With the victory, Gonçalves tighten the contest for the lead in the accumulated results. Foto: Victor Eleuterio/WebventureOn the longest course crossed by the 22nd edition of the Sertões International Rally up until now, between the cities in Minas Gerais of Paracatu and São Francisco, the competitors on the motorbikes demonstrated speed and skill. There were 363.85 just of special crossed over this Wednesday (27th), the fourth stage of the competition. On such long ground, there were bound to be difficulties and problems, but emotion and competitiveness were also present.
The biggest problem was with an accident suffered by the rider Eduardo Davids do Amaral, of the Bianchini Rally, who had a fracture in his wrist due to a fall. The medical team swa to him punctually and the competitor in the FIM 450cc category, riding a KTM 450, fortunately is well.
The Portuguese rider, Paulo Gonçalves of the Honda HRC Team was the fastest on todays special with a time of 4h24min02, ahead of Marc Coma (KTM Red Bull Factory Team) who had a time of 4h25min17; and Helder Rofrigues also of Honda HRC, who finished the stage in 4h30min51. I had a great day today. I started in third and rode at a hard rhythm. Near the middle of the special, I made a small mistake and lost a bit of focus, but I forced it a lot at the end and managed to win the stage. We are going to continue to work hard in the next few days, as we are in the middle of the competition, Gonçalves explained.
With this victory in the long stage, the Honda contestant got close to Coma in the lead of the accumulated time. The difference between the riders is a little over two minutes. Another good day. A long and hard and very good special. I tried to race as fast as possible, and I think that second place was a good result for today, highlighted the Spaniard, Coma, who is the current leader of the Rally Cross Country World Championship (FIM).
Champion in 2010, Coma still leads the Rally, but with a tight advantage. Foto: Jonne Roriz/WebventureHelder Rodrigues also explains the difficulty of the special. Today was a very long stage with a lot of stones, sand and hard ground. It demanded much navigation and everything else. I accelerated as much as possible and managed a good rhythm. I lost a bit of time at the beginning, but I tried to maintain a fast rhythm until the last part.
The best placed Brazilian in the stage and also in the accumulated is Jean Azevedo. The contestant from the Honda Mobil de Rally team, ended the day with the fourth best time, and in in third place in the accumulated result. Of the 360 kilometers we had today, about 300 of them were fast stretches. So it was a day of huge straight stretches and a few more curvy stretches, Jean clarified.
Other competitors also faced problems during the long special. Ricardo Martins motorbike (Spirit Rally Team) broke down and the racer had to abandon the stage. Eduardo Juttel (Bob Máquinas Rally), had to stop on km 243 of the special because of a broken chain.
This Thursday (28) the 2nd edition of the Sertões International Rally enters into an even more difficult stage. It will be 645.44 kilometers in total for the competitors between the cities of São Francisco and Diamantina, in Minas Gerais, of which 335.98 kms will be the special which initiated the marathon phase, where the equipment cannot be overhauled or receive any type of tuning by the support teams.
Follow the Sertões live and see the complete results here.
The best in the 4th Stage and in the accumulated (extraoficial result):
Motorbikes – 4ª Stage
1. #1 PAULO GONCALVES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 04h24min02s
2. #2 MARC COMA (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 04h25min17s
3. #4 HELDER RODRIGUES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 04h30min51s
4. #5 JEAN AZEVEDO (HONDA / HONDA MOBIL DE RALLY) 04h31min20s
5. #3 JORDI VILADOMS (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 04h31min34s
Motorbikes Accumulated
1. #2 MARC COMA (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 9h43min55s
2. #1 PAULO GONCALVES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 9h45min59s
3. #5 JEAN AZEVEDO (HONDA / HONDA MOBIL DE RALLY) 9h53min32s
4. #4 HELDER RODRIGUES (HONDA / TEAM HONDA HRC) 9h55min29s
5.#3 JORDI VILADOMS (KTM / KTM RED BULL FACTORY TEAM) 9h58min15s
Check the sequence of the 22nd edition of the Sertões International Rally:
28/08 – 5ª stage- São Francisco (MG)/Diamantina (MG) – MARATHON
Initial liaison223,57 km
Special: 335,98 km
Final liaison: 85,89 km
Days total: 645,44 km
29/08 – 6ª stage- Diamantina (MG)/Diamantina (MG)
Initial liaison: 0 km
Special: 178,87 km
Final liaison: 25,42 km
Days total: 204,29 km
30/08 – 7ª stage- Diamantina (MG)/Belo Horizonte (MG)
Initial liaison: 54,38 km
Special: 125,88 km
Final liaison: 151,96 km
Days total: 336,96 km
12h00 to18h00: Arrival of the competitors
21h00: Prize giving Ceremony and Party
Este texto foi escrito por: Marcos Souza
Last modified: agosto 27, 2014
