The second day of the 22nd edition of the Rally dos Sertões, between Caldas Novas and Catalão, state of Goiás, began with changes in the special test course. For security reasons, the special had to be reduced and had only 78 km, against 202.23 kilometers planned. Even so, there were many emotions and an exciting dispute.
In bikes, the current world champion and current winner of the Rally do Sertões, the Portuguese Paulo Gonçalves (Honda HRC Team) was the best in the stage and closed the special with the time of 45min37s, little more than a minute faster than the Brazilian Jean Azevedo (Honda Mobil de Rally), who was the first runner-up. The Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM Red Bull Factory Team) finished third, but he is the overall leader, with the time of 2h42min27s, with 39 seconds of advantage to Gonçalves. Thirty-six of the 37 bikes disputed the second stage Today.
“Today the special test was very short. I started in the third position and I would like that it was a longer special to try to recover. I think I managed to recover more or less 1min40s the difference for Marc (Coma). Now we have five days ahead to try to get a good final position”, said Gonçalves.
Nahas: the first in quads
Thirteen quads completed the second stage Today. The current champion, the Brazilian Robert Nahas (RNN Sports), was the winner with a time of 51min33s. Tom Rosa (ATV Yamaha) was the first runner-up and Gabriel Varela (Divino Fogão Rally Team) finished third.
The Polish Rafal Sonik (Sonik Team), winner of the 1st stage, and Marcelo Medeiros (Taguatur Racing), who won the prologue, missed the route and lost time. Medeiros was the fifth in the day and Sonik the seventh.
Nahas also took the lead in the overall (3h04min45s), with more than five minutes ahead to Medeiros and Sonik.
UTVs
The duo Jose Helio Rodrigues and Edmilson de Camargo (Polaris Racing) got the victory in the second stage in UTVs with the time of 53min26s. Denisio Casarini and Eduardo Shiga (Casarini Can-Am) were second on the day and are leading overall with 3h14min25s, just 10 seconds ahead for the duo Rodrigo Varela and John Arena (Divino Fogão Rally Team).
Third Stage: Catalão (GO) / Paracatu (MG)
On Tuesday (26th), the competitors depart towards Paracatu (Minas Gerais State) in the dispute of the 3rd stage of the Rally dos Sertões 2014. There will be 360.45 km in total on the third day (22.20 km of initial liaison, 209.86 km of special and 128.39 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. 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 – 2nd Stage
1 #1 PAULO GONÇALVES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 45min37s
2 #5 JEAN AZEVEDO (HONDA / HONDA MOBIL DE RALLY) 46min39s
3 #2 MARC COMA (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 46min58s
4 #3 JORDI VILLADONS (KTM / CASTEU ELF) 48min07s
5 #12 RUBEN FARIA (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM 48min16s
Bikes – Overall
1 #2 MARC COMA (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 02h42min27s
2 #1 PAULO GONÇALVES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 02h43min06s
3 #5 JEAN AZEVEDO (HONDA / HONDA MOBIL DE RALLY) 02h44min44s
4 #4 HELDER RODRIGUES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 2h45min20s
5 #3 JORDI VILLADONS (KTM / CASTEU ELF) 02h46min08s
Quads – 2nd Stage
1 # 100 ROBERT NAHAS (PROTOTIPO / RNN SPORTS) 51min33s
2 # 103 TOM ROSA (YAMAHA / NC RALLY TEAM) 53min46s
3# 105 GABRIEL VARELA (CAN-AM / DIVINO FOGAO RALLY TEAM) 53min58s
4 # 104 NEI COSTA (NC RALLY TEAM) 56min10s
5 # 102 MARCELO MEDEIROS (TAGUATUR RACING) 57min05s
Quads – Overall
3 #100 ROBERT NAHAS (PROTOTIPO / RNN SPORTS) 03h04min45s
2 #102 MARCELO MEDEIROS (PROTOTIPO / TAGUATUR RACING) 03h09min49s
1 #101 RAFAL SONIK (HONDA / SONIK TEAM) 03h10min21s
4 #103 TOM ROSA (YAMAHA / NC RALLY TEAM) 03h10min47s
3# 105 GABRIEL VARELA (CAN-AM / DIVINO FOGAO RALLY TEAM) 3h13min08s
UTVs – 2nd Stage
1 #202 JOSE HELIO/EDMILSON CAMARGO JR (POLARIS RACING) 53min26s
2 #207 DENISIO FILHO/EDUARDO SHIGA (CASARINI CAN-AM) 54min37s
3 #212 ANDERSON GORGEN/ AUDIR CARVALHO NETO (RISA RALLY TEAM) 54min49s
4 #205 FABIO CAMPOS/SERGIO AVALLONE (SACRAMENTO RACING) 55min29s
5 #201 BRUNO SPERANCINI/LOURIVAL ROLDAN (CASARINI CAN-AM) 55min 37s
UTVs – Overall
1 #207 DENISIO FILHO/EDUARDO SHIGA (CASARINI CAN-AM) 3h14min25s
2 #203 RODRIGO VARELA / JOAO HENRIQUE ARENA (CAN-AM / DIVINO FOGAO RALLY TEAM) 03h14min36s
3 #202 JOSE HELIO/EDMILSON CAMARGO JR (POLARIS RACING) 3h15min36s
4 #222 ANDRE SAWAYA/EDUARDO COSTA (S2 RALLY / BIKE BOX) 03h17min24s
5 #204 CARLOS AMBROSIO/CADU SACHS (PODIUM MOTOS) 3h17min51s
