STAGE WIN FOR ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN

The first stage of the Andalucía Rally brought a lot of direction changes along the 319 kilometres around Seville province. In this delicate game, penalties were applied to many riders. Monster Energy Honda Team rider Adrien Van Beveren was the man of the day with a stage win. He is also the new leader.

No doubt – Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren is the man of the day! This came after official results from the first stage after the prologue (technically special stage 1B). Very meticulous with the road-book and his navigation, Van Beveren got back into the Gran Dos Hermanas Racecourse bivouac as the stage winner and overall leader!

Once again the rain was not enough to minimize the dust during the second day of the Andalucía Rally. This stage was raced on fast gravel roads between fields and some off piste tracks, with a total of 319 kilometres plus 145 of liaison. David Castera from ASO was clear yesterday at the general briefing when he announced a lot of direction changes and in consequence many less visible pistes. This was in fact the major challenge of this journey, so success was the combination of being able to go fast and not to miss any note and way point from the road-book. Traps were everywhere, including stones, ruts and holes.

Today 2020 Dakar winner Ricky Brabec (USA) was the first to leave the bivouac, just before the sun-raise. He was followed by Adrien Van Beveren and Chilean José Ignacio Cornejo. Van Beveren was with a shadow of a doubt the happiest of the trio after long hours of action, rolling always in the top standings and showing here a great performance while navigating the terrain.

Tomorrow’s special stage 2 will leave Seville province in the direction of Malaga, with 335 kilometres to race and 313 km of liaison. Fast tracks are expected blessed by a desirable forecast of rain that can minimize the dust columns.