VOLUME 56 ISSUE 29 JULY 23, 2019 P33
Sunderland Wins Silk Way Rally
A
fter 10 days and more than
3000 miles, the 2019 Silk
Way Rally is complete, and in its
first year of hosting a motorcycle
category, Red Bull KTM's Sam
Sunderland was the first to take
home the white tiger. Sunderland
completed the final and most
difficult day of the rally, which cul-
minated in China's Gobi Desert,
in sixth place, more than enough
to clinch the overall win. American
Andrew Short (Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna) finished a close sec-
ond while Yamaha's Adrien Van
Beveren of France rounded out
the overall podium.
The course stretched from
Irkutsk (Russia) through the taiga
forests of Easter Siberia into the
Mongolian grasslands and then
the vast Gobi Desert, giving the
racers an extreme variety of terrain
to tackle.
"It was really tough to be hon-
est," said Sunderland. "Super long
and huge contrast in terrain like
from Russia in the forest to Mon-
golia where I never been so fast
in a stage in my life, and then in
to China, definitely these last two
days were so physical and a huge
contrast again in the dunes and
the camel grass. Unfortunately, I
got sick on day two or three, and
I got a real bad flu, so was a bit
trying to manage it."
Sunderland succeeded in
extending his lead in the FIM
Cross-Country Rallies World
Championship with two rounds still
remaining.
Short came into the final day
within one minute of Van Beveren.
Fortunately for Short, the French-
man made a mistake that secured
Short's second-place finish.
"I was pushing for second over-
all." said Van Beveren, "but then
I made a small navigational error
and lost four or five minutes."
For "Shorty," it was a strong
finish that saw him claim his best-
ever world championship result,
and also to take his first stage win.
He now moves into second overall
in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies
World Championship standings.
"I'm really exciting to finish the
race how I did. For me, the rally
didn't start so well, it took me a
little time to get comfortable with
the speed among the trees, rocks
and water in Russia. Overall, I kept
improving as the rally went on and
for me to finish where I did is bet-
ter than expected.
"A lot of cool things happened
for me in this rally—I got my first-ev-
er stage win and then today I was
given the opportunity to open a
stage for the first time. My naviga-
tion has been good for the whole
rally, and I definitely think that has
enabled my rhythm to improve. I
feel more comfortable on the bike
and the team have been perfect."
Honda's Kevin Benavides
claimed the stage win on the final
day, which solidified his fourth-
place finish in the Silk Way Rally.
Luciano Benavides (KTM) round-
ed out the top-five overall and
topped the Junior class.
KTM's Laia Sanz finished sev-
enth overall to take the dominate
the Women's class. CN
1. Sam Sunderland (KTM) 26:12:47
2. Andrew Short (Hus) +20:22
3. Adrien Van Beveren (Yam) +21:02
4. Kevin Benavides (Hon) +21:37
5. Luciano Benavides (KTM) +36:50
KTM's Sam Sunderland (center) held on to win the Silk Way Rally. Andrew
Short (right) took second and Adrien Van Beveren third. PHOTO: RALLY ZONE
