VOL. 55 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 21, 2018 P25
I turn back. It cost me a lot,"
Quintanilla lamented. He gave it
his all to close the gap to Bena-
vides, but had to settle for third
in the end. "I'm really happy
with this special and the race.
I had hurt my [chances] badly
some time ago. It's never easy
to regain confidence and ride
fast. I thought it would take me
longer… so I'm very happy!"
Benavides' Honda teammate
Joan Barreda also suffered
some bad luck, far worse than
Quintanilla's. Barreda crashed
out on the first day, smashing
his face and breaking his wrist
(again). KTM's Sam Sunderland
also ended his race early after
breaking his foot on a rock. For
Adrien Van Beveren, the Ata-
cama Rally marked a successful
return to racing. The Yamaha
Factory rider suffered a violent
crash while leading the Dakar
Rally in January, resulting in
multiple broken bones, then he
suffered another broken col-
larbone in a practice crash in
April. The Frenchman was well
satisfied to finish eighth in Chile
behind Paulo Goncalves and
Ignacio Cornejo.
American Ricky Brabec (Mon-
ster Energy Honda) was ninth
overall, finishing a little over an
hour behind the winner and his
teammate Benavides.
Brabec said he is glad to get
to see the checkered flag. "I'm
happy to have finished the race
in one piece and am already
looking forward to the next one
already," Brabec said. "It has
been a great all-around team
effort and everyone continues to
improve as we work towards our
final goal—the Dakar. Everyone
has worked really hard and the
bike has really been the star. Big
congratulations to our teammate
Benavides who rode really well
throughout the whole rally."
Right behind Brabec was
fellow American rider Andrew
Short. It marked his first-ever
attempt at the Atacama Rally,
which the Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna rider described
as "eye-opening." "Overall, I
enjoyed this event," said Short.
"The course was demand-
ing and I felt I made some big
improvements with my race pace
during the week. I learned a lot
and was able to adjust my speed
to complete the event on a high
note. I feel that I finished a lot
better than I started and this is
motivating for the future."
For Short and his fellow rally
racers, "the future" isn't far off,
as the next round of the FIM
Cross-Country Rallies World
Championship takes place in
Argentina next week, with the
Desafio Ruta 40 taking place
August 25-31.
Benavides' victory has put
him even with Quintanilla in the
championship, with the leaders
locked at 50 points each with
only two rounds remaining. CN
Atacama Rally Overall Results
1. Kevin Benavides (Hon)
2. Toby Price (KTM)
3. Pablo Quintanilla (Hus)
4. Matthias Walkner (KTM)
5. Franco Caimi (Yam)
6. Paulo Goncalves (Hon)
7. Ignacio Cornejo (Hon)
8. Adrien Van Beveren (Yam)
9. Ricky Brabec (Hon)
10. Andrew Short (Hus)
PHOTOGRAPHY
HONDA
HRC
Local hero and
defending champion
Pablo Quintanilla led
the early stages, but
had to settle for third
after getting lost.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
RALLY
ZONE/HUSQVARNA
IMAGES
