After a cold night back at the camp at the foot of the Erg Chebbi, it was time to get back to the stage with a lot of dunes, some dusty track and a lot of rocks.
It was TEAM HRC who once again shone at the Merzouga Rally with some great results: Hélder Rodrigues won spectacularly in the fifth stage, which was the second leg of the marathon, with Sam Sunderland finishing in second place.
The British rider, who set out in first position after winning yesterday’s stage on the new Honda CRF450 RALLY, kept the lead until refuelling, where his team-mate Hélder Rodrigues caught him up. The two of them rode together until practically the end of the special. Sunderland hangs on to his first place in the overall standings.
The Portuguese rider Hélder Rodrigues meanwhile retakes second place on the overall leader-board after a penalty he picked up for missing a waypoint was overruled in the review of the stage. It was decided that he had actually passed through the point.
