A terrific Paulo Gonçalves on the Honda CRF450 RALLY takes the Stage and the Leadership
Tues, Oct 15th, 2013 – TEAM HRC continues to lead the OiLibya Rally of Morocco in this the final event of the 2013 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.
In a 298 km second stage, including 240 against the clock, ‘Speedy’ Gonçalves carved out an amazing victory that places hims at the top of the leaderboard. The other TEAM HRC riders put in fine performances too, with Sam Sunderland third and Joan Barreda in fifth.
After the sand and dunes of yesterday’s opening stage, today saw an entire day of rocky mountain terrain with a lot of navigation. Joan Barreda started out first and rode a fine race, although this allowed the other riders to follow his tracks and thus gain time. His colleague TEAM HRC rider Paulo Gonçalves, seemed at ease on his Honda CRF450 RALLY and kept up the consistency in the first leg, before pushing hard in the later stages. Around Zagora he was practically unbeatable. Gonçalves finds himself leading in the overall standings after two days of rally.
Dubai based Sam Sunderland was third in today's stage and is now fifth overall
British rider (based in Dubai) Sam Sunderland also put in a fine performance, overcoming a slight navigational error early on in the special and finishing in third. Joan Barreda’s fifth place leaves him behind Gonçalves in the overall standings. A good all-round team effort.
Sam Sunderland – “A very tough one today with loads of navigation and a lot of rocks. I kept up a great speed until the end after I had a small error near the start. I lost a little time but after was able to push hard. I navigated well and I’m happy.”
The tough rocky terrain suited much less Argentine Javier Pizzolito, who is looking forward again to the sand and dunes, where he hopes to better today’s seventh place.
Finally, Hélder Rodrigues, who set out from fourth position suffered an electronic failure some fifteen km from the end of the stage.
| Stage 2 Results |
| 1 | Paulo Goncalves | 02:50’22 | PRT | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 2 | Marc Coma | +02’00 | ESP | KTM | KTM Red Bull Rally Factory |
| 3 | Sam Sunderland | +02’09 | ENG | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 4 | Chaleco López | +02’51 | CHI | KTM | KTM Red Bull Rally Factory |
| 5 | Joan Barreda | +03’45 | ESP | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 6 | Ben Graham | +06’31 | AUS | KTM | KTM AUS Rally Factory |
| 7 | Javier Pizzolito | +06’52 | ARG | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 8 | Kurt Caselli | +07’01 | USA | KTM | KTM Red Bull Rally Factory |
| 9 | Alessandro Botturi | +09’19 | ITA | SPEEDBRAIN | Team Speedbrain |
| 10 | Ruben Faria | +09’37 | POR | KTM | KTM Red Bull Rally Factory |
| Overall standings after Stage 2 |
| 1 | Paulo Goncalves | 5:19’30 | PRT | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 2 | Joan Barreda | +00’17 | ESP | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 3 | Marc Coma | +01’47 | ESP | KTM | KTM Red Bull Rally Factory |
| 4 | Chaleco López | +08’40 | CHI | KTM | KTM Red Bull Rally Factory |
| 5 | Sam Sunderland | +09’50 | ENG | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 6 | Javier Pizzolito | +13’56 | ARG | HONDA | TEAM HRC |
| 7 | Alessandro Botturi | +18’02 | ITA | SPEEDBRAIN | Team Speedbrain |
| 8 | Alain Duclos | +18’56 | FRA | SHERCO | Sherco Rally Factory |
| 9 | Ben Graham | +25’24 | AUS | KTM | KTM AUS Rally Factory |
| 10 | Ruben Faria | +28’46 | POR | KTM | KTM Red Bull Rally Factory |
