VOL. 52 ISSUE 13 MARCH 31, 2015 P37
Bull KTM rider finished over a
minute ahead of his KTM factory
teammate Sam Sunderland, who
claimed second on the day.
Once again there to challenge
the might of the Factory KTM
team is Honda's HRC factory
effort. Unfortunately for HRC's
young gun Joan Barreda, a
disastrous first day ended any
chances he had of an overall
victory. The Spaniard was lead-
ing on day one through the third
checkpoint, but then suffered an
electrical problem that left him
stranded in the dunes. His HRC
teammate Paolo Goncalves tried
to offer assistance, which cost
him several minutes, but Gon-
calves still went on to finish the
day in third.
AMA National Hare & Hound
Champion Ricky Brabec had a
respectable opening day in his
first-ever rally race, riding to a
fifth-place finish aboard his HRC
Honda, though it wasn't without
a little bit of drama…
"My first day here at the
rally went good, but I made a
rookie mistake just trying to ride
through the dust," Brabec ex-
plained. "I hit something on the
road which popped me up and
threw me on my side. Other than
that it was a good day and I'm
learning the way that the navi-
gation works. I'm seeing these
faster guys' lines and how they
approach it. It was a good day
and hopefully the rest of the rally
will be better."
Barreda's misfortune on day
one has not dissuaded him from
gunning for stage wins. The
Spaniard rebounded from his
sub-par day to emerge victorious
on day two, winning the longest
stage of the rally (173 miles).
After the motocross-style start,
Barreda quickly moved into the
lead where he managed to make
up an astounding 11 minutes
and 29 seconds on the field.
Sunderland finished a scant
three seconds ahead of his
Factory KTM teammate Matthias
Walkner, who finished third on
the day. On account of Coma's
11th place finish in the stage,
Sunderland now moves into the
overall lead. Coma, however,
isn't worried just yet. He is once
again relying on his patience and
experience – which includes
seven Abu Dhabi Rally wins—to
guide him to the finish.
Goncalves retains his third-
overall position with his 12th place
finish—just behind Coma. Ameri-
can HRC rider Brabec carded
sixth on the day and also holds
sixth in the overall standings at
the close of the second stage.
Jean Turner
American desert
champion Ricky
Brabec is competing
in the Abu Dhabi
Desert Challenge
aboard a Factory
HRC CRF450 RALLY,
and currently sits
sixth after two days
in his first-ever rally.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
HRC
