Second double for Honda in Morocco
Joan ‘Bang Bang’ Barreda, once again, gave a note-worthy exhibition of his riding progress on the Honda CRF450 RALLY. The second stage of the OiLibya Rally of Morocco had the Spaniard’s mark of authority stamped all over it. The race also saw Jeremías Israel finish second. Helder Rodrigues and Paulo Goncalves, likewise, produced sound performances and continue to occupy the top four spots.
Joan Barreda extended his leadership of the OiLibya Rally of Morocco yet further after an impressive sand and navigation-filled second stage victory. The win was all the more remarkable for having set off at the head of the field. The Spaniard remained unreachable out front. In doing so, Barreda widens the deficit over second place Marc Coma by two minutes. The damage could have been much worse, were it not for a slight navigation slip-up which set the leader back several minutes.
Second place on the day went to fellow Team HRC rider Jeremías Israel. The Chilean had been penalized on Stage 1 for missing the final checkpoint, but performed well over the first part of the race, only to be slowed up later by dust created by the riders ahead.
The two Portuguese riders Helder Rodrigues and Paulo Goncalves had a good day at the office, finishing in fifth and sixth. Rodrigues went in pursuit of those up ahead and was able to maintain a rapid pace throughout. The reigning world champion at one point was forced to stop to fix a vibrating front fairing.
Last but not least, a great result for Laia Sanz, once again finishing amongst the world’s top riders in thirteenth place, in spite of a minor crash without consequences.
Tomorrow’s Stage:
Stage 3 – Erfoud-Zagora
Liaison: 24km Special Stage: 313km Liaison: 26km
The third step will be the longest of the rally. Competitors leave Erfoud to head Zagora by traveling on fast tracks with passages of small dunes. The highlight of this special will be finding the pass that leads to a silted huge valley where navigation will be predominant. After passing the fort Zguilma, they will have to go north to find another valley which will lead to the finish. The last section very sandy, the crew will be under pressure!
Joan Barreda
"I’m really happy. We did a lot of preparation for this stage yesterday. We knew that there was going to be a lot of navigation. It was an incredible pace, I navigated without mistakes, impeccable, until kilometre 160. We really pushed, opening the way in the dunes. In the end I made a slight error thinking that we could get back on the track further on, but I was able to rectify it without losing too much time. But that’s the way it is; if you push that hard you can expect some navigational errors."
Jeremias Israel
"It was a really fast stage until we got up to the dunes, which made it interminable. A long and hard one. I had to eat a bit of dust in the final part, when I reached Jordi Viladoms and Chaleco, and I had to slow the pace down. I’m happy to have finished, and the bike performed really well. After a year out, I’m starting to get back into racing again. I’m getting used to Honda HRC too. Very happy to be here and to have finished the second stage. I want to congratulate Joan Barreda. What a win!"
Helder Rodrigues
"It was a hard, difficult stage, with a lot of sand, navigation and a lot of stones. It went really well for everyone. I’m really pleased. Pleased for the bike which is going really great, and for the team too. We’ve just got to keep pushing hard. I feel great, really well."
Paulo Goncalves
"Today I started from second place and tried to rush through the dunes. Marc caught up with me at the end and we rode together for most of the rest of the stage. 30 kilometres from the end the fairing came loose and I had to repair it. I lost a couple of minutes, but it doesn’t matter. The race is still just beginning and the team is doing an extraordinary job. We have two riders on the podium and we have to keep working because there are still four days left to fight for."
Laia Sanz
"Things were going really well in the stage which I liked a lot better than yesterday’s. It went pretty well, and I managed to not get lost at all. About fifteen kilometres from the finish, I fell in a very fast area, but I fell on top of the bike. Luckily, neither the bike or I suffered much. Now it’s time to rest and prepare for tomorrow’s stage."
Private: Wolfgang Fischer
"Stage two in Morocco and another great result for Team HRC with another double victory with Joan showing amazing skill in navigation today. It was very difficult to open the track and still be able to win this stage, but he did an excellent job in doing that. Second place for Jeremias Israel. He had a bit of a problem yesterday with a mistake that cost him a lot of time in penalisation, but he’s here to learn, to get all the rally experience necessary. It was his first race after his injuries in the Dakar. He performed well today and is showing good potential. Our goal is to work together and make him a complete rider like the others. Paulo had a bit of bad luck – he had a technical problem with his navigation equipment, he didn’t completely lose time, but finished several minutes later. Laia also had a great day today. She had a small crash at the end but still finished in a good position. Helder, also had a good stage today, he struggled a bit in the dunes, but still managed to finish in a good position for tomorrow’s stage where we will attack again."
Results Session
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barreda Joan | SPA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 2:26'14 | |
2 | Israel Jeremias | CHI | Team HRC | Honda | +2'00 | |
3 | Coma Marc | SPA | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +2'01 | |
4 | Sunderland Sam | GBR | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +2'20 | |
5 | Rodrigues Helder | POR | Team HRC | Honda | +5'42 | |
6 | Goncalves Paulo | POR | Team HRC | Honda | +6'10 | |
7 | Faria Ruben | POR | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +6'23 | |
8 | Lopez Chaleco | CHI | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +6'40 | |
9 | Price Toby | AUS | KTM AUS Rally Factory | KTM | +7'05 | |
10 | Viladoms Jordi | SPA | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +8'12 |
Provisional Standings after Stage 2
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barreda Joan | SPA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 5:30'25 | |
2 | Coma Marc | SPA | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +3'22 | |
3 | Goncalves Paulo | POR | Team HRC | Honda | +7'29 | |
4 | Rodrigues Helder | POR | Team HRC | Honda | +9'03 | |
5 | Faria Ruben | POR | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +10'58 | |
6 | Viladoms Jordi | SPA | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +15'05 | |
7 | Lopez Chaleco | CHI | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +16'27 | |
8 | Sunderland Sam | GBR | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +17'06 | |
9 | Przygonski Kuba | POL | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +27'32 | |
10 | +35'41 |
Location Information
Morocco has always been a land of rally raid. The story began in 1982 with the arrival of Paris-Agadir, the first rally raid to run in Morocco. The following year, the rally took the name of ‘Atlas Rally’ and became the flagship rally to the Rally Raids calendar. The Atlas… read more.
Winner 2023 | Toby Price (KTM) |
Winner 2022 | Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) |
Winner 2021 | Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) |
Winner 2020 | Cancelled due the COVID-19 Pandemic |
Winner 2019 | Toby Price (KTM) |
Winner 2018 | Toby Price (KTM) |
Winner 2017 | Matthias Walkner (KTM) |
Winner 2016 | Toby Price (KTM) |
Winner 2015 | Sam Sunderland (KTM) |
Winner 2014 | Marc Coma (KTM) |
Winner 2013 | Paulo Gonçalves (Honda) |
Winner 2012 | Cyril Despres (KTM) |
Agadir, Morocco - View in Google Maps