Photo: Jonne Roriz / Webventure
With 155 km, the first special test of the 22nd edition of the Rally dos Sertões was disputed on Sunday (24th) between Goiânia (Goiás State) and Caldas Novas (also in Goiás). With many bumps, the special stage was very strong.
The Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM Red Bull Factory Team), who leads the FIM World Rally Cross Country, won in bikes with the time of 01h49min08s and is also the first overall, counting his time during the prologue, disputed yesterday.
In quads, the Polish Rafal Sonik (Sonik Team), also the world leader in the FIM, was the fastest (02h05min00s). In the UTVs category, the winners were Rodrigo Varela and João Arena (Divino Fogão Rally Team), with the time of 02h07min02s.
Coma, who was not satisfied at the end of the prologue on Saturday (he got the third place) had a good start Today. The Portuguese Helder Rodrigues (Team Honda HRC) was the first runner-up, followed by his compatriot and teammate Paulo Gonçalves. The Brazilian Jean Azevedo (Honda Mobil de Rally) was fifth in the special. Thirty-seven bikes competed in the 1st stage.
“I’m happy because today my pace was good. But it is only the first day and 150 km is almost like a warm up. It is an intense rally, especially this year that the special tests are not so long”, said Coma, who won the Sertões in 2010.
Quads category follows with 17 competitors
17 were in the 1st stage on Sunday. The 2010 champion, Rafal Sonik was the best, followed by the Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros (Taguatur Racing), winner in 2012, and Robert Nahas (RNN Sports), who was the champion last year.
UTVS
It was a hard day for the 21 UTVs in the dispute. The duo Rodrigo Varela/João Arena was the first, followed by André Sawaya and Eduardo Costa (Bike Box).
Second Stage: Caldas Novas (GO) / Catalão (GO)
On Monday (25th), the competitors depart towards Catalão in the dispute of the 2nd stage of the Rally dos Sertões 2014. There will be 260.36 km in total on the second day (39.54 km of initial liaison, 202.23 km of special and 18.59 km of final liaison).
Between Goiânia and Belo Horizonte, Sertões will go through five more cities. Three will host the rally for the first time: Catalão, Paracatu and São Francisco. Caldas Novas and Diamantina complete the route.
Besides bikes, quads and UTVs, the Sertões also has disputes in the categories of cars and trucks. There are seven stages, more than 2600 km (1572 km of specials). The dispute has 197 competitors in total from seven countries: Brazil, Chile, Spain, France, Poland, Portugal and the UK. In bikes and quads category, the Sertões will also be valid for the FIM World Cross Country Rally.
Results (unofficial):
Bikes – 1st Stage
1 #2 MARC COMA (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 01h49min08s
2 #4 HELDER RODRIGUES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 1h50min25s
3 #1 PAULO GONÇALVES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 01h51min27s
4 #3 JORDI VILLADONS (KTM / CASTEU ELF) 01h51min33s
5 #5 JEAN AZEVEDO (HONDA / HONDA MOBIL DE RALLY) 01h51min56s
Bikes – Overall
1 #2 MARC COMA (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 01h55min28s
2 #4 HELDER RODRIGUES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 1h56min51s
3 #1 PAULO GONÇALVES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 01h57min29s
4 #3 JORDI VILLADONS (KTM / CASTEU ELF) 01h58min01s
5 #5 JEAN AZEVEDO (HONDA / HONDA MOBIL DE RALLY) 01h58min04s
Quads – 1st Stage
1 # 101 RAFAL SONIK (HONDA / SONIK TEAM) 02h05min00s
2 #102 MARCELO MEDEIROS (PROTOTIPO / TAGUATUR RACING) 02h05min42s
3 # 100 ROBERT NAHAS (PROTOTIPO / RNN SPORTS) 02h05min 56s
4 # 103 TOM ROSA (YAMAHA / NC RALLY TEAM) 02h09min10s
5 # 105 GABRIEL VARELA (CAN-AM / DIVINO FOGAO RALLY TEAM) 02h08min33s
Quads – Overall
1 # 101 RAFAL SONIK (HONDA / SONIK TEAM) 02h12min29s
2 #102 MARCELO MEDEIROS (PROTOTIPO / TAGUATUR RACING) 02h12min44s
3 # 100 ROBERT NAHAS (PROTOTIPO / RNN SPORTS) 02h13min 12s
4 # 103 TOM ROSA (YAMAHA / NC RALLY TEAM) 02h17min01s
5 # 105 GABRIEL VARELA (CAN-AM / DIVINO FOGAO RALLY TEAM) 02h16min09s
UTVs – 1st Stage
1 # 203 RODRIGO VARELA / JOAO HENRIQUE ARENA (CAN-AM / DIVINO FOGAO RALLY TEAM) 02h07min02s
2 # 222 ANDRE SAWAYA/EDUARDO COSTA (S2 RALLY / BIKE BOX) 02h07min09s
3 #216 CELIO OLIVEIRA/PIPO MIRONE (CEL ENGENHARIA MOTORSPORTS) 02h09min56s
4 #218 HENRIQUE GUTIERREZ/WEIDNER MOREIRA (PODIUM) 2h10min32s
5 #DENISIO FILHO/EDUARDO SHIGA (CASARINI CAN-AM) 2h12min12s
UTVs – Overall
1 # 203 RODRIGO VARELA / JOAO HENRIQUE ARENA (CAN-AM / DIVINO FOGAO RALLY TEAM) 02h13min57s
2 # 222 ANDRE SAWAYA/EDUARDO COSTA (S2 RALLY / BIKE BOX) 02h014min39s
3 #216 CELIO OLIVEIRA/PIPO MIRONE (CEL ENGENHARIA MOTORSPORTS) 02h17min49s
4 #218 HENRIQUE GUTIERREZ/WEIDNER MOREIRA (PODIUM) 2h18min20s
5 #DENISIO FILHO/EDUARDO SHIGA (CASARINI CAN-AM) 2h19min47s
