Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/441908
IN THE WIND P36 HRC TAKES CONTROL AT DAKAR RALLY A fter a brief first stage of just over 100 miles, the 2015 Da- kar Rally got started on Stage 2, where riders faced the longest timed section of the race. At the end of the 322-mile (518km) special on day two, it was HRC riders Joan Barreda and Paolo Goncalves sitting 1-2 in the standings. Barreda battled throughout the challenging course with Red Bull KTM's Marc Coma and stage 1 winner Sam Sunderland, but Barreda pulled the advantage when Coma was forced to slow his pace due to tire troubles, and Sunderland got hopelessly lost. "I'm really happy," Barreda said. "It was really hard, really tough in the last part of the special with a lot of tracks and bumps. It was so physical. But today was one of those days where it is important to get the finish, and we got here so we are really happy. I was alone in some parts, but the most im- portant was to remain calm over the first kilometers and finally we did a really good job. I think it's a good opportunity for victory but the race is really close, so if we can perform like today and gain some minutes, then it's very im- portant." Goncalves moved into sec- ond, finishing six minutes behind Barreda, and thrilled to see his young teammate take the lead. "Today was a really, really long and hard stage," Goncalves said. "There was some really difficult tracks, a lot of rocks and sand; with this temperature it was really hard. In the middle of the stage I lost a little bit of time trying to find a waypoint. For the last 200 km (125 miles) I was on my own, but I'm happy to be here, happy for HRC and especially for Joan. He rode a really, really smart race today. He just started pushing after 350 km (217 miles), so con- gratulations to Joan. I thought we were brave today because it was a really difficult day." KTM's Ruben Faria came in third, three minutes later, only four seconds ahead of his KTM teammate, Jordi Viladoms. Aus- tralian Toby Price impressed with a strong fifth-place finish on the long and challenging special. Coma finished eighth, coming in 12:32 behind the leader, and now sitting sixth in the standings. But the seasoned veteran rode a very smart stage and considers himself lucky considering what could have happened. "We know that today was a very tough day," Coma said. "We started in the morning with a good feeling, not pushing too hard because we knew it was a long day. But on the other side, I felt that 60 km from the end, my rear tire was finished and I start- ed to ride no faster than 60 kph (37 mph), no faster than that. Okay, we lost some time today, but at the end I'm lucky because I could have stayed stuck in the desert all day." Riders still have nearly two weeks and 5000 miles of racing ahead of them, which will take them through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. After two stages, the Dakar Rally has only begun, but Honda has demonstrated it is poised to challenge the mighty KTM Factory team for top hon- ors in the toughest off-road race in the world. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HRC Joan Barreda pilots his HRC Honda CRF450 RALLY to a convincing win in Stage 2—the longest stage of the 2015 Dakar Rally.