The rally caravan journeyed on today with the rally’s longest stage, setting off from Zagora before winding its way into the mountainous Draa area, and finishing up some 512 kilometres later in Ourzazate, which featured 302 km of timed special. The route was in complete contrast to yesterday’s – the dunes being replaced by rock-filled narrow and treacherous track.
Joan Barreda was, for the fourth time, the fastest of the race, setting a storming pace that allowed him to close down on the front-runners. In doing so, Barreda moves up into fourth place in the overall standings with just tomorrow’s stage in Marrakech still left to run.
Hélder Rodrigues, likewise, performed well in spite of the numerous dangers. The Portuguese Honda took place on the day, and looks poised to hold on to his podium place as the title chase looks forward to tomorrow’s grand finale with 113 kilometres of special.
Sublime fifth stage also for Laia Sanz. The Spanish rider had her best day out so far in the world championship, finishing in eleventh place, climbing two places on the overall leader-board.
Paulo Gonçalves was unable to finish the special. He suffered a fall in the early in the special before arriving at the first waypoint, which resulted in an injured shoulder and ribs. ‘Speedy’ had been battling to retain his FIM World Cross-Country Rally title which he had clinched in the same race last year. After the fall, he managed to make it to the first Control Point and was transported to hospital in Ourzazate.
Jeremías Israel continues to perform well in the later half of the rally, but had an accident today that saw him drop time. The Chilean rider chose to head straight back to the bivouac in Marrakech without finishing the stage.
Joan Barreda: It was a really dangerous day today. I set off really pushing hard, but I saw straight away that there was so much to lose, with loads of dangers, and knew that I had to stay calm, especially in the river crossings with so many rocks. I changed the chip and focused on getting through without making any mistakes or crashing. In the end I caught up with the other riders that I had up ahead, making it a good all round result.
