The last stage of the Sardegna Rally Race has come to an end today in San Teodoro, with Paulo Goncalves taking the victory on the last Special. Gonçalves takes fourth place in the general standings of this rather particular rally. The Team HRC riders have continuously achieved partial wins but the final triumph seems to have eluded them this time. The team has previously won the first two races of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.
The final day has once again been very intense for the riders of the team. Hélder Rodrigues, who was a serious podium contender today, was unable to join the fight after a stone got stuck between the chain and the rear sprocket, causing it to break.
Teammate Joan Barreda was also subjected to a series of difficulties; first by avoiding a head on collision with another rider during in the first part of the stage. Later, during the second part, he had a very serious scare whilst following the race leader Alessandro Botturi, unable to avoid a rock that was in his path due to the dust that the Italian rider was kicking up. The Spaniard was able to continue riding but unable to maintain the same pace he had before the incident.
Joan Barreda has taken seventh place of the seventh edition of the Sardegna Rally Race, ranking second in the provisional general standings of the Championship, with the same amount of points as teammate Paulo Gonçalves. The Portuguese rider aimed to gain positions. He had a complicated first part of the stage but things improved for him in the second part, and he registered the fastest time in the last 50 kilometers. ‘Speedy’ Goncalves has completed a remarkable rally even if the he was prevented from victory after the front brake problems suffered in the previous days during the crucial marathon stage.
The fifth round of the FIM World Championship Cross-Country Rallies will take the Team HRC to Brazil for the Rally Dos Sertoes, that will take between the 21st to 30th of August.
Paulo Gonçalves: The Sardegna Rally is now over and I am happy with my performance, my navigation, with the CRF450R and the team. Everything worked great but unfortunately the marathon stage did not go well for us. I had two problems with the front brakes that I was unable to fix because we could not benefit from the team assistance at that time. I lost a lot of time during those days being unable to push. In the end I have finished in fourth place overall, it is a bad result. Other than that everything else worked perfectly, which shows that we can rely on the job we have done and the good feeling with the bike.
