In the short prologue stage of yesterday that opened the Merzouga Rally, both Helder Rodrigues and Sam Sunderland thought that it was preferable to start from further back on this the second day of racing. The rally itself was a long and technical ride with some truly tricky orientation points that really put the riders’ navigational skills to the test.
Portuguese rider Helder Rodrigues set off from 28th position this morning, and was able to get the best out of his Honda CRF450 RALLY against the clock in the 200 kilometres special. Finishing some two minutes ahead of TEAM HRC team-mate, Sam Sunderland. The British rider’s second place finish pays tribute to his continually improving navigational skills. Both riders are on top of the standings of the Merzouga Rally.
Hélder Rodrigues: I feel great. It was a day of difficult navigation and picturesque tracks. I started out in twenty-eighth place and I pushed pretty hard until the refuelling. Once there, I was able to see that I had set a good time and from there on I tried to keep in control and not steer off the good track. It was a tough day for the navigation, with a lot of routes, tracks, rocks.... I very full-on day.
Overall After Stage 2:
1 Helder Rodrigues 03:30'06 PRT HONDA TEAM HRC
2 Sam Sunderland +01'28 ENG HONDA Team HRC
3 Olivier Pain +05'01 FRA YAMAHA Yamaha Racing
4 Gerard Farrés +20'10 ESP GAS GAS Gas Gas JVO Team
5 Jordi Viladoms +21'09 ESP GAS GAS Gas Gas JVO Team
6 Arnold Brucy +23'29 FRA KTM KTM Brucy
7 Alessandro Botturi +30'18 ITA SPEEDBRAIN Team Speedbrain
8 Frans Verhoeven +31'26 HOL YAMAHA Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven
9 Marc Guasch +44'46 ESP GAS GAS Gas Gas JVO Team
10 Antonio Gimeno +47'30 ESP KTM EnduroPro
