The third stage of the rally saw the competitors tackle 713.29km from San Fernando del valle de Catamarca to Belén, including 247.12km of liaison and a 466.17km special stage. The soft and sandy terrain suited Pizzolito’s riding style perfectly and the Argentinean rider was able to bring his Honda CRF450 Rally across the line in first place with a time of 6h1m41s. The victory places him at the top of the overall standings.
On the back of his stage win yesterday, Rodrigues put in another seamless performance to finish today’s race in fifth place, 11m32s behind his team-mate. He now lies fourth in the overall standings ahead of stage 4 tomorrow, which will see the rally head from Belén to Chilecito covering 394.41km of liaison and a 586.73km special stage.
Javier Pizzolito #7:
I am so happy to win today! It’s my first world championship stage victory so it means a lot to me and I’m really pleased to continue the team’s winning streak after Rodrigues’s performance yesterday. I felt in control throughout the stage and even though I had a small crash, I was still able to win, so perhaps without that the margin would have been even greater.
Helder Rodrigues #3:
I was comfortable today. I didn’t make any mistakes, so that’s positive. The bike is great and performed really well in the soft, sandy conditions during today’s stage. Congratulations to Javier for the win.
Martino Bianchi – General Manager Team HRC Rally:
It’s been another great day for Team HRC and we are so pleased for Javier. The terrain was perfect for him today and he was able to use that to his advantage. It was also another solid performance from Rodrigues, who again made no mistakes. The CRF450 Rally is performing very well and as a whole team we’re very happy.
Special stage 3 results:
1. Pizzolito (Team HRC) 6h1m41s
2. Lopez (KTM) +5m46s
3. Goncalves (Speedbrain) +7m10s
4. Casteau (Yamaha) +10m37s
5. Rodrigues (Team HRC) +11m32s
Overall results:
1. Pizzolito (Team HRC)
2. Goncalves (Speedbrain) +3m51s
3. Lopez (KTM) +4m01s
4. Rodrigues (Team HRC) +6m09s
5. Casteau (Yamaha) +10m31s
6. Caselli (KTM) +11m23s 7. Coma (KTM) 14m51s
