Team HRC arrived in Sardinia expecting a difficult race and this is exactly what transpired. This fourth round of the World Championship turned out to be more complicated than previous ones. The team did a great job overcoming a series of adversities they encountered and fought until the very end to obtain the best possible result.
Joan Barreda finished in seventh place and has conceded the leadership of the FIM Cross-Country World Championship. The gap between the current leader is very small, only six points with two rounds remaining. Olivier Pain did not take any points for the Championship, leaving Barreda and Gonçalves with a chance to win the title.
Paulo Gonçalves, who has carried the number one on the fairing of his Honda CRF450 RALLY throughout the season, is currently in third position, only one point short of teammate Joan Barreda. He still has a chance to take the World title s he has a total of 44 points, only seven from leader Marc Coma.
Last season, with only two rounds to go (Brazil and Morocco), the difference between Paulo with the leader (Coma) was of sixteen points.
In the Constructor’s general standings of the World Championship Honda is currently in second place with 102 points, two off KTM´s 104.
Provisional standings World Championship
1 Marc Coma 51 points ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
2 Joan Barreda 45 points ESP HONDA TEAM HRC
3 Paulo Goncalves 44 points PRT HONDA TEAM HRC
4 Jordi Viladoms 26 points ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
5 Helder Rodrigues 24 points PRT HONDA TEAM HRC
6 Juan Carlos Salvatierra 21 points BOL SPEEDBRAIN Speedbrain Rally Team
7 Alessandro Botturi 20 points ITA HUSQVARNA Team Husqvarna Italia
8 Mohammed Albalooshi 20 points UAE KTM KTM UAC
9 Jakub Piatek 17 points POL KTM Team Hanesco
10 Nicolás Cardona 17 points VEN YAMAHA Pedrega Team
