Stage victory for Barreda. Benavides, a step away from the final triumph

The Honda CRF450 RALLY was once again the protagonist in the fourth stage of the Andalucia Rally: the victory went to Joan Barreda and second place to Kevin Benavides, who in doing so, consolidates the overall leadership.

The third stage of this Andalucia Rally was the lengthiest of the four days of competition: 300 kilometres against the clock out of a total 434-kilometre stage, held entirely in the province of Seville, although with some changes to the initial schedule (60 km less) which saw the start delayed by an hour.

Joan Barreda proved the winner on the day. Setting off from behind, the Spaniard from Castellón was able to set a solid pace, clawing back time from his rivals to finish with an advantage of over three-and-a-half minutes over the day’s second best finisher. Barreda, despite yesterday’s penalty, thus pulls back positions in the general standings and is now sixth overall in the race.

Fellow-Monster Energy Honda Team squad-mate Kevin Benavides also produced a fine stage three showing, posting second and keeping command of the overall leader board for a further day. Benavides has an advantage of more than six and a half minutes over the nearest second-placed rival with just the final stage to run before the race concludes.

For Ricky Brabec and José Ignacio Cornejo it was a somewhat troublesome day, both struggling to find a rhythm aboard the Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes with both taking the opportunity to ride risk-free and get more experience under the belt.

Tomorrow, Saturday, the Andalucia Rally concludes with two final special stages: an opening 110-kilometre timed section over the same terrain as the first day, plus, another 100-kilometre stretch close to the Villamartín bivouac.