Despres wins his first stage and get closer to Coma. Sonik flies on his quad to increase the lead
Everybody likes a fast track, especially when the competitors in the Rally dos Sertoes faced three rough days until they got to Uruaçu yesterday. This Sunday they had a little refreshment with high speed stretches mixed with some slow turns full of rocks. And it was a special day for Cyril Despres, who won his first rally stage for his new team, Yamaha. Spaniard Marc Coma finished second, 24 secs behind the Frenchman. Nevertheless, the KTM rider keeps the lead by a margin of 1min40s6. Paulo Gonçalves was third again.
"This is the first stage I won for Yamaha, so it is a special day for me and for the team. It was the most exciting stage of my life, wide opened, with a few holes. In the beginning I was in a smooth pace, and at the refueling I was 1min13secs behind Coma, and then I started to push harder. With 20 kms left to the finish I made a small mistake and lost a few seconds, which is a lot when you have got a competitor like Marc in front of you", explained Despres, who went up to second place in the overall standings.
Riders and drivers left Uruaçu to Porangatu and tomorrow they will face the marathon stage. For Coma, a fine day. "Fast, good and problem-free. The track was really good to use the whole potential of the bike", he said.
Quads
The Polish Rafal Sonik (Honda TRX 700) increased his lead over Brazilian Robert Nahas (same quad) and now is 12min28secs ahead in the lead - and having fun at the stages. "Today I wished my quad had a sixth gear! The stage was really fast and I must have gotten to 140 kph, and this is fast for a quad. It was very hot today and usually I pass slowly through the rivers. It was a nice refreshing shower", said the irreverent Pole, who made compliments to the organization of the Sertoes. "The roadbook is perfect; it is so accurate, precise, and who did this did a really good job".
Nahas agrees with his Polish colleague, but highlighted that the day was hard on the vehicle. "To the rider the stage was pure fun do ride, but I think my quad strongly disagrees", he laughs. "I had to check the temperatures of the engine every time because it was full throttle for a long time and I had to be careful not to overheat it", he explained.
Communication FGCom - www.fgcom.com.br -