IN
THE
WIND
P46
FIRST FOR QUINTANILLA AT ATACAMA RALLY
R
ockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Pablo
Quintanilla made his first
international rally victory
a memorable one as
he topped the Ata-
cama Rally in front of his
home crowd in Chile. It
proved to a popular vic-
tory among the Chilean
fans as he edged out
KTM's Toby Price to
take the win by less
than 30 seconds. Price
had to settle for second
with HRC Honda's Kevin
Benavides in third.
The Atacama Rally,
round four of the five-
round FIM Cross-Country Ral-
lies World Championship, put
riders through five stages and
over 750 miles in the Atacama
Desert, which was sure to in-
clude plenty of sand dunes.
Price and Quintanilla battled
neck and neck from day one of
the rally, where the Husqvarna
rider took the line honors, but
was later penalized due to a
speed infraction, handing the
stage win to Price. But Quinta-
nilla used his keen navigation
skills to minimize mistakes and
close back up on the Australian
to recapture the lead after stage
three. The duo finished five
seconds apart on stage four,
leaving it all up to stage five for
the overall win.
Quintanilla proved to be
quickest in the final 60 miles—
nearly all sand dunes—finishing
the final stage in 58:51 minutes
for the win. Benavides finished
second in the stage ahead of
Price by nearly 30 seconds,
but Price ended the rally in the
runner-up position.
"Today was a difficult stage,
for sure, because the gap be-
tween me and Toby (Price) was
very small," Quintanilla said. "I
had to push a lot to win and I am
very happy. I have been looking
for this victory for a long time. I
put in a lot of work and I've been
training hard."
As a bonus, Quintanilla now
leads the points in the FIM
World Cross-Country Rallies
World Championship going into
the final round—the Oillibya Rally
of Morocco, October 1-7.
The Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna rider holds a three-
point gap over Red Bull KTM
factory rider Sam Sunderland.
Price, who had to withdraw from
the Sealine Rally due to injury,
trails at 50 points. CN
1. Pablo Quintanilla (Hus)
2. Toby Price (KTM)
3. Kevin Benavides (Hon)
4. Paolo Goncalves (Hon)
5. Sam Sunderland (KTM)
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
HUSQVARNA
MOTORCYCLES
The Atacama Rally marked the
career-first international rally
victory for Pablo Quintanilla
(center) and the Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna team.
