Ready to rumble in Copiapó. The Atacama Rally gets underway

The Atacama Rally, third round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, kicks off this Monday with the curtain-raiser – a short prologue stage that will determine the competitors’ starting order for the first full stage. A buoyant Monster Energy Honda Team is all set and poised to take up the action.

 After making the first contact with Chilean terrain and overcoming the mandatory administrative and technical checks, Monster Energy Honda Team is hot to trot for the Atacama Rally which gets underway tomorrow, Monday, at 17:00 hrs (local time in Chile, GMT -4).

The squad made up of Kevin Benavides (Argentina), Paulo Gonçalves (Portugal), Ricky Brabec (USA), Joan Barreda (Spain) and local rider José Ignacio Cornejo, will dispute the short 2.5-kilometre prologue in Tierra Amarilla, near Copiapó, where the opening ceremony will also take place.

The result of the prologue will be decisive in establishing the starting positions for the first full Atacama Rally stage. The top finishers will be able to choose their positions – the fastest rider being the one who gets to choose last – for the starting order of the stage held on Tuesday August 14. The full stage will run from Copiapó-Copiapó, covering 358.87 kilometres, including a total of 266.30 kilometres of timed special.