Van Beveren Wins Andalucia Rally,
Sunderland World Champ
M
onster Energy Honda's Adrien
Van Beveren captured the
overall win at the Andalucia Rally in
Spain, October 20-23, while Gas-
Gas Factory Racing's Sam Sun-
derland wrapped up the 2022 FIM
World Rally-Raid Championship.
Van Beveren won two stages
(one and four) of the three in
Spain. (Stage two was canceled
due to inclement weather.) Red
Bull KTM's Kevin Benavides won
the other stage (three) and fin-
ished out the rally second overall.
This was Van Beveren's first
win since joining the Honda team
earlier this year.
"This is not Dakar, but for me
it was very important to win here
in Andalucia," Van Beveren said.
"I knew Kevin Benavides would
push a lot, so I had to go as fast
as I could.
"This is a very emotional day,"
he said. "I am so happy to deliver
this first victory to Honda since
they welcomed me like family.
Now I am looking forward to the
next Dakar."
"Unfortunately, losing stage
two due to the weather and with
the event so short, I couldn't
quite regain the time I lost to [a]
penalty on day one," Benavides
said. "It's frustrating, but in the
end, I know I did my best here,
and I have a really strong pace.
With two months to go to Dakar
I'm feeling really confident. This
season doesn't look so good
on paper; I had an issue at the
Dakar, and again in Abu Dhabi,
IN
THE
WIND
P60
Adrien Van Beveren
took the overall win
at the Andalucia Rally
in Spain, winning two
of the three stages.
PHOTO: HONDA HRC
