A fourth win for Joan Barreda brings the Honda CRF450 RALLY a seventh triumph in the Dakar 2015. The Spanish athlete, first away this morning after yesterday’s marathon stage win, was also first to cross the finish-line in the Circuit of Termas de Río Hondo.
Barreda, who has clearly put his troubles from the Uyuni stage behind him, once again showed a white-knuckle display of speed and agility, picking up his fourth stage win so far in the event.
Paulo Gonçalves battled hard to keep all options of a final victory wide open in spite of a fifteen-minute penalization for an engine change at the end of the first leg of the marathon stage. The Portuguese ace finished in second place, and will be looking to try and reduce the deficit with his rival Marc Coma over the two final days.
Hélder Rodrigues made it through in eighth to Termas de Río Hondo, in a problem-free fashion, as the second leg of the marathon stage closed in spite of exhaustion after a sleepless night helping team-mates Paulo, Joan and Jeremías, swap first Paulo’s engine and then Joan’s. Consequently, Jeremías Israel’s generosity in sacrificing his engine saw him unable to start the day’s stage. Spaniard Laia Sanz, one of the revelations of the competition, showed yet another speedy but prudent performance in the Salta region.
Javier Pizzolito was the best of the supporting Honda South America Rally Team, with a 16th place final finish, which moves the rider one notch up the overall scorecard to 20th. Jean Azevedo, who has shown great consistency throughout the entire event, wound up the stage in 25th place, and continues to hold 22nd overall.
Joan Barreda: Yesterday we had to change Paulo’s engine with mine, which was fresher, and I had to put Jeremías’ one in. We were working until two in the morning and we only rested for a couple of hours. Today the first part of the stage was complicated by the rains of last night, mainly with the swollen rivers. I got to the refuelling fine, and after that I pushed really hard on the mountain paths. Everything went well and I was able to win. We have proved that we can win not only stages, but also the whole race. Right now, the main priority is a win for the team.
