Team HRC come away from the third stage of the Sealine Cross-Country Rally with a positive report-card as Paulo Goncalves moves back up among the front-runners, winning the stage and clawing back positions in the general standings.
Joan Barreda came very close to pulling off a spectacular result today after having the misfortune to be first in the day’s starting order. The Spanish ace managed to lead for over three-quarters of the race, but a minor navigational distraction in one of the trickier stretches of the route put paid to his victory aspirations and meant that he had dropped time as well as his overall second position before the day was through.
Barreda’s comrade-in-arms Paulo Gonçalves took up the torch, coming from behind to take the triumph which will now allow him to choose tomorrow’s starting position amid the first six starters, as determined by new race regulations.
It wasn’t all good news for Team HRC as Jeremías Israel was forced out of the race. The Chilean rider had to turn back and head for base some 70 km into the race as his arm – injured by the impact of a rock yesterday – began to play up. Jeremías should be back in competition for the Argentinean Desafío Ruta 40.
Tomorrow (Thursday) sees the penultimate stage of the rally. Once more, riders will be faced with 400 km of timed special stage as the fight for room on the rostrum heats up and the Sealine Cross-Country Rally of Qatar nears its end.
Paulo Gonçalves: A great day and a fine special today. I started out from eighth which was a good position and I did pretty well as I managed to catch up with the riders who had started out before. I pulled back quite a bit of time. I’m now ten minutes off the top-position in the general with the chance now to choose which of the first six positions I’d like for tomorrow’s start. I’m pleased for me and for the team which is running really well. There’s still a couple of days to go, so let’s see how it turns out.
