OVERDRIVE RACING SENDS POWERFUL FLEET OF SIX TOYOTA HILUXES TO ORLEN BAJA POLAND

· Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah looks to close in on FIA World Cup title 

· Domzala, Ten Brinke, Van Loon, Munk and Van Merksteijn complete line-up 

Overdrive Racing is sending a powerful fleet of six Toyota Hiluxes to this weekend’s ORLEN Baja Poland, round nine of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.

Based at Szczecin and taking place on September 1-3, the three-day event attracts one of the largest entries in the cross-country calendar and 134 cars, bikes, quads and trucks will take part on this occasion.

Overdrive Racing has the most impressive team in the entire field with the Dutch trio of Bernhard Ten Brinke, Erik Van Loon and Peter van Merksteijn joining Dane Jes Munk, the host nation’s Aron Domzala and defending FIA World Cup champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in the line-up.

 Qatar’s Al-Attiyah and French navigator Matthieu Baumel arrive in Sczcecin directly from competing in the Rally of Lebanon and Al-Attiyah currently has a 72-point lead in the drivers’ standings. Victory in Poland - to follow five previous wins this season in Dubai, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Spain and Hungary - would give Al-Attiyah at least an advantage of 81 points to take to the final two rounds of the series in Morocco and Portugal in October. Al-Attiyah claimed his first victory in Poland last season.

“This is an important rally for me and the whole team and the outcome could put us in a very strong position to retain the FIA World Cup title,” said Al-Attiyah. “It is not an easy rally and there is strong competition, particularly from the local drivers in Poland.” 

Poland’s Aron Domzala holds fifth in the championship standings after finishing in a similar position in Hungary earlier this month and claiming victory in Russia in February. The talented young driver again teams up with Szymon Gospodarczyk after working alongside Maciej Marton on the last few rallies in a second Toyota.

The Dutch trio of Ten Brinke, Van Loon and Van Mersteijn have impressive levels of experience in cross-country rallying and have worked with Overdrive Racing in the past. Van Loon and navigator Wouter Rosegaar finished 14th overall in the Dakar Rally back in January with a Toyota and sixth in April’s Qatar Cross-Country Rally.

Ten Brinke and Belgian navigator Tom Colsoul finished a fine seventh in the Dakar with Overdrive Racing in 2015, although the Dutchman teams up with the experienced Belgian WRC navigator Stéphane Prevot on this occasion.

Van Merksteijn’s return to topflight action with Overdrive Racing sees him team up with the former French Dakar Rally-winning co-driver Pascal Maimon, who worked with the Belgium-based team at the recent Silk Way Rally.

Munk teams up with Poland’s Rafal Marton in the sixth team entry with additional support from Bewa and M-For Sport.

Overdrive Racing’s CEO Jean-Marc Fortin said: “It has been very busy to get the cars ready for this important round of the championship in Poland. It’s a demanding event and one where we have a strong entry and a large team to coordinate. It has been a busy few weeks for everyone with the Silk Way Rally and Spain in July followed by Hungary and Poland in August.”

The seven timed stages are centred around the Dobra and Lubieszyn areas and the military firing range at nearby Drawsko Pomorskie. The action gets underway with the ceremonial start on the scenic Lasztownia island and a timed Prologue stage of 7.08km on Friday evening from 18.00hrs.

There will then two selective sections of around 215.90km apiece on Saturday (September 2) at the firing range from 08.15hrs and 13.45hrs, respectively.

The remaining four timed sections take place on Sunday. There will be two passes through the 18.39km of the Krzekowo stage at 08.40hrs and 12.30hrs and a pair of runs through the 10.50km of Lubieszyn at 09.35hrs and 13.25hrs before the ceremonial finish in Szczecin from 14.30hrs.

 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – standings after round 8:

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 210pts
 2. Jakub Przygonski (POL) 138pts
3. Khalid Al-Qassimi (ARE) 105pts
4. Yasir Saeidan (SAU) 96pts
5. Aron Domzala (POL) 86pts
6. Mohammed Abu Issa (QAT) 84pts
7. Martin Prokop (CZE) 72pts
 8. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE) 47pts
9. Leeroy Poulter (ZAF) 42pts
10. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) 37pts, etc

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Benavides retakes the leadership of the Desafío Ruta 40

Kevin Benavides is once again back on top of the overall leader board at the Desafío Ruta 40 after the fourth stage disputed today (Wednesday) between Belén and Tafí del Valle. Another highly-positive day for the squad who are now eying up places on the final podium with just one day still to run.

 The penultimate day from Belén to Tafí del Valle brought with it yet another twist at the top of the table, occupied for the third day running by a member of the Monster Energy Honda Team. The 300-kilometre trek turned out to be different from the previous ones as the riders were confronted with dried-out riverbeds, near untraceable routes, mountain track at 3000 metre altitudes and even some very fine sand dunes.

 Kevin Benavides commanded the special with a slick time, due in part to his ability to find a tricky waypoint in the roadbook, which wreaked havoc with the rest of the field, causing most rivals to drop precious minutes. In spite of being left, once again, without the GPS, the Argentinean was able to deftly follow the roadbook to make it through to the finish-line with the day’s fastest time.

 Benavides now leads the Desafío Ruta 40, with a ten-minute advantage over fellow Monster Energy Honda Team rider Paulo Gonçalves, with just the final stage to go. The final slog will be held tomorrow between Tafí del Valle and Tucumán, with 180 kilometres against the clock. The stage will take in mountain trails, river crossings, another ascent to over 3500 metres over sea-level and finishes on very high-speed tracks in the wilds.

 Michael Metge and Ricky Brabec were both able to complete a good stage, bringing the Honda CRF450 RALLY home with the second and fourth fastest times of the day respectively. The American holds fifth in the overall rankings and the Frenchman ninth.

 Paulo Gonçalves, the winner of yesterday’s stage, opened the track today for a large part of the day, until a navigation error and a subsequent fall spoiled his chances of a better result than seventh. Nevertheless, Paulo still keeps second place overall as the race goes into its final day with a ten minute deficit to make up on team-mate Benavides, but a twenty-three minute advantage over the third place rival.

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Paulo Gonçalves takes the overall leadership from team-mate Kevin Benavides

Monster Energy Honda Team holds strong at the head of the overall standings as the Desafío Ruta 40 arrives at its halfway point. Today was the turn of Paulo Gonçalves to win the stage, trading places at the top of the leader board with team-mate Kevin Benavides – fifth on the day – who drops to second overall.

 Paulo Gonçalves has established himself as the new race leader of the Desafío Ruta 40. The Portuguese rider of the Monster Energy Honda Team performed notably in the Belén desert area, showing deft riding and navigation skills during the 300 kilometre special stage. The course featured many off-piste sand sections as well as some kilometres of dunes.

 Gonçalves took the start some three minutes after team-mate Kevin Benavides in the third stage, whom he caught up close to kilometre 40 when the Argentinean found himself without a GPS signal. In a fine team effort, the pair managed to hold a swift pace together, enough to guarantee the win for the Portuguese ace and fifth place for the younger sidekick who succeeded in limiting the damage of having had to wait for his team-mate. In the general standings the duo swaps first and second position, with Paulo the new leader, 2’17” ahead of Kevin.

 It was a stunning performance too for the rest of the Honda CRF450 RALLY crew, Ricky Brabec and Michael Metge both proving to be very nippy off-piste whilst displaying considerable navigating prowess too. Brabec scored the day’s third fastest time as Metge posted fourth just a minute off his team-mate. The entire Monster Energy Honda Team, who had grafted hard and long yesterday to have the bikes in tip-top condition for today, are now back at the bivouac poised to take up the action tomorrow.

 Tomorrow (Wednesday) sees the fourth and penultimate stage of this gruelling Desafío Ruta 40, which heads out from Belén and finishes in Tafí del Valle, in the Tucumán province. In store are 300 kilometres of perplexing navigation, with some 220 kilometres of liaison sections. Only the truly tough will make it through such a punishing day’s racing which will, once again, feature some very trial-style terrain, dried river-beds and high-speed mountain tracks that reach altitudes of up to 3000 metres above sea-level.

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Ruta 40: Terranova and his MINI ALL4 Racing hold the lead

· Successful start into the Argentinean rally 

· Another three stages to go

 With three days of the event contested, Orlando ‘Orly’ Terranova and Bernardo ‘Ronnie’ Graue hold the overall lead in Desafío Ruta 40 Norte.

 With their MINI ALL4 Racing, the two Argentineans won the prologue and the following two special stages. In the second stage, from San Juan to Villa Unión, Terranova and Graue had to change a tyre due to a puncture and had to pump up another one but at the end of the day they proved to be the fastest, nevertheless. In the following stage, the rally took the field to the heights of Tinogasta. “A nice route,” Terranova said following his next stage win. “We drove for 20 kilometres on roads but the rest of the stage was off-road terrain. This special stage was a major challenge for us, the vehicle and the tyres.” 

During the course of the coming days, the competitors will be taken further to Northern Argentina. From Tinogasta the field will drive via Belén and Tafi de Valle to Tucuman where the teams will drive across the finish podium.

 Desafío Ruta 40 overall standings after SS2:

1st O. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI ALL4 Racing – 7h 46m 52s
2nd S. Halpern (ARG) / E. Pulenta (ARG) Toyota – 8h 08m 56s
 3rd J. Garcia (ARG) / R. Tolaschi (ARG) Chevrolet – 8h 55m 49s
4th B. Zapag Benitez (PRY) / R. Posse (ARG) Toyota – 14h 12m 26s
5th O. Gandara (ARG) / L. Martinez (BOL) Toyota – 16h 26m 38s

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Dupla vitória Franco Sport na estreia internacional

Mário Franco venceu derradeira manga 

Bruno Martins triunfou na classe não turbo final 

Foi a todos os títulos notável a participação dos pilotos portugueses no mundial de Pont-de-Vaux, que se disputou em França. Mário Franco venceu a classe na derradeira manga e conquistou ainda um pódio absoluto ao terminar na 3ª posição. Bruno Martins que tinha sido o vencedor das três mangas anteriores assegurou o título na classe para a equipa Franco Sport, apesar de ter sofrido o único contratempo num total de quatro horas de corrida.

 Tal como nas partidas anteriores Mário Franco mostrou-se particularmente à vontade nos arranques. Os pilotos portugueses ocupavam a quarta e a quinta posição na grelha para a derradeira corrida fruto das posições que Bruno Martins e Mário Franco tinham alcançado à geral na manga da véspera. 

Mário Franco teve um arranque fulminante saltando de imediato para a terceira posição, enquanto Bruno Martins, tal como o piloto do Can-Am que ocupava a pole posição, ficaram para trás. O atual líder do campeonato em Portugal não teve a sorte por seu lado e seria abalroado ainda na primeira volta por um adversário, ficando com a direção do seu Yamaha desalinhada. Mais tarde seria obrigado a ir à sua box para retirar a transmissão que se partira, fazendo a restante prova apenas com tração traseira.

 Foi este aliás o único contratempo sofrido pelos Yamaha YXZ 1000R que a equipa Franco Sport levou a esta clássica competição de todo-o-terreno, onde tiveram uma prestação e uma fiabilidade irrepreensíveis.

 Se na véspera Bruno Martins terminara a corrida em quarto da classificação geral, tendo perdido a vitória e o pódio absoluto na derradeira volta ao ser abalroado por um concorrente atrasado, o mesmo concorrente acabou por interferir de novo no resultado da equipa Franco Sport já que uma “atravessadela” na pista permitiu que Mário Franco tivesse o sangue frio suficiente para fazer o seu Yamaha passar pelo buraco da agulha, ganhando de uma assentada duas posições na derradeira volta, o que o levou ao pódio absoluto.

 Com este resultado Bruno Martins e Mário Franco fizeram a dobradinha na Classe não Turbo, enquanto na classificação geral Mário Franco foi 5º à frente de Bruno Martins.

 O jovem Alex Alletru em Polaris venceu a derradeira corrida e Anthony Jurado aos comandos de um CanAm sagrou-se campeão 2017 do mundial de Pont-de-Vaux para SSV.

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Monster Energy Honda Team takes the leadership in the Desafío Ruta 40 with a second stage one-two

A very complicated Desafío Ruta 40 second stage turned out positively for the Monster Energy Honda Team. Kevin Benavides and Paulo Gonçalves finished in the top two positions both on the day and in the overall standings.

 It was a gruelling, tough day between Villa Unión in La Rioja and Tinogasta in Catamarca. If the harshness of the track – with some very trial-like zones – was not bad enough, riders also had to deal with some extremely difficult navigation which required a very sharp eye to find some of the hidden waypoints along the route.

 Kevin Benavides went off like a bat out of hell this morning and had soon caught up with team-mate Paulo Gonçalves. At kilometre 15 the pair had a tough job finding a waypoint but once back on course the two rode together for practically the rest of the stage. After opening the track for the greater part of the day, Kevin made a scorching finish with a 3’19” advantage over his Portuguese team-mate from the Monster Energy Honda Team. The two made it back with the Honda CRF450 RALLYs, problem-free, to the thermal complex in La Aguadita and are now ready to restart tomorrow, bound for Belén, in what looks to be another taxing stage with a lot of navigation in the dunes.

 Ricky Brabec got another taste of just how tough the navigation can be in these stages. He made it back to the finish-line in eighth place. Michael Metge had an even more complicated day falling victim to a electrical issue which saw him delayed in his arrival back at Tinogasta.

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Monster Energy Honda Team complete a tough first stage at the Desafío Ruta 40

Paulo Gonçalves, Kevin Benavides and Michael Metge all finished in the leading four positions as the first Desafío Ruta 40 stage concluded in Villa Unión. Ricky Brabec was eighth.

 After the short five-kilometre appetizer disputed yesterday on the outskirts of El Villicum, today it was down to the real deal for the bikes as the first full-stage of the Desafío Ruta 40, the fourth date in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.

 The Monster Energy Honda Team yesterday scored an excellent team result in the curtain-raiser, placing all four participants in the top seven finishers. Portuguese rider Paulo Gonçalves took third spot, narrowly nudging out local idol Kevin Benavides. Michael Metge came home sixth with Ricky Brabec close behind.

Today Michael Metge rode a majestic stage. Mika was the first rider to attack the long special stage and made it through to the finish line without being overtaken. In spite of having the disadvantageous task of opening the track, the Frenchman still managed to post the day’s fourth fastest time.

Paulo Gonçalves was the best of the four team riders, finishing in runner-up position without conceding much time to the eventual stage winner Sam Sunderland. Behind the Portuguese Monster Energy Honda Team rider was Kevin Benavides. The Argentinean made a gallant comeback after having fallen in a river. The rider, who hails from Salta, Argentina, will, however, be ready to take the start-line tomorrow.

American Ricky Brabec, too, was performing well in the stage until the tricky section coming out of the dunes which involved particularly difficult navigation in a dried out river. A minor directional error saw the rider drop precious time, which he will look to rectify in the stage tomorrow.

San Juan waved farewell to the participants of the Ruta 40 this morning. The capital – of the region of the same name – with more than 470,000 inhabitants, had hosted the first three days of scrutineering, prologue and the first stage of this, the eighth edition of the event.

The first participant to leave the bivouac on Sunday was the Frenchman of the Monster Energy Honda Team, Michael Metge at 07:25, who had chosen to open the track in the draw for starting positions after the prologue yesterday.

The 321-kilometre special opened at 08:30 and after a first 50 kilometres of fairly plain sailing, riders were then faced with the complications of having to navigate in a dried-up river, a task which put everyone to the test. The final part of the stage offered a taster of what is to come in tomorrow’s second stage.

Villa Unión, a town in the province of La Rioja of about 5,000 inhabitants, with a fine wine-growing tradition, plays home to the bivouac of this second day of competition. The town is located 330 kilometres from San Juan.

The second stage of the Desafio Ruta 40 will be held tomorrow between Villa Union and Tinogasta, in the region of Catamarca. There will be 336 kilometres of timed special with a total of 100km of liaison. Riders can expect dry rivers, trial-style riding and fast track in altitude some 3,500 metres above sea level, until the 80 km neutralization zone when the race takes to the famous Fiambalá dunes. This is the first time that Ruta 40 passes through this legendary desert area.

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SOUTH RACING’S VARELA AND ALVAREZ CLAIM STUNNING SECOND AND THIRD PLACES BEHIND BAUMGART IN RALLY DOS SERTÕES

· Double podium for South Racing’s teams in Brazil’s premier off-road event 

South Racing claimed a double podium finish in Brazil’s daunting Rally dos Sertões, a gruelling seven-day cross-country rally that started in Goiânia on August 20th and finishes in Bonito on Saturday (August 26th).

 The Brazilian crew of Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin delivered a solid performance to bring their Divino Fogäo Rally Team Ford Ranger, managed by South Racing, to the finish in second position – a mere 6min 44sec behind race winner Cristian Baumgart.

 Spaniard Fernando Alvarez and Argentinean navigator Juan-Pablo Monasterolo capped a memorable week for South Racing by guiding the brand new Conarpesa-backed Volkswagen Amarok to a fine third position.

  “This was a great result for the team,” enthused South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham. “Reinaldo did as much as he could and managed to claw back 10 minutes on the last day. Also, for Fernando to finish in third place with a brand new car out of the box was great for the team. Now we head straight to Ruta 40 and Baja Poland.

“It was a difficult race, but a lot of fun. The cars ran faultlessly and we didn’t have any technical issues at all. Unfortunately the time lost on the first stage was difficult to make up but we were competitive the whole rally.”

The competitive action got underway on August 19th with a timed Prologue stage in Goiânia. Local driver Guilherme Spinelli claimed the fastest time of 3min 42.61sec to hold the advantage in deciding starting positions for the first of the selective sections of 306.82km between Goiânia and Goianésia on August 20th.

Alvarez started cautiously in the new Amarok and recorded the eighth quickest time of 4min 01.53sec, while Varela was just under three seconds behind in 10th in the Ford Ranger. Cristian Baumgart won the first of the stages in a time of 4hrs 06min 12.48sec, as Varela carded the third fastest time and Alvarez was sixth.

Teams then headed from Goianésia to Santa Terezinha de Goiás on August 21st. Baumgart again claimed the quickest time on the two parts of the selective section, as Varela and Alvarez were third and fifth to move into similar positions in the general classification.

The route headed on to Aruanã the following day and Spinelli won the two sections of the special stage, as Varela and Alvarez recorded the second and fourth quickest times. Spinelli was quickest again on the run into Barra do Garça the next day, while Varela and Alvarez were fourth and eighth.

The route for day five left Barra do Garça in the direction of Coxim and the South Racing duo slotted into third and fifth on the two competitive sections in the day’s route of 666.01km.

It meant that Baumgart headed into the final two days with an advantage of 15min 25sec over Varela, with Alvarez in third position. Leg six ran for 429.45km between Coxim and Aquidana and Spinelli again carded the quickest time of 2hrs 01min 33.12sec for the two timed sections of the day’s route, as Varela and Alvarez settled into fourth and fifth places on the day. It meant that Baumgart took a lead of 16min 21sec over Varela into the final stage between Aquidana and the rally finish in Bonito, an ecotourism hub in the Mato Grosso do Sul state.

Spinelli managed to hold off Varela to win the stage by 2min 13sec, but the second quickest time meant that the South Racing driver closed the gap on Baumgart at the top of the rankings to just 6min 44sec. Alvarez confirmed third position with the seventh quickest time.

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Dos Sertões: great catch-up in Brazil

· Spinelli and De Barros finish fifth and seventh

 · Argentina’s Desfaío Ruta 40 kicked off 

Would you ignore the first two special stages of the Rally dos Sertões, the event in Brazil would have been extremely successful. The two X-raid pairings, Guiga Spinelli (BRA) / Youssef Haddad (BRA) und Sylvio de Barros (BRA) / Rafael Capoani (BRA), secured a total of three one-twos in the stages, with their MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles.

Following the problems in the early stages of the event, the Brazilians stunned the crowds with an amazing catch-up show to finish fifth and seventh, in the end. Following his win in the Dos Sertões prologue, Spinelli started into his home rally with high expectations but at the end of day one he dropped out of the contention for the top positions. Due to V-belt problems he couldn’t finish the first special stage but despite the setback he refused to give in. The Brazilian kept on pushing and used the chance of gathering more experience with the MINI ALL4 Racing – a new racing car for him. In the second stage, Spinelli finished third to win the other five stages. With these outstanding achievements, he worked his way back up from 17th position to secure the sensational fifth place, in the end.

 De Barros also had to cope with a major dose of bad luck in the early stages of the event. He somersaulted in the second special stage and lost a lot of ground. But like Spinelli, he didn’t mope but really went for it in the following special stages. With several second places he made up for a major part of the lost ground to cross the finish podium in Bonito in seventh position.

  “Unfortunately we weren’t able to be a factor in the battle for the win, following day one,” said Guiga Spinelli. “Afterwards we set ourselves the goal to win as many stages as possible and we did so by securing five of the seven stages and the prologue. We are really happy with the entire team: my co-driver Youssef Haddad, the X-raid team and all the friends and the family that supported us. We improved with the MINI throughout the rally and are determined to fight for a better result, next year.

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Franco Sport continua a brilhar em França

Bruno Martins e Mário Franco lideram Classe não Turbo 

Continua brilhante a participação dos pilotos portugueses no mundial de Pont-de-Vaux que se está a disputar em França. Depois de terem subido ao pódio nas duas primeiras corridas voltaram a repetir a dose na terceira manga e reforçaram a liderança que asseguraram desde o primeiro dia.

 Bruno Martins, o atual líder do campeonato em Portugal e Mário Franco são os pilotos que a equipa Franco Sport levou a esta clássica competição de todo-o-terreno onde estão aos comandos dos Yamaha YXZ 1000R com os quais lideram a classe não turbo.

 Mário Franco foi mais uma vez o melhor a arrancar para a terceira corrida com uma hora de duração, mas seria de novo Bruno Martins a terminar na melhor posição. Este evento, o maior do mundo para Quads e que pelo terceiro ano integra também no seu programa os SSV conta com mais de três dezenas de máquinas com pilotos de seis nacionalidades em ação numa pista com um traçado de 2300 metros e onde se destacam três imponentes saltos.

 Bruno Martins terminou esta corrida em 2º lugar da classe não turbo e quarto da classificação geral tendo perdido a vitória e o pódio absoluto ao ser abalroado por um concorrente atrasado na derradeira volta. Com este resultado Bruno Martins ascendeu ao terceiro lugar absoluto a apenas 2 pontos do 2ºlugar da geral que poderia ter alcançado sem o percalço que atrás mencionámos. Mário Franco por seu lado foi 3º da classe e 5º da geral ocupando agora o 2º e o 6º posto respetivamente na classe e na geral.

 Anthony Jurado aos comandos de um CanAm venceu à geral pela terceira vez consecutiva e já é o virtual vencedor.

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Petrobras Rally Team domina edição de 25 anos do Rally dos Sertões nos carros e sobe ao pódio

Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad venceram cinco Especiais consecutivas e encerraram participação com com triunfos em seis das oito etapas da competição

 De cabeça erguida e com sentimento de missão cumprida, a Petrobras Rally Team encerrou neste sábado (26) sua participação no Rally dos Sertões 25 Anos. O piloto Guiga Spinelli e o navegador Youssef Haddad emendaram a quinta vitória consecutiva na prova ao completarem a Especial entre Aquidauana e Bonito, no Mato Grosso do Sul, com 240,45 quilômetros de trecho cronometrado, em 2h33min43s52.

 Das oito etapas disputadas no Sertões deste ano, incluindo o prólogo, que definiu a ordem de largada em Goiânia, Guiga e Youssef venceram seis, retrospecto que os colocou em quinto lugar no acumulado, garantindo um lugar no pódio geral dos carros. O degrau ocupado por eles no top 5, no entanto, tinha tudo para ser mais um pouco mais alto. O problema mecânico enfrentado com o Mini All4 Racing logo no primeiro dia, em que a dupla não conseguiu completar o trecho cronometrado, comprometeu as chances de título.

 Ao subir na rampa de chegada em Bonito, ao lado dos familiares, de amigos e companheiros de equipe, Guiga e Youssef exaltaram o apoio que receberam dentro e fora das trilhas nesta edição de 25 anos da maior competição off road do Brasil.

“A gente queria estar aqui comemorando o título do Rally dos Sertões, mas depois do primeiro dia esse objetivo se tornou impossível. O nosso foco mudou e tentamos vencer o máximo de Especiais possíveis. Ganhamos oito de seis. A gente sai muito satisfeito com o conjunto: o Youssef navegando, minha pilotagem, a equipe X-Raid, todos os amigos que trabalharam junto com a gente, o apoio da família… Viemos nos aprimorando com o Mini ao longo da competição e estaremos prontos para um resultado melhor no próximo ano”, exaltou Spinelli, maior campeão do Sertões entre os carros, com cinco títulos (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

“Nosso objetivo era ser campeão mais uma vez, mas com três quilômetros do primeiro dia tivemos de abrir mão desse sonho. Em momento algum abaixamos a cabeça, nos superamos dia a dia. Chegar aqui com cinco vitórias consecutivas e o quinto lugar no geral é mais do que uma vitória. Queria agradecer à X-Raid e ao Guiga por me dar a honra de competir ao lado dele”, festejou Youssef, campeão do Sertões por três oportunidades (2010, 2011 e 2014).

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Dobradinha da Franco Sport em França

Bruno Martins e Mário Franco lideram Classe 

Com dois pódios nas duas primeiras corridas começou da melhor maneira a participação dos pilotos portugueses no mundial de Pont-de-Vaux que se está a disputar em França. A equipa Franco Sport levou a esta clássica competição de todo-o-terreno dois Yamaha YXZ 1000 que estão a ser pilotados por Bruno Martins o atual líder do campeonato em Portugal e por Mário Franco

 Este evento o maior do mundo para Quads e que desde há três anos passou a integrar também os SSV começou com um fantástico desfile pela vila francesa onde se concentraram milhares de visitantes que quiseram ver de perto as mais de 300 máquinas presentes.

 No dia seguinte os SSV cedo entraram em ação numa pista com um traçado de 2300 metros e onde para os portugueses os saltos eram a maior novidade.

Competindo na Classe não Turbo Bruno Martins e Mário Franco tinham a forte concorrência de muitos franceses aos comandos de uma máquina que inclusive venceu à geral em 2016. Competindo tal como em Portugal contra os CanAm e os Polaris os pilotos da Franco Sport entraram de forma excelente com Bruno Martins a ser o vencedor da classe na corrida inicial com um fantástico 6º lugar absoluto.

 Mário Franco que terminou esta primeira corrida com uma hora de duração em 3º lugar da classe e dentro do Top 10 absoluto, teve um excelente arranque para a segunda corrida do dia disputada já de noite. Liderou a classe até à derradeira volta onde seria ultrapassado por Bruno Martins alcançando uma dobradinha para Portugal.

 Com estes resultados Bruno Martins e Mário Franco lideram na respetiva classe e ocupam o 5º e 6º lugares de uma classificação geral que é comandada por Anthony Jurado aos comandos de um Can-Am, piloto que venceu as duas corridas já disputadas. A competição prossegue até domingo com a realização de mais duas corridas.

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All set for the Desafío Ruta 40

The riders from the Monster Energy Honda Team are ready to rumble as the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship arrives at round four for a week-long crusade in the north-eastern provinces of Argentina.

 Saturday sees the Desafío Ruta 40 get underway for the Monster Energy Honda Team in San Juan, Argentina. The most exciting event in the offroad disciple and the fourth date so far in the world championship calendar will play out over six days, once again on South American soil. The rally kicks off with a short four-kilometre curtain-raising prologue on Saturday; the start is scheduled for 16:30 local time.

 Joan Barreda, Paulo Gonçalves, Kevin Benavides, Ricky Brabec and Michael Metge spent Friday morning getting through the usual pre-race scrutineering session. First up were the administrative checks, followed by the technical shakedown for the Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes, which all passed successfully and were deemed fit for participation in the Desafío Ruta 40.

 Paulo Gonçalves, currently third overall in the world championship table, will be out to gather the maximum number of points possible as he goes in pursuit of second place Chilean rival Quintanilla, winner of last week’s Atacama Rally. Meanwhile, Kevin Benavides, also looking to scale positions in the championship table, will be seeking to repeat the result of last year’s edition. The local boy currently occupies fifth position. Alongside the Portuguese and Argentinean riders in the Desafío Ruta 40 will be Michael Metge (France) and Ricky Brabec (USA). Last week these two, with Joan Barreda (Spain) and Metge as a reserve rider, took part and triumphed in the prestigious Vegas to Reno Race.

 Joan Barreda, originally scheduled to start the Desafío Ruta 40 today (Saturday), fell during a team training session in the outskirts of San Juan yesterday. As a consequence of a left forearm injury sustained in the accident, and as a cautionary measure, both the rider and the team’s management have decided to leave the rider out of the race.

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Petrobras Rally Team garante quarta vitória em seis etapas no Rally dos Sertões

Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad triunfam no trecho cronometrado disputado no Mato Grosso do Sul e se preparam para a última etapa da prova, em Bonito, neste sábado 

 Seis etapas, quatro vitórias. O desempenho da Petrobras Rally Team na edição de 25 anos do Rally dos Sertões, após enfrentar problemas mecânicos logo no primeiro dia, é digno de aplausos. Nesta sexta-feira (25), o piloto Guiga Spinelli e o navegador Youssef Haddad ampliaram esse retrospecto positivo ao vencer a quarta Especial consecutiva, entre as cidades de Coxim e Aquidauana (MS).

 A bordo do Mini All4 Racing, Guiga e Youssef percorreram os 194,91 quilômetros do trecho cronometrado em 2h02min52s66. Mas para chegar a mais um triunfo, a dupla precisou reagir durante a Especial, cheia de lombadas, depressões, travessias de pontes e trechos arenosos. Com o resultado, eles se mantiveram em sexto lugar na classificação geral dos carros.

“Economizamos demais na primeira metade da Especial, mas na segunda conseguimos retomar o ritmo e vencer. Foi um trecho bem duro, cheio de lombas, com estradas de fazendas sinuosas, com pontes e depressões, poças d’água… Enfim, uma Especial exigente, como todas as outras do Rally dos Sertões deste ano, e conseguimos cumprir nosso objetivo”, avaliou Youssef Haddad. 

A sétima etapa do Rally dos Sertões, neste sábado (26), entre Aquidauana e Bonito, terá 240,45 quilômetros de Especial, com 420,78 km de percurso total. Engana-se quem pensa que, por ser a última, dará moleza aos competidores. Início rápido, áreas sinuosas de fazendas e trial com muitas pedras são algumas das surpresas a serem encaradas no caminho. Por isso, a sintonia entre dupla e máquina terá de prevalecer para que o esforço de uma semana não seja perdido.

  “Os engenheiros da equipe têm me mostrado, por meio de dados, possibilidades de a gente ser mais rápido, mas sem assumir grandes riscos. Eles me ofereceram opções de uso da rotação do motor e das turbinas em que aproveitarei melhor o carro. Isso faz parte do aprendizado em um veículo novo. A cada dia, tenho conseguido usar melhor o potencial do Mini”, contou Spinelli, maior vencedor da competição entre os carros, com cinco títulos (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

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Mais entrosada com carro, Petrobras Rally Team supera especial mais longa do Rally dos Sertões

Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad foram os mais rápidos no trecho cronometrado entre Barra do Garças e Coxim e celebram adaptação ao Mini após problema no primeiro dia de prova 

O abandono no primeiro dia do Rally dos Sertões ficou para trás, assim como os demais adversários desde então. Focada em obter o melhor resultado possível dia após dia, a Petrobras Rally Team brilhou mais uma vez na principal competição off road do Brasil. O piloto Guiga Spinelli e o navegador Youssef Haddad foram os mais rápidos na quinta etapa da prova, nesta quinta-feira (24), entre as cidades de Barra do Garças (MT) e Coxim (MS), e venceram a terceira Especial (trecho cronometrado) consecutiva nos carros.

 Guiga e Youssef triunfaram na Especial mais longa desta edição do Sertões, com 438,86 quilômetros de percurso cronometrado, registrando o tempo de 4h38min31s80. O trajeto era bem exigente e versátil, intercalando trechos arenosos e travados com longas retas e muitas lombas. O trecho cronometrado também contava com um número alto de radares, 26 ao todo, o que obrigava os competidores a quebrarem o ritmo para não serem penalizados.

 Com o resultado na quinta etapa do Rally dos Sertões, a dupla subiu mais duas posições no acumulado dos carros, ocupando agora o sexto lugar geral. Correndo pela primeira vez com o Mini All4 Racing, e distantes da briga pelo título nos carros por não terem completado a primeira etapa, Guiga e Youssef aproveitam para se adaptar ainda mais ao veículo.

  “Cada dia tem sido um grande aprendizado com o Mini. Quero ganhar experiência com o carro, saber os limites dele, para em provas futuras estar mais adaptado, algo que não tive antes do Rally dos Sertões. É um carro resistente, preciso, rápido, mas com características específicas. Estou adaptando meu estilo de pilotagem para, aos poucos, aproveitar melhor o desempenho dele”, disse Spinelli, maior campeão do Sertões entre os carros, com cinco títulos (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

 Nesta sexta-feira (25), o Rally dos Sertões chega ao penúltimo dia de disputa, com uma Especial de 194,91 quilômetros entre Coxim e Aquidauana, no Mato Grosso do Sul – o percurso total da etapa será de 429,45 km. “Hoje cumprimos nosso objetivo de nos desenvolver mais com o Mini, conhecer melhor o carro e fazer um resultado favorável. A partir de amanhã, serão dois dias curtos, com Especiais mais simples, e a prova tende a não sofrer grandes alterações na classificação geral, indo nesse ritmo até o fim”, analisou Youssef.

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The action continues for the Monster Energy Honda Team on the other side of the Andes

A week after competing in the third round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, Monster Energy Honda Team move on to the next date in the race calendar – the Desafio Ruta 40 – held in Argentina over the final days of August.

 Monster Energy Honda Team will barely have time to rest in a chock-a-block August which has already seen participations in the Atacama Rally in Chile and the Vegas to Reno in the United States. One week on, it’s time for the Desafío Ruta 40, on the other side of the Andes, which awaits the competitors in the fourth round of the rally raid discipline.

 For the first three rounds of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies calendar the Monster Energy Honda Team has been spearheaded by the duo of riders Paulo Gonçalves (Portugal) and Kevin Benavides (Argentina). This time round, however, for the Desafío Ruta 40 the squad will wheel out the full arsenal of five riders including Joan Barreda (Spain), Michael Metge (France) and Ricky Brabec (USA). All of the riders will be armed with the Honda CRF450 RALLY with a similar setup to the one likely to feature in the 2018 DakarRally.

 It shouldn’t be forgotten that Paulo Gonçalves (2015) and Kevin Benavides (2016) are the two most recent winners in the event. The Honda team dominated last year’s edition with a full podium lockout of Benavides, Barreda and Gonçalves. Additionally, Metge finished in fifth place in a hugely successful campaign that Monster Energy Honda Team will be seeking to replicate in the 2017 edition.

 The Desafío Ruta 40 is made up of five stages, getting underway in the city of San Juan, in the region of the same name and finishing in Villa Unión, in La Rioja. Tinogasta and Belén in Catamarca, will be the following locations for the start and finish of the timed specials. The final stages will play out in Tucumán: Tafí del Valle and the capital San Miguel de Tucumán.

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Petrobras Rally Team vence segunda especial consecutiva e consolida ascensão no Rally dos Sertões

Com média horária de 138 km/h na Especial, Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad são os mais velozes do dia, entre Aruanã e Barra do Garças, e sobem para oitavo lugar no acumulado 

 A Petrobras Rally Team segue em franca ascensão no Rally dos Sertões 2017. Nesta quarta-feira (23), o piloto Guiga Spinelli e o navegador Youssef Haddad foram os mais rápidos da quarta etapa, entre as cidades de Aruanã (GO) e Barra do Garças (MT), e venceram a segunda Especial (trecho cronometrado) consecutiva entre os carros.

 Com um percurso de menor exigência técnica em relação aos dias anteriores, Guiga e Youssef puderam usufruir mais da potência do Mini All4 Racing por quase toda a Especial, cravando o tempo de 1h41min38s59. A média de velocidade na etapa foi de 138 km/h. E poderia ter sido mais alta, se o tráfego de UTVs na parte final do trecho cronometrado não tivesse obrigado a dupla a tirar o pé.

”Viemos em ritmo forte, mas com segurança, sem forçar demais. Optamos por não parar no abastecimento. Difícil saber se a decisão foi certa ou errada, mas pegamos muitos UTVs no trecho final. Como a velocidade final deles é bem mais baixa que a dos carros, acabamos ficando um pouco presos atrás. Trechos em que poderíamos andar a 180 km/h acabamos fazendo em 130, 140 km/h por conta do tráfego e perdemos tempo”, avaliou Spinelli. “Foi um dia com longas retas, bumps e depressões, poucos trechos sinuosos e uma Especial de média horária bem alta”, completou.

 Com a segunda vitória após quatro etapas disputadas, a dupla da Petrobras Rally Team saltou seis posições na classificação geral dos carros, ficando em oitavo lugar no acumulado. “Tudo tem funcionado perfeitamente – pilotagem, navegação e performance do carro”, avaliou Guiga, maior vencedor do Rally dos Sertões entre os carros, com cinco títulos (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

 Nesta quinta-feira (24), a principal competição off road do Brasil parte rumo ao Mato Grosso do Sul. O trecho cronometrado entre as cidades de Barra do Garças e Coxim terá 438,86 quilômetros, a especial mais longa da edição de 25 anos do Sertões.

“A Especial de amanhã será bem completa, um resumo do Rally dos Sertões até aqui, somando características do primeiro dia – trechos travados, muito trial e muitas pedras – com situações similares às de hoje e ontem: longas retas e alta velocidade, intercaladas por lombas e depressões em trechos mais agrícolas. Será um dia bem importante. Acredito que, a partir de amanhã, a classificação geral sofrerá pouquíssimas alterações até o fim da prova”, descreveu Youssef Haddad.

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HALPERN, GUTIÉRREZ AND ZAPAG TO REPRESENT SOUTH RACING IN ARGENTINA’S SIX-DAY DESAFIO RUTA 40 NORD

Following on from the recent Atacama Rally in Chile and this week’s Rally dos Sertões in Brazil, South Racing is also preparing to run three cars in this coming week’s Desafio Ruta 40 Nord, the second round of this year’s Argentine Cross-Country Rally Championship and a round of the South American Cross-Country Rally Championship (CODASUR).

 The event starts in San Juan on Saturday, August 26th and finishes in San Miguel de Tucumán on Thursday, August 31st.

 The Argentinean duo of Sebastien Halpern and Eduardo Pulenta will drive the first of two Toyota Hiluxes, while Paraguay’s Blas Zapag teams up with fellow countryman Felix Morales Rotela in a second Copetrol Rally Team car.

 Bolivian driver Rodrigo Gutiérrez and Croatian navigator Tomislav Glavic head straight to San Juan from Chile’s Atacama event to continue their quest for honours in the CODASUR Cross-Country Rally Championship.

 Argentinean driver Emiliano Spataro claimed a narrow victory over Gutiérrez at Desafio Ruta Sur back in April and Halpern was fourth in the second of the team’s Toyota Hiluxes.

 But Gutiérrez teamed up with Glavic to claim a stunning victory in Paraguay’s Desafio Guarani, round two of the CODASUR series last month. The team’s Paraguayan duo of Zapag and Rolfi Morales made it a South Racing 1-2 finish and that sets the scene for a thrilling contest through north-western Argentina.

 After technical and administration checks at the Aldo Cantoni stadium in San Juan, the action on the second round of the Argentine cross-country series begins with a Prologue stage on Saturday evening (August 26th). Teams then tackle the first of the longer stages to Villa Unión in La Rioja Province on Sunday (August 27th).

 The route organised by Eventos SA then continues in a northerly direction to the city of Tinogasta in the Catamarca Province on August 28th and on to Belén the following day.

 From Belén, the route heads into the province of Tucumán on August 30th for a night stop over in the Calchaqui Valley at Tafi del Valle before the final run into San Miguel de Tucumán on August 31st.

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De ponta a ponta, Petrobras Rally Team vence terceira etapa do Rally dos Sertões nos carros

Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad imprimem ritmo forte e dominam a especial desta terça-feira entre Santa Terezinha de Goiás e Aruanã 

Não teve para ninguém. A Petrobras Rally Team dominou a terceira etapa do Rally dos Sertões 2017 nos carros, disputada nesta terça-feira (22), entre as cidades de Santa Terezinha de Goiás e Aruanã, em Goiás. O piloto Guiga Spinelli e o navegador Youssef Haddad venceram a Especial do dia de ponta a ponta, completando os 297,12 quilômetros do trecho cronometrado com o tempo de 3h01min22s12.

 O Mini All4 Racing entrou e saiu da Maratona funcionando perfeitamente – a dupla ficou em segundo lugar na etapa de segunda-feira, entre Goianésia e Santa Tarezinha de Goiás, em que não poderia receber suporte mecânico externo. Nesta terça, Guiga/Youssef encararam um início de Especial sinuoso, cheio de subidas e descidas. Depois do reabastecimento, o estilo de pilotagem mudou completamente, com estradas longas e muito rápidas.

“Foi alta velocidade o tempo inteiro na parte final. Chegamos a bater perto dos 195 km/h, e rodamos a maior parte do trecho acima dos 170km/h!”, contou Spinelli. “Hoje foi bem diferente dos dias anteriores, com uma média horária bem mais alta”, complementou Youssef.

 A performance fez a dupla da Petrobras Rally Team subir na classificação geral, ficando entre os 20 melhores no acumulado. Mas, como uma falha mecânica logo na etapa de abertura comprometeu as chances de título, o objetivo de Guiga e Youssef desde então tem sido alcançar o melhor resultado possível a cada dia até cruzar a linha de chegada, em Bonito (MS), no próximo sábado (26).

  “Continuamos no foco de buscar o nosso melhor rendimento no dia a dia, já que na classificação geral ficamos bem distantes dos líderes”, reforçou Spinelli, maior vencedor do Rally dos Sertões entre os carros, com cinco troféus (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

 A quarta etapa da maior competição off road do Brasil, nesta quarta-feira (23), sairá de Aruanã (GO) rumo a Barra do Garças, no Mato Grosso. Serão 471,34 quilômetros de percurso total, com 273,20 km de Especial.

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Franco Sport compete de SSV em França

Bruno Martins - líder do CNTT – com Franco Sport em França 

A equipa Franco Sport prossegue a sua internacionalização, levando até França dois dos seus Yamaha YXZRSS 1000 R com que compete no Campeonato Nacional de Todo-o-Terreno e na Taça Yamaha. O objetivo centra-se na participação da competição destinada aos SSV que decorre em paralelo com o famoso Mundial de Quad de Pont-de-Vaux que este ano vai para a sua 31ª edição e por onde já passaram muito pilotos portugueses.

 A grande novidade será, contudo, a participação de Bruno Martins, o atual líder do campeonato nacional que, a convite da equipa Franco Sport, se vai bater contra três dezenas de equipas com pilotos de oito nacionalidades distintas. Bruno Martins irá pilotar a viatura stock que a equipa Franco Sport tem em regime de aluguer e que tão elogiada foi por Nani Roma no comparativo que veio fazer recentemente a Portugal.

 A presença da equipa Franco Sport visa também alargar os seus contactos internacionais com vista aos ambiciosos projetos que a equipa de Mário Franco e dirigida por Ricardo Batista tem para os próximos anos.

 O programa desta jornada internacional arranca na 5ª feira com a apresentação das máquinas na cidade. Na 6ª feira, ao inicio da tarde, arrancam os treinos dos SSV que terão a sua primeira corrida entre as 17 e as 18 horas. Uma segunda manga – noturna – será disputada a partir das 20h15m e terá também uma hora de duração. No sábado e no domingo serão disputadas mais duas mangas igualmente com uma hora. A primeira às 18h30m e a segunda pelas 11h30m.

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João Rebelo Martins com Valter Cardoso no Panafrica Rally

Primeiro português de SSV em África

 Depois das pistas de alcatrão e das de terra nacionais, João Rebelo Martins vai fazer a sua estreia em pistas africanas disputando pela primeira vez uma competição de todo-o-terreno fora de Portugal. O piloto de Oliveira de Azeméis que será o primeiro português a competir de SSV numa prova africana terá a seu lado, o também estreante em África, Valter Cardoso, um navegador de créditos firmados nos Ralis e no TT nacional.

 Esta participação no Panafrica Rally, competição que decorre de 23 a 30 de setembro, será o próximo desafio de um piloto bem conhecido pelo seu espirito aventureiro. Recuperado de um acidente que o impediu de participar em duas das cinco provas do CNTT já disputadas João Rebelo Martins prepara afincadamente este grande desafio juntamente com a Vettra Motorsport e agora também com Valter Cardoso

 O Yamaha YXZ 1000 RSS que ostenta as cores da ENI esta a ser modificado para enfrentar as duras exigências do deserto. “Estamos a trabalhar no carro, mas tão ou mais importante do que isso é eu e o Valter adquirirmos os conhecimentos necessários para resolver qualquer percalço tão frequentes neste tipo de provas”, revela João Rebelo Martins que acrescenta: “Com um navegador tão motivado como eu vamos agora ouvir os mestres da navegação para tentar irmos o melhor preparado possível.

 O Panafrica Rally concentra-se na cidade de Erfoud, com um percurso em "boucle". A prova conta com um prólogo e cinco etapas, uma das quais maratona. Este formato foi concebido para juntar todos os participantes no terreno. Desta forma, estreantes, amadores e pilotos de elite vão correr juntos.

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Petrobras Rally Team consegue recuperação espetacular e termina etapa Maratona em quarto lugar

Após falha mecânica no primeiro dia, carro de Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad mostra seu potencial na etapa Maratona desta segunda-feira. Pneu furado impede ascensão maior 

Nada como um dia após o outro. A Petrobras Rally Team se desdobrou para deixar o Mini All4 Racing em plenas condições para continuar no Rally dos Sertões após não conseguir completar o primeiro dia de competição, no último domingo, devido a falhas mecânicas que resultaram em superaquecimento do veículo. O esforço foi recompensado com uma grande performance do piloto Guiga Spinelli e do navegador Youssef Haddad, que ficaram com a quarta colocação na etapa desta segunda-feira (21), entre as cidades de Goianésia e Santa Terezinha de Goiás (GO).

 O resultado poderia até ter sido melhor, não fosse um pneu furado a cinco quilômetros do fim do trecho cronometrado, quando Guiga e Youssef lideravam a parcial. Assim, eles percorreram em 3h51min58s18 os 248,16 quilômetros da Especial, que foi Maratona (sem suporte mecânico externo). O resultado colocou a dupla da Petrobras Rally Team em 22º lugar na classificação geral.

  “Hoje o carro funcionou, com temperaturas de água e motor perfeitas, o que já nos deixou animados e felizes para os próximos dias. Largamos atrás e fizemos muitas ultrapassagens”, disse Spinelli, maior campeão do Rally dos Sertões entre os carros, com cinco títulos (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

 Com a superação demonstrada pela equipe servindo como inspiração para a sequência do Rally dos Sertões, a Petrobras Rally Team encara a terceira das sete etapas do evento nesta terça-feira (22), entre Santa Terezinha de Goiás e Aruanã (GO). Serão 306 quilômetros de percurso, com 297,12 km de Especial.

“O pneu furado nos prejudica um pouco porque a estratégia era trocar o jogo de pneus para amanhã. Os pneus ficaram bem danificados após a Especial. Mas, pelo menos segundo a planilha, a terceira etapa será menos complexa do que as duas primeiras”, concluiu Youssef Haddad.

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Com problemas no carro, Petrobras Rally Team não completa primeira etapa do Rally dos Sertões

Falha mecânica no carro de Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad comprometeu a estreia, e dupla não conseguiu completar o trecho cronometrado deste domingo 

“Estamos esperando a equipe encontrar o problema e a solução! Queremos continuar na prova.” A frase de Guiga Spinelli resume o sentimento da Petrobras Rally Team após o primeiro dia de disputas do Rally dos Sertões. A alegria por ter vencido o prólogo, no dia anterior, deu lugar à decepção com a falha mecânica que impediu o carro da equipe de completar a primeira etapa, entre Goiânia e Goianésia (GO), neste domingo (20), com percurso total de 680,48 quilômetros, sendo 306,82 km de Especial (trecho cronometrado).

 Primeira dupla a largar na categoria, Guiga Spinelli e o navegador Youssef Haddad cumpriram a primeira parcial com o terceiro melhor tempo (1h39min32s70). Mas, desde o início do trecho cronometrado, a temperatura do motor estava bem acima do normal, o que os obrigou a tentar controlar o problema reduzindo o ritmo.

 Como o motor fica praticamente dentro do cockpit, a temperatura interna do carro subiu demais. Guiga e Youssef, então, pararam no abastecimento para tentar encontrar e se recompor do enorme calor que estavam passando. Logo após a saída desse ponto, andaram mais três quilômetros e as duas correias do motor se romperam. A sucessão de problemas mecânicos obrigou a dupla a abandonar a etapa.

“Logo no início da Especial o carro já esquentou. Viemos poupando, mas o calor interno foi ficando insuportável, e o carro algumas vezes ficou em módulo de segurança e tentamos administrar no acelerador também. Paramos na área de abastecimento para tentar alguma solução, mas não tinha o que fazer”, relatou Youssef Haddad.

 A decepção do primeiro dia será o combustível da Petrobras Rally Team para a sequência do Rally dos Sertões. Nesta segunda-feira (21), a maior competição off road do Brasil deixa Goianésia em direção a Santa Terezinha de Goiás (GO). A etapa será Maratona, em que os competidores não contarão com suporte mecânico externo. O trajeto total, com 326 quilômetros, terá 248,16 km de Especial.

  “A partir de amanhã, apesar de estarmos distantes da briga pelo título, vamos tentar continuar com o mesmo foco, concentrado, andar o mais veloz possível, buscar os melhores resultados possíveis e aproveitar para se familiarizar ainda mais com o carro até o fim do rali. Não vamos desistir, basta a equipe revisar o carro e resolver o problema que vamos à luta novamente”, concluiu Spinelli, maior vencedor do Rally dos Sertões entre os carros, com cinco troféus (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

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Barreda and Brabec clinch the 2017 Vegas-Reno

Joan Barreda and Ricky Brabec grabbed top honours in a Monster Energy Honda Team one-two victory in the twenty-first edition of one of the United States’ most prestigious races: the Vegas to Reno.

 After triumphing in the 2017 Baja Aragon in July, Joan Barreda once again turned on the winning style, this time at the V2R held this weekend in the Nevada desert. Alongside fellow Monster Energy Honda Team member Ricky Brabec (USA), the Honda CRF450 RALLYs dominated throughout the longest off-road race in the United States.

 Barreda and Brabec were outstanding in the 539-miles race (864 kilometres). Setting a blistering pace from the very start in Las Vegas, the duo were soon in the lead and it was pedal-to-the-metal all the way to the finish-line in Reno, where the pair arrived with a lengthy advantage over rivals. All this despite a spill for Ricky Brabec just after the race’s halfway point. The team had been supported throughout by Johnny Campbell with assistance from JCR-Honda.

 Both riders came through the tough test with flying colours, as they once again add their names to the honours list. Joan Barreda was victorious last year while Brabec won the 2014 edition. The Spanish rider finished with a total time of 8:56′.

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PENULTIMATE STAGE CRASH SIDELINES SOUTH RACING’S GUTIÉRREZ IN CHILE’S ATACAMA CROSS-COUNTRY RALLY

South Racing’s Bolivian driver Rodrigo Gutiérrez and Croatian navigator Tomislav Glavic missed out on a podium finish after crashing heavily on the fourth stage of Chile’s demanding Atacama Cross-Country Rally, a round of the South American Cross-Country Rally Championship.

 Gutiérrez was in the top three from the start in Copiapó and held second overall until he broke the rear differential 48km from the finish of the stage between Tocopilla and Los Verdes and then rolled 20km from the end. The eventual victory fell to Antonio Hasbun in a time of 20hrs 24min 33sec.

  “Rodrigo started strongly and was in a good position to consolidate his lead in the CODASUR Cross-Country Championship, but his accident on the penultimate stage leaves us with some work to do,” said South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham. “He will now be racing at Desafio Ruta 40 with a different vehicle and then he will use his Toyota for Baja Inca in Peru in the middle of September before hopefully going on to continue his fight for the championship in Bolivia in October.”

 Action got underway with a 14km Prologue stage through the notorious Copiapó sand dunes on Sunday, August 13th. Hasbun claimed the early bragging rights, as Gutiérrez slotted into third place, 6min 59sec behind the overnight leader.

 The real meat of the action unfolded with a selective section of 226.18km that looped through the Copiapó dunes on Monday, August 14th. The cars were placed in the running order behind the motorcycles and quads taking part in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Cup and the Bolivian found himself running 28th on the road. He recorded the second quickest time to move up to second in the overall classification behind Hasbun.

 The second stage of 308km wound its way from Copiapó to Cifuncho and on to the rest halt in Tal Tal. Hasbun again won the special that was shortened after an accident involving motorcycle rider Pierre Alexander Renet, but Gutiérrez strengthened his grip on second place with the second fastest time of 2hr 01min 28sec to move over two and a half hours in front of third-placed Jorge Latrach. 

Leg three offered a competitive section of 349km between the Pacific coastal towns of Tal Tal and Mejillones. The traditional coastal fog (camanchaca) again delayed proceedings on a special that was used, in part, on the 2015 Dakar Rally and that had been damaged by recent heavy rains. Emiliano Spataro won the day’s stage – which finished in La Negre - in a time of 3hr 39min 26sec, but the third quickest time enabled Gutiérrez to maintain second overall.

 The fourth leg of 5476km on Thursday, August 17 was also the longest in terms of competitive distance with a stage of 375km between Mejillones and Iquique in the north of the country. Gutiérrez suffered broken transmission 48km from the end of the special - which started in Tocopilla and finished with the towering dune descent of Los Verdes - and then rolled 28km further on and was handed 5hrs 20mins of additional time penalties to exacerbate his problems. The subsequent time loss pushed the Bolivian behind Hasbun and Latrach and into third place.

 The final day included a shorter stage of 158.27km that looped around the Iquique bivouac and finished at Playa Lobito just 20.66km away from the service park after a second pass down the giant Los Verdes sand dune. Damage to the car meant that the Bolivian did not start the final section, as Hasbun snatched victory from Spataro.

 2017 Atacama Cross-Country Rally – final positions:

1. Antonio Hasbun (CHL)/Bryan Garvey (CHL) DB62 SPCNS 20hrs 24min 33sec
2. Jorge Latrach (CHL)/Juan-Pablo Latrach (CHL) Toyota Tundra 23hrs 42min 33sec
3. Emiliano Spataro (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (ARG) Renault Duster 56hrs 46min 58sec
DNF. Rodrigo Gutierrez (BOL)/Tomislav Glavic (CRO) South Racing Toyota Hilux

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Petrobras Rally Team crava o melhor tempo no prólogo e larga na frente no Rally dos Sertões

Guiga Spinelli e Youssef Haddad garantem o direito de serem os primeiros a largar entre os carros na etapa entre Goiânia e Goianésia 

A trajetória da Petrobras Rally Team no Rally dos Sertões 2017 não poderia ter começado de forma melhor. A bordo do Mini All4 Racing, o piloto Guiga Spinelli e o navegador Youssef Haddad dominaram o prólogo entre os carros, neste sábado (19), na Cidade Alpha Goiás, em Senador Canedo, região metropolitana de Goiás, e registraram o melhor tempo, ao completar o percurso de 6 quilômetros em 3min42s61.

 Com a vitória na tomada de tempo, a dupla conquista o direito de ser a primeira a largar na etapa de abertura da maior competição off road do Brasil, neste domingo (20), entre Goiânia (GO) e Goianésia (GO).

“Foi a primeira oportunidade de avaliar os concorrentes. É sempre importante obter uma boa colocação para a primeira etapa. Conseguimos ir rápido e sem forçar muito, pois o nosso carro já está com a regulagem para o primeiro dia. Para o restante da competição, temos de montar uma boa estratégia e pensar em cada uma das etapas”, afirmou Guiga, maior campeão do Sertões entre os carros, com cinco títulos (2003, 2004, 2010, 2011 e 2014).

“Fiquei muito satisfeito com o resultado de tempo que fizemos. Foi acima da nossa expectativa para uma primeira vez com o carro. Conseguimos andar rápido sem sustos e ter um bom ritmo, mas o Rally dos Sertões começa mesmo é amanhã. E vamos com bastante concentração, pois ainda estamos nos adaptando ao novo carro. Mas é bom poder largar na frente e abrir a especial entre os carros”, declarou o piloto.

 A primeira etapa da prova terá 680,48 quilômetros de deslocamento, com 306,82 km de Especial (trecho cronometrado), e irá apresentar aos competidores uma ampla variedade de terrenos, trechos de pedra e trial, além de travessias por rios e áreas agrícolas.

“Esta edição do Rally dos Sertões terá um nível de dificuldade parecido do início ao fim. Será importante, do primeiro quilômetro até o último, ter muita atenção, ritmo, o carro e a dupla funcionando bem, e sem dúvida nenhuma o trabalho da equipe em todas as manutenções noturnas do veículo. Exigirá bastante do equipamento, do piloto e do navegador”, concluiu Guiga.

 Antes em encarar os 3.300,06 quilômetros de percurso entre Goiânia e Bonito (MS), a Petrobras Rally Team participou, horas após o prólogo, da largada promocional do Rally dos Sertões, no Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna.

 Confira os cinco primeiro colocados do prólogo do Rally dos Sertões nos carros:

 1º Guiga Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (Petrobras Rally Team) – 3min42s61
2º Cristian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti (X Rally Team) – 3min51s51
3º Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea (X Rally Team) – 3min52s65
4º Sylvio de Barros/Rafael Capoani (iCarros) – 3min53s21
5º Jorge Júnior/Joel Kravtchenko (Lifesil) – 3min53s85

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Double podium for Monster Energy Honda Team in the Atacama Rally

Monster Energy Honda Team succeeded in placing both of their duo of riders onto the podium at the end of the Atacama Rally – the third round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. Kevin Benavides took runner-up spot overall and Paulo Gonçalves third.

 In spite of a tricky starting position for the final day’s racing, Monster Energy Honda Team nevertheless finished the event with a notable all-round team effort and result. The riders had to head off in front as the race got underway this morning, with the adversaries starting immediately behind, who were able to take advantage and follow the tracks already marked out ahead. In spite of this, Kevin Benavides set a scorching rhythm with Chilean Pablo Quintanilla – the eventual overall winner – in hot pursuit. Kevin, who at one point made a minor navigation error, finished behind the current world champion.

 Meanwhile, Paulo Gonçalves performed valiantly in the dunes given that his disadvantageous starting position was a mere three seconds ahead of Sam Sunderland. The Portuguese Monster Energy Honda Team rider was able to fend off and beat the winner of the last Dakar, a feat rewarded with a place on the final rostrum.

 With the participation in the Atacama Rally out of the way, Paulo Gonçalves and Kevin Benavides will next take part – along with the rest of the team – in the following round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship: the Desafío Ruta 40 (North) in Argentina.

 The stage was delayed for a few minutes due to the late arrival of the helicopter at the starting point. 

This fifth and final stage – in the form of a loop from Iquique to Iquique – departed from the eastern part of the city before finishing in the same place as yesterday’s stage on the famous dune beneath Los Verdes. The final stage consisted of a special stage of 158.27 kilometres against the clock.

The timed section took place after an initial liaison section of 31.17 kilometres to reach Alto Hospicio and concluded with another liaison of 20.66 kilometres before heading back to the bivouac in Iquique.

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Kevin Benavides wins the fourth special to become overall Atacama Rally leader

Monster Energy Honda Team set out to keep all options open and succeeded in the longest stage of the Atacama Rally. Kevin Benavides took the stage victory and overall leadership while Paulo Gonçalves will go into the final stage well-positioned to fight for a spot on the rostrum.

 Monster Energy Honda Team’s Argentinean rider Kevin Benavides took top honours for the second time in the 2017 Atacama Rally. The fastest stage was, once again, a white knuckle, hazard-filled ride at full gas. Kevin was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, storming to the top of the leader board in the overall rankings with just a day’s racing left.

 Team-mate Paulo Gonçalves set out from the camp in Mejillones this morning in second starting position. The Portuguese rider held a storming pace over the 375 kilometre trek to Iquique although he dropped precious time validating a waypoint in the latter stretches of the race. Paulo lies in fourth place overall.

 Kevin and Paulo will both be looking for podium finishes when the race wraps up tomorrow. The end results will be battled out in the final stage held entirely in the dunes of Copiapó.

 A review of the times last night moved Kevin Benavides to third place in the day’s standings instead of the fourth place initially awarded.

361 kilometres of coastal road separate Mejillones from Iquique, parallel to the Pacific Ocean, with the assistance vehicles taking Route 5 further inland.

The fourth stage was the longest in the entire Atacama Rally 2017, with a total of 547.33 kilometres, of which 375 kilometres were against the clock in a very fast stage with long swathes of stony tracks and a final part in the sand dunes of Iquique.

The start was again delayed for 1h05′ due to the appearance of the camanchaca mist which prevented the safety helicopter taking off.

The final stretches of this fourth stage took place on the famous descent of the Iquique dunes, Los Verdes, which similarly had hosted a stage in the 2015 Dakar.

The fifth and final stage will be held tomorrow in Iquique. The special stage will be a last chance for the favourites to confirm their positions and a final opportunity for the outsiders to improve their positions.

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SOUTH RACING’S VARELA AND ALVAREZ RELISH CHALLENGE OF BRAZIL’S DAUNTING RALLY DOS SERTÕES

· Alvarez and Monasterolo set to debut new South Racing Volkswagen Amarok

 South Racing, the German-based cross-country rally car preparations company, is in the midst of a hectic August rallying programme in South America and is counting down the hours to running two cars in Rally dos Sertões, Brazil’s premier cross-country rally. The event starts in the central-western town of Goiânia on August 20th and finishes at Bonito in southern Brazil on August 26th.

 The team will run a Divino Fogäo Rally Team Ford Ranger for the Brazilian crew of Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin and a brand new Conarpesa-backed Volkswagen Amarok for Spaniard Fernando Alvarez and his Argentinean navigator Juan-Pablo Monasterolo.

 Varela, winner of the event in 2015, won the Prologue stage in Goiânia and four of the seven timed special stages to reach the finish in Foz do Iguaçu (Igauçu Falls) 14min 22sec ahead of Marcos Baumgart. Poor quality fuel cost him a chance to repeat that success in 2016.

  “August has started off with a bang for the team with back-to-back races all the way through until September,” said South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham. “We had a great result in Hungary last weekend with eighth place for our Czech driver Czech driver Tomáš Ouřednīček and we are also in the process of looking after Rodrigo Gutiérrez in the Atacama Rally this week.

  “But we must also focus on the Rally dos Sertões with Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo (Gugelmin) in the Ford Ranger. For sure, we are looking for revenge for last year, where we lost the race because of bad fuel. The team is well prepared and we are looking for a top result. Fernando and Juan Pablo also debut their new car. It should have been ready for Baja Spain, but everyone is looking forward to the first appearance now in Brazil. It is a new generation vehicle. They are exciting times.”

 The team carried out a shakedown test today (Thursday) before crews attend their mandatory scrutineering and administration checks at the Goiânia International Circuit later today and Friday (August 18th).

 The ceremonial start and Prologue stage will then take place in Goiânia, the largest city in the state of Goiás, on Saturday and these precede seven demanding selective sections across some of the wildest and most difficult terrain in Brazil.

 The opening section leaves Goiânia and guides teams to an overnight halt in Goianésia on August 20th before crews move on to Santa Terezinha de Goiás on August 21st. From there the route heads on to Aruanã on August 23rd and then in the direction of Barra do Garça the next day.

 Day five leaves Barra do Garça en route for Coxim and the final two stages take in a night halt in Aquidauna on August 25th before the final section into the finish in Bonito, an ecotourism hub in the Mato Grosso do Sul state, on August 26th.

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Paulo Gonçalves, second, refuses to throw the towel in during a treacherous special stage

The halfway point of the Atacama Rally saw Monster Energy Honda Team’s Portuguese rider narrowly miss out on victory in a long, arduous and danger-filled special. Kevin Benavides, with the disadvantage of having to open the track, finished fourth.

 The participants of the Atacama Rally now find themselves in the heart of the world’s most arid desert. The third stage of the rally – from Tal Tal to Mejillones – produced fine performances from the two Monster Energy Honda Team riders, who vie for positions that could eventually lead to top overall results.

 If yesterday it was Kevin Benavides who won the stage, today Paulo Gonçalves took the turn to carry the torch, although it wasn’t a stage for taking excessive risks given the sheer speed of the track and the fact that some hazards were not too clearly marked in the roadbook. At the end of the day, the Portuguese rider astride the Honda CRF450 RALLY settled for runner-up spot some 3’30” adrift of the winner.

 Paulo’s team-mate, Argentinean Kevin Benavides, opened the way throughout most of the special, with the added difficulty of having to read the roadbook at breakneck speed without references on the track. Kevin finished third and tomorrow will be hoping to claw back any time dropped today.

 Tal Tal and Mejillones, two coastal towns on the Chilean Pacific hosted the third stage of the rally at a distance of 300 kilometres.

A total of 487 kilometres (308 kilometres) of timed special stage were disputed on Wednesday.

 This third stage featured some sections that were used when the Dakar visited Chile in 2015. The riders had to overcome numerous hazards and very fast, rain-damaged track after the previous week’s downpours.

Tomorrow the Atacama Rally sees the longest stage of the race: 547 kilometres from Mejillones to Iquique, with 375km of special against the clock.

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Monster Energy Honda Team look to retain the Vegas to Reno title

The duo of Monster Energy Honda Team riders Joan Barreda and Ricky Brabec this Friday begin their participation in the Vegas to Reno, where Barreda took overall victory last year on the twentieth anniversary of the legendary American desert race.

 While one half of the team is in Chile for the Atacama Rally, this Friday, August 18th, the Monster Energy Honda Team will also be present in the United States with the other half aiming to hold on to the title picked up in the U.S. last year. Joan Barreda alongside Ricky Brabec – aboard the Honda CRF450 RALLY emblazoned with the number N6 – team up again to tackle the 540 miles (864 kilometres) of Nevada desert.

 The Vegas to Reno is part of the Monster Energy Honda Team programme to train the riders and help acquire speed and pace. Joan Barreda arrives fresh off the back of a win in Spain’s Baja Aragon, while Ricky Brabec has bounced back after several weeks out of competition after sustaining an injury at the AMA Hare & Hound American race.

 The team will be supported by Johnny Campbell for this the 21st edition of the Vegas to Reno.

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GROUND-BREAKING NEW GULF CHALLENGE POSTPONED UNTIL 2018

The Gulf Challenge, which was announced back in May and was scheduled to start in September 2017, has been postponed until 2018.

 The decision was announced by Abdullah Bakhashab, the former FIA Middle East rally champion and promoter of the Gulf Challenge, after consultation with the respective automobile federations and motor sport clubs in the Arabian Gulf region.

 Bakhashab cited unfavourable economic conditions, which had prompted many companies interested in supporting the Challenge to change their stances in recent weeks and this had negatively affected the preparations for the exciting new rally series. 

Bakhashab said: “I regret to announce the postponement of the Gulf Challenge, which was scheduled to start next month, to the 2018-2019 season. There is a positive side to this decision in that it gives us more time to organise, promote and prepare in the way that we want to and it will also help those eager to participate to better prepare themselves, so that we can attract as many competitors as possible next season.”

 The Gulf Challenge is the brainchild of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the former multiple FIA Middle East Rally Champion and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates. Ben Sulayem attracted unrivalled support from the relevant automobile federations in the Arabian Gulf states to establish a new 4x4 rallying series.

 The Gulf Challenge will be decided over rounds in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain. Kuwait and Oman.

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Atacama Rally: Kevin Benavides wins stage two

The Atacama Rally heads north in Chile with a lightning-paced Kevin Benavides taking the triumph in the second stage. Paulo posted sixth spot.

 The Atacama Rally left Copiapó bound for the north in a second stage affected by an accident involving French rider Pela Renet who had to be airlifted to safety by helicopter. For safety reasons the special stage was shortened to the neutralization zone, where the fastest competitor at that point had been Monster Energy Honda Team rider Kevin Benavides. The Argentinean rider thus reduces the gap with overall leader Quintanilla to just seven seconds.

 Paulo Gonçalves, who set off sixth after receiving a somewhat dubious penalization, also finished the day in sixth place as well as occupying the same place in the general standings.

 This second stage of the Atacama Rally linked the towns of Copiapó and Tal Tal, more than three hundred kilometres away in the north of Chile on the Pacific coast.

There were 308 kilometres of special timed stage in which the pilots encountered a variety of terrain types, predominantly fast track, but with some dunes earlier in the day.

The start was delayed an hour and a half by the appearance of the camanchaca, the early morning mist typical in these regions.

Due to the accident of Pela Renet, only the first part of the special was completed, until the neutralization section at kilometre 164.

Tomorrow the Atacama Rally will pass its half-way point: the third stage will take the riders from Tal Tal to another coastal area: Mejillones. It will feature some 349 kilometres of timed special before arriving at the check point in La Negra.

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Top 10 finish for Ourednicek and Kripal in Hungarian Baja

The crew of South Racing Central Europe, Tomas Ourednicek and David Kripal finished Hungarian Baja, eighth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in an excellent 8th position with the Ford Ranger Dakar. For co-driver David Kripal the weekend in Veszprem marked a milestone: he scored his first World Cup points in his first ever participation in the series. Beside the World Cup, Hungarian Baja was also the fourth round of Hungarian Championship, in this classification Tomas and David finished 4th.

 For South Racing Cetral Europe, this year’s Hungarian Baja was mostly about David Kripal’s return to the co-driver’s seat after his accident. Although David was cleared by his doctors for racing, his foot is still far from being 100 percent, so the crew decided to start with a cautious approach. They finished Friday’s 11 km Superspecial in 13th position due to an issue with windscreen wiper, but right after the first of the two 136 km specials on Saturday they climbed up to 7th position, which they managed to keep during the second part of the day despite some minor technical issues. On Sunday, Tomas and David finished 8th in both 103 km long specials, and achieved the same position in the overall classification as well.

„Friday’s short Superspecial started with a bad feeling because our problems with vision didn’t promise too much good for the rest of the weekend. During the night there was a big storm, so on Saturday morning we started on mud tires. It proved to be a good decision, we clocked the 7th time, despite taking a cautious approach. But we didn’t change the tires for the second part and this was a mistake because by then the track was completely dry. We had a small issue with engine but our mechanics were able to fix it. The service at the end of the day was a real nightmare: I was afraid that we had a problem with the clutch so we decided to change it, and the work was finished literally in the last moment. Our mechanics did an excellent job throughout the weekend, so I owe a big thank you to them. 

 On Sunday we started at a faster pace to see if we can improve our result, but for that a mistake from the frontrunners would have been required. Finally we finished 8th, and I am especially happy for David, because he finished in the points in his first ever World Cup round. For him this weekend was not easy at all because of his leg, but this made my job more difficult as well because I had more to take care of than usual and also I had to drive very carefully to avoid punctures because changing a tire alone could have been very costly in terms of time. There were a lot of jumps on the track alternating with high speed sections, the Ranger spent more time in the air than on the ground. 

Altogether, I am satisfied with the car, on Sunday we had no problem at all, and the setup was also great, and this was my best result so far in the World Cup, so I am very happy”, Tomas Ourednicek summarised the weekend.

  “This was my first participation in the World Cup andit was a great experience. Before the race we had some concerns about my injured foot, but Friday’s shakedown showed that I was ready for racing. The rally had a perfect atmosphere, the competition was really strong, and many spectators came to see us, so we enjoyed the weekend a lot. Tomas drove perfectly and despite the minor technical problems we managed to score a nice 8th place, with which I am very happy”, co-driver David Kripal added.

 South Racing CE is supported by Liqui Moly, Mann Filter, Ford Hlouch Motors, AV Media, XT line, Agados, Fri Tech, CARREX, DUCATI Frankfurt and Gold Nutrition.

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Atacama Rally 2017, Stage 1

Kevin Benavides and Paulo Gonçalves posted second and third place on the looping circuit starting and finishing in Copiapó, as the first full stage of the 2017 Atacama Rally wraps up.

 Kevin Benavides pulled off an excellent first stage fight-back after starting out in tenth position this morning, before battling his way through the field. Team-mate Paulo Gonçalves was likewise displaying solid riding skills and deft navigation to finish 25” off his Monster Energy Honda Team partner.

 The 226.18 kilometre timed special stage started out in the outskirts of Copiapó before looping its way around to finish where it began. The day served up 80% sand including some dunes as well as some 85 kilometres of fast track.

Tomorrow’s second stage from Copiapó to Cifuncho will include 25 kilometres of liaison section, 308 kilometres of special stage and a final 50 kilometre liaison section before arriving at the bivouac situated in Tal Tal.

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OVERDRIVE RACING’S AL-ATTIYAH CRUISES TO COMFORTABLE FOURTH VICTORY IN HUNGARIAN BAJA

· Poland’s Domzala finishes sixth in second Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux 

Overdrive Racing’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah moved one step closer to a third successive FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies title with a convincing start-to-finish victory in the Veszprém-based Hungarian Baja, round eight of the series.

 The Qatari and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel clinched victory on the Prologue stage on Friday evening and that paved the way for a dominant performance in their Toyota Hilux that saw them reach the podium finish with a winning margin of 3min 38sec over former WRC star Mikko Hirvonen of Finland. Al-Attiyah won four of the weekend’s five timed tests.

 It was the fourth win for Al-Attiyah in Hungary after previous successes in 2008, 2014 and 2015 and the sixth of the season in the FIA World Cup for Overdrive Racing after victories in Russia, Dubai, Qatar, Kazakhstan and Spain and a bonus victory for Christian Lavieille in China’s Taklimakan Rally.  

“It was not an easy race at all. The conditions were difficult on Saturday and I did not want to take any risks,” said the Qatari. “Mikko was always close behind and I could never relax, but the win puts me in a strong position now to retain the FIA World Cup title.”

 Poland’s Aron Domzala and navigator Maciej Marton set the fastest time on the final stage – beating Al-Attiyah by just one second - and delivered a solid display in the second of the Overdrive Racing Toyotas to finish in sixth position, despite losing around five minutes with two flat tyres on the third stage.

 Overdrive Racing’s CEO Jean-Marc Fortin said: “It has been a very good weekend, perfect, with nothing happening to the cars at all. For Nasser, from the pre-rally test to the finish, it was a perfect weekend. We chose a good place to start the first stage after the Prologue. Opening the road today was not easy, but he managed. We were managing the eight tyres only as well. Mikko used his eight tyres yesterday, which was a mistake. So, this morning, we had fresh tyres and that made the difference. 

 “For Aron, this was a mixed rally. There were some excellent times, a good Prologue but then he got two punctures on the same stage and lost the chance of the podium. To come back strongly this morning and to set the fastest time was a great way to finish, but it is frustrating that he has a small issue and he cannot achieve a top result. It will come, he is still young.” 

Al-Attiyah made the perfect start and a time of 7min 33.2sec through the 11.41km Prologue stage on Friday afternoon gave the Qatari the choice of a favourable starting position for Saturday’s opening selective section and an overnight lead of 8.8 seconds over Czech driver Martin Prokop. Domzala slotted into fifth place, sandwiched between Marcin Lukaszewski and fellow Pole Jakub Przygonski. 

Al-Attiyah continued where he left off on Friday evening with the fastest time of 1hr 39min 19sec through the first of two runs in a 136.60km selective section on Saturday morning. It enabled the Qatari to extend his advantage over Mikko Hirvonen to 1min 14sec. Przygonski moved up to third and Domzala climbed a place to fourth. The slippery special featured numerous water splashes and muddy conditions after overnight heavy rain.

 In drying conditions, Al-Attiyah was 4min 13sec quicker on his second run through the stage than he had been in the morning and duly extended his advantage over Hirvonen to 1min 24sec at the overnight halt, despite admitting to driving with caution over the rutted tracks and through the muddy sections. Domzala dropped around five minutes to his closest rivals after collecting two punctures and returned to Veszprém in sixth overall, 2min 24sec off fifth place.

 A shortened selective section of around 98 kilometres was repeated twice on Sunday. Al-Attiyah recorded his fourth successive quickest time in the opener by stopping the clocks in 1hr 01min and that enabled him to extend his lead to 3min 11sec heading into the final stage. Domzala tied to the second with Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach and consolidated his hold on sixth overall.

 There were no late dramas for either Al-Attiyah or Domzala (who had the fastest time on the last stage) and the duo reached the finish in Veszprém in first and sixth overall to cap another successful weekend for Overdrive Racing in the FIA World Cup.

 2017 Hungarian Baja – positions after SS5 (unofficial @ 14.22hrs):

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 5hrs 24min 54sec
2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Andreas Schulz (DEU) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 5hrs 28min 32sec
3. Jakub Przygonski (POL)/Tom Colsoul (BEL) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 5hrs 32min 56sec
4. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek (CZE) Ford F-150 Evo 5hrs 38min 41sec
5. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo 5hrs 39min 55sec
6. Aron Domzala (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 5hrs 40min 58sec
7. Conrad Rautenbach (ZAF)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 5hrs 50min 23sec

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