Vídeos: Elisabete Jacinto no Rali de Marrocos 2012

Verificações:

Etapa 1:

Etapa2:

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Paulo Graça e Vítor Jesus estão fora de prova

Depois de uma etapa inaugural bastante positiva, nada fazia prever que Paulo Graça e Vítor Jesus abandonassem tão cedo o Rali de Marrocos. A lei do deserto falou mais forte e uma armadilha do percurso acabou por ditar a má sorte da equipa portuguesa, que se mostrava bastante animada com o resultado alcançado no dia de ontem. Um verdadeiro susto, foi o que aconteceu após a Nissan Navara Off Road da Oceanotrading racing team ter galgado um verdadeiro degrau com mais de dois metros, vindo a embater de seguida de forma violenta numa saliência do terreno.

“Parecia uma verdadeira parede”, explicou Paulo Graça ainda abalado pelas dores sentidas com o embate. O líder da Oceanotrade racing team foi transportado de helicóptero para o hospital de Er Rachidia, onde foi sujeito a exames rigorosos para despistar qualquer situação mais complicada.

“Não há nada partido. Efectuei várias radiografias e até um TAC que não acusaram nada de grave. Estou apenas dorido devido à violência do embate. Parecia que estávamos no percurso certo. Aliás, outros concorrentes que me seguiam preparavam-se para passar por ali. Depois de ter saltado um degrau com quase dois metros, batemos violentamente numa espécie de parede. A pancada foi tão forte que até partimos um triângulo da suspensão da Navara. Lamento sinceramente que a experiência tenha sido tão curta”, afirmou, com alguma desilusão, Paulo Graça.

Vítor Jesus nada sofreu com o acidente, e depois de um natural repouso de Paulo Graça, a equipa deverá regressar a Portugal dentro de dois ou três dias.

Termina sem sorte a primeira experiência da Oceanotrade racing team por terras marroquinas, embora a paixão e o entusiasmo de Paulo Graça por desafios deste género, possam fazer com que o regresso a este tipo de competições se verifique brevemente.

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Mais um bom dia para o TEAM HRC

Helder Rodrigues, fresh from winning the first stage of the Morocco Rally, today had the difficult task of opening the track in a demanding 315 km stage, characterized by very difficult navigation and 22 kms of dunes of the Erg Chebbi to cross from south to north. A very high sun made the navigation even tougher.

The TEAM HRC rider fought hard with Marc Coma and Cyril Despres and finally finished 3rd behind despres, who claimed today’s stage, in front of Coma and Rodigues. Helder Rodrigues is third in the General Classification, just 51 seconds behind the leader Cyril Despres.

Felipe Zanol, 8 times Brazilian Enduro Champion and 5 times Brazilian Cross Country Champion, rode consistently, focusing on navigation and getting experience in the high dunes of Merzouga. In his debut on the African terrain, Felipe finished in the top ten and is 10th in the overall classification.

A very good day for the 23-year old Sam Sunderland. His 14th finishing position in SS2 doesn’t show his real race result as his start was complicated by a technical issue that made him lose almost 30 minutes. Sam race pace would have assured him a top 5 finish.

The 3 times Rally Argentinian Champion Javier Pizzolito continued making experience on the new Honda machine focusing on navigation in preparation of the Dakar 2013. He finished 14th, 12th in the overall classification.

Starting in 39th position, due to a 1h30 penalty for having missed 3 way points in SS1, Johnny Campbell recovered 19 positions, finishing 20th, after an accurate navigation in the dunes and a fast ride in the final hard, rocky tracks, familiar to the 11 times Baja 1000 winner.

The Stage. Liaison: 27 kms – selective sector: 315 kms– Liaison: 17 kms The rally starts to get tough with a very demanding second stage that sees first a navigated part of fast, rocky track before arriving to the big dunes of Merzouga. The riders will cross the dunes for 22 kms from south to north, for the whole length of the Erg. Riding into the wind will represent an extra challenge. Afterwards the riders will finish on the same route as the start of yesterday's stage with open track and several dangers. Moreover the route will be much more damaged after the passage of yesterday’s competitors.

Helder Rodrigues, 3rd in SS2 - 3rd in overall classification +0’.51: “It was a very demanding day and opening the track crossing 22 kms of dunes, without any references except your road book is quite tough. The first part of the stage was fast and very navigated, then I had a hard job opening the track in the dunes with a very high sun and finally, in the last 100 kms we had a very good fight with Marc in the oued, like in a motocross race. In general, I’m satisfied with today’s result, I started first and crossed the finish line first. The CRF 450 RALLY is working really well, my congratulations to Honda for having worked hard to give me such a good machine in 4 months of work”.

Felipe Zanol 10th in SS2, 10th in overall classification +33’26: “It was a good day for me, I rode consistently and I feel more comfortable with the navigation. It was a very difficult stage for navigation with many points where it was easy to make mistakes, especially when we came across yesterday’s traces as the final part of the stage was the same backwards as yesterday’s initial part of the stage. I made the most of the 22 km on the dunes, gaining experience”.

Sam Sunderland 14th in SS2 – 12th in the overall classification +40’41: “my body was still sore from yesterday's crash and I lost almost 30 minutes at the very beginning due to technical issues. This is why my final position didn’t reflect my performance. I’m very happy with how I rode today. It was a very navigated stage and when we crossed the dunes the sun was so high that it was difficult to see. I’m very happy with my Honda, the handling is very good and it is also very manoeuvrable which helps us a lot”.

Javier Pizzolito 17th in SS2 – 14th in the overall classification +57’37: “It was a positive stage. I rode focusing on the road book and tried not to follow the traces. I was a bit slower but I preferred to make my way and gain more experience in navigation in preparation for the Dakar, which is our priority and where I hope we can get a good result as a team”.

Johnny Campbell 20th in SS2 – 24th in the overall classification +2h36’56: “I started back in the group because of the 1h30’ penalty for having missed 3 way points, but I was able to recover many positions. I focused on the road book and I think I made no particular mistakes. I enjoyed the stage a lot, especially the last 100 kms which were rocky, fast and many berms like in a Baja”.

Katsumi Yamazaki, TEAM HRC LPL: “The CRF 450 Rally is progressing well and today we had the opportunity to test it in the 22 km of dunes. The air temperature was a bit higher than yesterday (50°C) but the machine is responding well in terms of temperature, engine drivability and handling both on rocky hard terrains and soft dunes”.

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Després na frente após segunda etapa

KTM’s factory riders Marc Coma and Cyril Despres continued to dominate in Stage Two of the Morocco Rally with Despres of France winning the stage and moving into the overall lead by a very slim 0.37 seconds from his teammate Coma.

The two riders, both multiple Dakar ally winners are using the final rally of the season to fine-tune their skills and KTM 450 Rally bikes ahead of the 2013 Dakar Rally that starts January 5 in South America.

The second stage took riders 359 km through the desert of which 315 km was timed and Despres, who finished third in Monday’s opening stage, crossed the line 1 minute 45 ahead of Spain’s Coma.

Honda rider Helder Rodrigues was third Tuesday and is also third in the overall standings while the three lead riders have now distanced themselves from the rest of the field by a handy eleven minutes. Joan Barreda of Spain was fourth in both the stage and now in the overall.

It will now be up to Despres to open the track on Wednesday but he will certainly have difficulty shaking off the determined Coma, who took the 2012 World Cross Country Rally title in Sardinia after winning the first three of the four round competition.

Coma remarked after the race that it had been a very long stage crossing the Erg Chebbi dunes. He had first overtaken Rodrigues and all three riders stuck together throughout the stage.

Another prominent KTM rider was Chaleco Lopez of Chile who was both sixth in the stage and overall while Juan Pedrero of Spain, KTM factory rider and ‘water carrier’ in the Dakar Rally to his KTM factory teammate Coma trailed the leader by 12 minute 17 in the stage and is seventh overall.

Also performing better were KTM’s two South African riders Riaan Van-Niekerk and Darryl Curtis who are also here to put in the navigation and desert experience ahead of the 2013 Dakar Rally. Riding close together for this important trial run, they finished 15-16 in the stage and have moved up to 16-17 in the order.

Riders face another 357 km on Wednesday but only 291 km of timed section.

Results Stage Two

(Total distance 359 km, 44 km liaisons, times 315 km)

1, Cyril Despres, France, KTM at 3 hours 34.14

2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 1 minute 45

3, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Honda at 3.11

4, Joan Barrera, Spain, Husqvarna at 3.26

5, David Casteu, France, Yamaha at 6.02

6, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, KTM, 7.12

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Hélder Rodrigues mantém-se na luta pela vitória

A abrir a pista na 2ª etapa do Rali de Marrocos era previsível que o piloto português Hélder Rodrigues perdesse tempo para os seus mais diretos adversários. Todavia o piloto da Equipa HRC, aos comandos da sua Honda CRF450 Rally, conseguiu enfrentar com firmeza os ataques de Marc Coma e Cyril Despres e ser o primeiro a cruzar a linha de meta. O campeão do mundo em 2011 gastou 3h37m25s para percorrer os 315 quilómetros da especial cronometrada, perdendo 3m11s para o francês Cyril Despres e 1m26s para o espanhol Marc Coma. Na geral Despres está no comando com 37s de vantagem sobre Coma e 51s para Hélder Rodrigues. Amanhã invertem-se as posições e o piloto português poderá, se tudo correr bem, regressar ao comando da prova.

Para o piloto Honda, Red Bull e TMN, esta foi uma etapa bastante difícil mas muito proveitosa:

“Partir à frente numa etapa destas exige muita concentração. Correu tudo bem em termos de navegação e consegui não ser apanhado pelo Marc até ao reabastecimento. Depois ele juntou-se a mim e durante muitos quilómetros fomos alternando na abertura da pista. Na parte final eu consegui distanciar-me e ganhar uns bons segundos, que podem vir a ser muito importantes em termos de classificação”, salientou o piloto da Honda.

A terceira etapa do Rallye OiLibya du Maroc, que amanhã se disputa, leva a caravana do rali de Erfoud a Zagora. O sector seletivo terá 291 km será essencialmente em areia e rápido com a travessia de duas montanhas no final.

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Rally de Marrocos: Coma e Després em 2º e 3º na etapa 1

KTM’s factory riders Marc Coma and Cyril Despres got down to the business of serious rally on Monday on the opening stage of the Rally of Morocco. Coma finished just one minute 12 behind leader Helder Rodrigues of Portugal and Despres trailed by 2 minutes 20.

The three leaders have already put distance to the next rider Joan Barreda of Spain who trails by just under eleven minutes. This puts the two KTM riders, who are both multiple Dakar Rally winners, in perfect position for Stage Two on Tuesday. Coma follows out Barreda, who must open the road in the desert and both he and Despres will be able to follow his tracks.

Monday’s ride took competitors out into the desert and over rocky terrain for a total distance of 313 km with two short liaisons totaling 42km. Tuesday’s second stage will be very similar and in part covering the same terrain prompting Coma to remark that it will be necessary to be careful with the navigation and not be confused by the tracks laid down in the desert on Monday. Despres said he was quite satisfied with the opening day but admitted it had been difficult riding over the rocky passages and also having made several small mistakes that cost him ‘some seconds’.

Both riders are using the rally to fine-tune their training for Dakar 2013 (Peru, Argentina and Chile) starting on January 5. Coma settled the title in the World Cross Country World Championship already in Sardinia in July and sat out the final of the four rounds in Egypt last week. Despres confined his racing activities to the Desafio Litoral Rally in Argentina, also in the summer, which he won.

While the two lead KTM riders are numbered among the favorites for this week’s event, there is a strong field of factory riders in the field that will all be out to trim their domination. Other strong KTM riders competing this week include Coma’s teammate Juan Pedrero of Spain, currently seventh, Chaleco Lopez of Chile (ninth), Alessandro Botturi and Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przgonski of Poland. Also competing are South African duo Darryl Curtis and Riaan Van Niekerk, also in Morocco to hone skills for Dakar 2013.

Results Stage One

(Total distance 313 km, including two liaisons total 42 km)

1, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Honda 2 hours 59.50

2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 1 minute 12

3, Cyril Despres, France, KTM at 2.20

4, Joan Barrera, Spain, Husqvarna at 10.41

5, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal, Husqvarna, 13.36

6, Olivier Pain, France, Yamaha, 14.26

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TEAM HRC vence primeira etapa do Rally de Marrocos com Hélder Rodrigues

What better way to celebrate Honda's return to Rally than Helder Rodrigues' victory in the first stage of the Morocco Rally with TEAM HRC. In his debut on the CRF 450 RALLY the Portuguese Helder Rodrigues won the 271 kilometre-long stage ahead of Marc Coma and Cyril Despres.

It was a very positive start for the whole TEAM HRC with Brit Sam Sunderland finishing in the top 10, despite a crash in the dust at km 138 . Brazilian Felipe Zanol, in his debut in an African race, focused on gaining more experience with the navigation with cap, finishing 12th. Argentinian Javier Pizzolito and American Johnny Campbell rode consistently and despite some navigation mistakes finished in 15th and 16th positions.

The Stage. Liaison: 17 kms – selective sector: 271 kms – liaison: 25 kms The first of the 6 stages of the Morocco Rally was really a warm up with riders tackling all kinds of terrains: fasttracks, dunes and rocky paths. The first part of the stage was very fast, rocky and quite dangerous with many points signalled with “danger 3”. The track took the competitors on a large plateau followed by a steep descent into a canyon, before crossing the Erg. After the service in Merzouga the riders continued on a fast and rocky track till the end of the stage, located near Erfourd, the base of the bivouac for the first 2 days.

Helder Rodrigues, SS1 1st: “I’m very happy with this result, winning the first stage in my first race with a new machine and a new team is a great satisfaction. This is just the first day but it’s nice to start on top. The CRF 450 RALLY is working well, we have a very good base and this race is also good for testing before the Dakar, which is our target. Today it was a good stage with a diversified terrain. I rode with Coma and Despres, we were very close and finally I won”.

Sam Sunderland, SS1 10th: “There was a lot of dust and there were many points where I couldn’t see. Before the refuelling I was behind Duclos and I couldn’t see anything because of the dust, then when I could see a bit better there was a sharp turn and I crashed. I did all the second half of the stage without a road book, I think I also damaged the rear suspension. My body hurts now, but I look forward to next stage tomorrow”.

Felipe Zanol, SS1 12th: “It was my first race in Africa and my priority today was to adapt to the navigation with the cap, because it’s very different from what we are used to in Brazil. I struggled a bit with the navigation especially in the dunes, after the first 100 kms. Despite some navigation mistakes, I’m very satisfied with the machine, my Honda works very well. Today I preferred to ride consistently, tomorrow I will start to push more”.

Javier Pizzolito, SS1 15th: “It was a nice stage, I enjoyed it a lot. My priority was to get into the rhythm and to adapt to the new machine. Starting 25th there was a lot of dust and despite a small crash I recovered some positions. In general I’m satisfied with today’s first stage, the scenery here is amazing and the atmosphere in the team is really good”.

Johnny Campbell, SS1 16th: “The track today was very fast, let’s say 90% very fast track and 10% off track in the dunes. There was a lot of rocks and dust but in general it was ok. This is the first major race I have competed in since 2001 so it takes me a little time to get into the race rhythm again, in terms of speed and intensity, while physically I’m ok. I made some navigation mistakes and I lost 10 minutes before arriving at the service. Then I regrouped and finished 16th. The CRF 450 RALLY is working really well, it has a strong power and I look forward to the next stage”.

Katsumi Yamazaki, TEAM HRC large Project Leader: “I’m very happy with todays’ result, the machine is working very well and the riders did a good job. I’m very satisfied with Helder’s result, this is the first win for us and it’s a very good start. Today it was a very fast stage, the average speed was very high for a rally race. Sam crashed because of the dust, fortunately without serious consequences. Felipe did a good job, riding consistently and gaining experience with the navigation. Also Javier and Johnny rode consistently. We are collecting very useful information to get the bike ready for the Dakar. We started with a good base but we will continue to work to improve it”.

Results of the 1st Stage (Unofficial)

1- #3 Helder Rodrigues (PRT) 2h59min50s - HONDA

2- #1 Marc Coma (ESP) 3h01min02s - KTM

3- #2 Cyril Despres (FR) 3h02min10s - KTM

4- #8 Joan Barreda (ES) 3h10min31s - Husqvarna

5- #5 Paulo Gonçalves (PRT) 3h13min26s - Husqvarna

10- #17 Sam Sunderland (UK) 3h21min03s - HONDA

12- #11 Felipe Zanol (BRA) 3h23min55s - HONDA

15- #25 Javier Pizzolito (ARG) 3h31min04s - HONDA

16- #22 Johnny Campbell (USA) 3h32min28s - HONDA

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MAN TGS e Elisabete Jacinto em 3º lugar

• Equipa portuguesa com bom início no Rali de Marrocos

O Team Oleoban/MAN Portugal iniciou hoje a sua participação no Rali de Marrocos onde conseguiu averbar a terceira posição entre os 11 camiões em prova na primeira etapa. A equipa, que representa a MAN na prova africana, foi apenas superada pelos dois camiões do Team De Rooy.

Elisabete Jacinto ficou no 14º posto da classificação geral, num total de 70 inscritos da categoria conjunta auto/camião: “esta primeira etapa foi muito positiva. Fizemos uma especial sem problemas e agora temos que trabalhar para manter o terceiro lugar. Estamos contentes com a prestação de hoje porque correu tudo como esperávamos. A navegação foi muito dura, no entanto, o José Marques conseguiu manter-se à altura do desafio e fizemos uma etapa muito fluida”, revelou a piloto no final da especial.

O Team Oleoban/MAN Portugal vai competir contra equipas e pilotos muito competentes sendo os principais opositores da equipa lusa o Team De Rooy, que conta com os pilotos Gérard De Rooy e Massimo Biasion (o italiano ex-campeão de ralis e vencedor da última edição) e ainda o Team X-Dakar e Hans Bekx.

No entanto, apesar da forte concorrência, Elisabete Jacinto aponta para um lugar de pódio no final do rali: “Esta competição vai ser bastante dura. Estão inscritos pilotos e equipas muito fortes, que têm camiões muito bem preparados, mais leves e bastante mais potentes que o nosso. Logo, à partida, estas equipas contam com alguma vantagem sobre nós. Sei que vai ser uma prova muito disputada, mas vamos manter a concentração para cumprir o objetivo principal”, refere a piloto lusa.

O Rallye Oilibya Maroc 2012 vai percorrer cerca de 2000 quilómetros entre Erfoud e Zagora. É constituído por seis etapas que incluem pistas muito pedregosas, sinuosos percursos de montanha e passagens de areia. Os Erg Chebbi e o Cheggaga vão ser o grande desafio.

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