IN
THE
WIND
P40
GONCALVES WINS, BRABEC
FOURTH IN ARGENTINA
T
eam HRC made the trek
back to Argentina to take part
in the Desafío Ruta 40, where
Paulo Goncalves clinched the
victory after five demanding days
of rally racing. Goncalves topped
four out of five stages in the rally,
besting his teammate Javier Piz-
zolito and KTM-mounted David
Casteu, who finished second
and third, respectively. American
rider Ricky Brabec was once
again a guest of Team HRC,
and the reigning National Hare &
Hound Champion finished fourth
in only his second-ever rally race.
"It was a race with a lot of ki-
lometers, a lot of navigation and
riding, but it all worked out really
well," Goncalves commented.
"Additionally, we were able to
test the bike in race conditions
very similar to those that we will
find in the next edition of the
Dakar."
HRC's top gun Joan Barreda
was the only other stage win-
ner in the Ruta 40, but suffered
a hard get-off on stage four,
which resulted in a dislocated
knee. Barreda was unfortunately
forced to retire from the race at
that point.
Although not part of the FIM
Cross-Country Rallies World
Championship, the Ruta 40 is
the opening round of the 2015
Dakar Series—a three-round
South American rally series
designed to help riders prepare
for the Dakar Rally. The Ruta 40
put riders through five days of
challenging terrain in Argentina,
and some of the same special
stages as the Dakar Rally. The
race marked Brabec's first taste
of Dakar-style racing, and the
Californian had an impressive
showing alongside his HRC
teammates.
"He did a really good job to
finish here in fourth, almost
making it to the podium," com-
mented HRC Team Manager
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
HRC
Paulo Goncalves won four out of five stages to put his Honda CRF450
RALLY on top of the podium at the Ruta 40 Rally.
