The Honda CRF450 RALLY was once again the protagonist in the fourth stage of the Andalucia Rally: the victory went to Joan Barreda and third place to Kevin Benavides, who in doing so, consolidates the overall leadership.
The third stage of this Andalucia Rally was the lengthiest of the four days of competition: 300 kilometres against the clock out of a total 434-kilometre stage, held entirely in the province of Seville, although with some changes to the initial schedule (60 km less) which saw the start delayed by an hour.
Joan Barreda proved the winner on the day. Setting off from behind, the Spaniard from Castellón was able to set a solid pace, clawing back time from his rivals to finish with an advantage of over three-and-a-half minutes over the day’s second best finisher. Barreda, despite yesterday’s penalty, thus pulls back positions in the general standings and is now sixth overall in the race.
Fellow-Monster Energy Honda Team squad-mate Kevin Benavides also produced a fine stage three showing, posting third and keeping command of the overall leader board for a further day. Benavides has an advantage of more than six and a half minutes over the nearest second-placed rival with just the final stage to run before the race concludes.
For Ricky Brabec and José Ignacio Cornejo it was a somewhat troublesome day, both struggling to find a rhythm aboard the Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes with both taking the opportunity to ride risk-free and get more experience under the belt.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the Andalucia Rally concludes with two final special stages: an opening 110-kilometre timed section over the same terrain as the first day, plus, another 100-kilometre stretch close to the Villamartín bivouac.
Ricky Brabec – STAGE: 11th OVERALL: 15th : « Today was nice, with more open tracks and faster. For me it was much nicer but, unfortunately, we didn’t do so well. We are just going to keep going. We had an engine change last night, and at this point we not really racing, we are just hanging out and doing wheelies for the fans. We’ll see tomorrow. »
José Ignacio Cornejo – STAGE: 15th OVERALL: 10th : « We finished the third day. Today we experienced a bit of chaos because early in the morning they gave us some contradictory information in the roadbook, some riders passed me and I was in the dust until the end. The truth is that I don’t really care about the race outcome because of everything that has happened, things that are beyond logic. I’m going to prepare for the last day to be able to arrive as best I can at the Dakar. »
Kevin Benavides – STAGE: 3rd OVERALL: 1st : « It was a good day today. I made some navigational mistakes, but the pace and speed on the bike were good, allowing me to make up some lost time. I’m also happy because my arm didn’t hurt at all. We have passed another positive day and there is just one more day of racing remaining to enjoy. »
Joan Barreda – STAGE: 1st OVERALL: 6th : « I started behind, at first I had to be careful because there was a lot of dust and you could not do any crazy overtaking as there was no air and the dust stayed suspended in the air and it was dangerous. I was able to pass a few riders when the open track arrived and I kept calm and was able to recover quite a bit of time with some good pace. I’m quite happy with the stage, because I liked the terrain, with fast tracks and some rocks which really punished the tyres. »
Stage 3 results
1. Barreda Joan (SPA Monster Energy Honda Team, 1:47’28
2. Walkner Matthias (AUT) – Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team, +3’36
3. Benavides Kevin (ARG) – Monster Energy Honda Team, +3’45
4. de Soultrait Xavier (FRA) – HT Husqvarna Rally Team, +4’23
5. Howes Skyler (USA) – Klymciw Racing, +4’52
6. Van Beveren Adrien (FRA) – Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team, +4’53
7. Brabec Jan (CZE) – Big Shock Racing, +5’18
8. Caimi Franco (ARG) – Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team, +5’26
9. Sanders Daniel (AUS) – Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team, +6’27
10.Price Toby (AUS) – Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team, +7’14
11. Brabec Ricky (USA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, +7’24…
15. Cornejo José Ignacio (CHI) – Monster Energy Honda Team, +10’39…
Rider Standings
Provisional Standings after Stage 3
1. Benavides Kevin (ARG) – Monster Energy Honda Team, 8:15’33
2. Van Beveren Adrien (FRA) – Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team, +6’38
3. Santolino Lorenzo (SPA) – Sherco TVS Rally Factory, +8’40
4. Caimi Franco (ARG) – Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team, +13’28
5. Price Toby (AUS) – Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team, +15’20
6. Barreda Joan (SPA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, +16’23
7. Walkner Matthias (AUT) – Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team, +18’38
8. de Soultrait Xavier (FRA) – HT Husqvarna Rally Team, +21’08
9. Tomiczek Adam (POL) – Orlen Team, +21’56
10. Cornejo José Ignacio (CHI) – Monster Energy Honda Team, +23’36…
15. Brabec Ricky (USA) – Monster Energy Honda Team, +30’34…