me. I have the traces of his wheels on my leathers, but it didn’t stop him from sticking two metres from my tail for the next two days…
Last year I was seriously injured in the first leg of the Dakar and I spent eight months without being able to train and not even sure whether I go come back.. So today, second place is much more than I could have hoped for some time ago.”
Camelia Liparoti, who came third in the Pharaohs Rally, had a fantastic time: “It’s the most beautiful route I’ve done since I started racing in Egypt, she says. I have made the podium every time except when I was injured. It’s very satisfying and an excellent training run for the Dakar, with almost 3000 km in six days.“
Communication AMADLOZI Edition - amadlozi.blogspot.ch -