IN
THE
WIND
P34
ahead of the Honda team.
Racers endured nearly 1200
miles of rocky and challenging
landscape with all but about 90
miles of it timed. The naviga-
tion was even tougher than the
terrain, which did not allow for
many mistakes from the riders.
"This rally is so intense,"
Coma said. "It is impossible to
recover if you make a mistake. It
was a very hard fought win and
the team did a great job. We
started the year very well and
we are still on the right way. Now
it is time to enjoy this beautiful
moment and then begin to work
ahead of the next race in Sar-
dinia."
Barreda and Goncalves
topped the final three days of
the rally with 1-2 finishes for the
HRC team, but it would not be
enough to overtake Coma. In the
end, Barreda finished second
with Goncalves rounding out the
podium.
"It's been a good week with a
fast pace all through the rally,"
Barreda said. "I pushed really
hard and I'm pleased. We've
been battling with Marc [Coma]
all week and in the end the dif-
ference has been minimal. I'm
happy with the hard work that
we've done. The consolation
is that we can really believe in
the right direction that we are
taking."
The world's best now head
into a one-month break before
the 2015 FIM Cross Countries
Rally World Championship
heads to Italy for round three in
Sardinia on June 6, 2015.
Jean Turner
Joan Barreda (pictured) and his
HRC teammate Paulo Goncalves
kept the pressure on Coma, but
had to settle for second and
third, respectively.
