Atacama Rally
First stage: Copiapó - Copiapó
Link section: 23.40 km - Special: 226.18 km – Link section: 22.89 km - Total: 272.47 km
This time, the rain moved off and the Atacama desert was again revealed in all its splendour under a very pleasant winter sun.
Yesterday, the riders acquitted themselves of a 14 km prologue in the Dunes of Copiapó but the rain washed away the tracks and a number of riders made mistakes that cost some of them dearly in terms of penalties. The jury therefore decided to use the Prologue only for its initial purpose, namely to set the order of departure for the first real Special, and to cancel all the penalties, keeping only the results as they fell so that the first 15 riders could choose their starting positions, but not taking the times of the riders into account.
So this morning, there were winners and losers, and the first to take the start was the Dubai-based British rider David McBride, who is discovering the Chilean desert for the first time. The others set out behind him at a good pace to climb the mountain of dunes that rose up before them. After 226 km of sand and dunes, it was the reigning FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion Pablo Quintanilla who emerged victorious. “The navigation was really tough”, said the Husqvarna rider, “and the course was very fast, but without a doubt, the fact that I know my way around here helped me to find the right way.”
Chile’s Kevin Benavides (Honda), who arrived 1’10 behind the leader, was happy to have found a good pace, as was his team mate Paulo Gonçalves, who came in third.
Xavier de Soultrait (Yamaha) also clocked up a very good time to take fourth place: “At first, I was riding carefully, but then I got more confident and upped the pace”, says the Frenchman. “I rode with Franco (Caimi) for a good while and the Yamaha was going really well. Later, where there was nothing but sand, I slowed down a bit as I was afraid that I might be using too much fuel, but in the end it wasn’t necessary.”
Behind Franco Caimi, a newcomer at Yamaha, Sam Sunderland, current leader of the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship, was a little further adrift, 7’ behind Quintanilla…
Sunderland was followed by Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) in 7th, Mathias Walkner (KTM), Ignacio Cornejo (KTM) and Pela Renet (Husqvarna).
The only woman in the field, Laia Sanz (KTM) came in 12th: “I lost some time”, she explains, “as I found myself opening the trail with Pela (Renet) and it wasn’t easy. But finally, although I had to ride a bit slower, I am happy because I didn’t get too lost.”
The quads arrived long after the bikes as the Special was very fast and their top speed is rather lower than that of the bikes. Local hero Ignacio Casale (Yamaha) was the overall leader ahead of Giovanni Enrico (Yamaha) and Peru’s Alexis Hernandez (Yamaha).
Tomorrow the Atacama Rally will be heading north with a finish at Taltal.
FIM Communications