Fast and consistent aboard his FR 450 Rally machine, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pablo Quintanilla has secured victory in a challenging stage one of the Atacama Rally 2017. Reaching the finish of the stage without any issues the Chilean currently enjoys a lead of over one-minute at the top of the event’s provisional overall standings.  Following his impressive performance on Sunday, which saw him post the fastest time in the short Prologue, Pablo was determined to keep the momentum going into the first full day of racing in Chile. Taking advantage of his good starting position, he made a few passes to complete the special stage in a time of two hours and 23 minutes.  For Pablo’s Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team partner Pela Renet, the Frenchman took advantage of the difficult stage one to continue his rally apprenticeship aboard the FR 450 Rally machine. Spending the second half of the special stage racing alongside the top performers, Pela posted the 10th best time for the day.  Including a 308km-long timed special, stage two of the 2017 Atacama Rally will see competitors leave Copiapó as they head towards the city of Taltal. The total distance to be covered by riders on Tuesday is 379.93km.  Pablo Quintanilla: “Everything went according to plan today. It was a difficult stage with complicated navigation but I did my best for a good result. The stage was so tricky it was almost impossible to avoid mistakes. I stayed focused on my road-book, always trying to take the best decisions whenever I was in doubt. Overall, I’m really happy to get away with the stage victory. It’s been the first big test at this year’s Atacama Rally and for sure there’s going to be more days like that this week. My focus now is on tomorrow’s stage two now.”  Pela Renet: “I am happy with my performance today. It was difficult starting at the front because you have no tracks to follow and soon the riders behind can catch you. Navigation was difficult with no tracks, and there are a lot of hills and valleys in the dunes that can catch you out. It wasn’t too bad though because I was able to stay with the top riders after being caught, and so not only was my pace good over the stage, but I learned a lot from them too.” 

Overdrive Racing’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah moved one step closer to a third successive FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies title with a convincing start-to-finish victory in the Veszprém-based Hungarian Baja, round eight of the series. The Qatari and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel clinched victory on the Prologue stage on Friday evening and that paved the way for a dominant performance in their Toyota Hilux that saw them reach the podium finish with a winning margin of 3min 38sec over former WRC star Mikko Hirvonen of Finland. Al-Attiyah won four of the weekend’s five timed tests. It was the fourth win for Al-Attiyah in Hungary after previous successes in 2008, 2014 and 2015 and the sixth of the season in the FIA World Cup for Overdrive Racing after victories in Russia, Dubai, Qatar, Kazakhstan and Spain and a bonus victory for Christian Lavieille in China’s Taklimakan Rally.  “It was not an easy race at all. The conditions were difficult on Saturday and I did not want to take any risks,” said the Qatari. “Mikko was always close behind and I could never relax, but the win puts me in a strong position now to retain the FIA World Cup title.” Poland’s Aron Domzala and navigator Maciej Marton set the fastest time on the final stage – beating Al-Attiyah by just one second – and delivered a solid display in the second of the Overdrive Racing Toyotas to finish in sixth position, despite losing around five minutes with two flat tyres on the third stage. Overdrive Racing’s CEO Jean-Marc Fortin said: “It has been a very good weekend, perfect, with nothing happening to the cars at all. For Nasser, from the pre-rally test to the finish, it was a perfect weekend. We chose a good place to start the first stage after the Prologue. Opening the road today was not easy, but he managed. We were managing the eight tyres only as well. Mikko used his eight tyres yesterday, which was a mistake. So, this morning, we had fresh tyres and that made the difference. “For Aron, this was a mixed rally. There were some excellent times, a good Prologue but then he got two punctures on the same stage and lost the chance of the podium. To come back strongly this morning and to set the fastest time was a great way to finish, but it is frustrating that he has a small issue and he cannot achieve a top result. It will come, he is still young.” Al-Attiyah made the perfect start and a time of 7min 33.2sec through the 11.41km Prologue stage on Friday afternoon gave the Qatari the choice of a favourable starting position for Saturday’s opening selective section and an overnight lead of 8.8 seconds over Czech driver Martin Prokop. Domzala slotted into fifth place, sandwiched between Marcin Lukaszewski and fellow Pole Jakub Przygonski.  Al-Attiyah continued where he left off on Friday evening with the fastest time of 1hr 39min 19sec through the first of two runs in a 136.60km selective section on Saturday morning. It enabled the Qatari to extend his advantage over Mikko Hirvonen to 1min 14sec. Przygonski moved up to third and Domzala climbed a place to fourth. The slippery special featured numerous water splashes and muddy conditions after overnight heavy rain. In drying conditions, Al-Attiyah was 4min 13sec quicker on his second run through the stage than he had been in the morning and duly extended his advantage over Hirvonen to 1min 24sec at the overnight halt, despite admitting to driving with caution over the rutted tracks and through the muddy sections. Domzala dropped around five minutes to his closest rivals after collecting two punctures and returned to Veszprém in sixth overall, 2min 24sec off fifth place.  A shortened selective section of around 98 kilometres was repeated twice on Sunday. Al-Attiyah recorded his fourth successive quickest time in the opener by stopping the clocks in 1hr 01min and that enabled him to extend his lead to 3min 11sec heading into the final stage. Domzala tied to the second with Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach and consolidated his hold on sixth overall. There were no late dramas for either Al-Attiyah or Domzala (who had the fastest time on the last stage) and the duo reached the finish in Veszprém in first and sixth overall to cap another successful weekend for Overdrive Racing in the FIA World Cup.  

  Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Racing riders have made the best of a difficult Prologue stage at the 2017 Atacama Rally in Chile, where stage times were eventually cancelled due to navigation problems. Riders’ times will be used to determine their start positions for stage one on Monday. FIM Cross-Country Rallies Championship leader, Sam Sunderland, rode well on the fast prologue stage. Unfortunately, navigating proved difficult and the 2017 Dakar winner made a number of small but costly errors. Sunderland: “It’s always tricky here in Chile. The road-books are never perfect and you often find a lot of locals in the desert. Trying to follow tracks in the sand is difficult when there are locals driving around – it’s easy to get put off course. I missed one waypoint and had to turn back, which unfortunately cost me a couple of minutes. Eventually, with the times being scrapped, it meant those riders who returned soonest, despite missing check-points, would be placed higher. “It’s a long rally, so I just need to refocus for tomorrow and do the best I can.” Sunderland’s team-mate, Matthias Walkner, also found navigation difficult, especially due to the previous night’s rain and vehicle tracks in the desert. Walkner: “It was always going to be tough riding the prologue today. It’s such a short loop and in theory, the fastest riders should win. Today was more like flipping a coin. The route was incredibly difficult due to other vehicles using the desert for practice or just driving around. The weather meant the course was almost impossible to follow, too. I think the organisers made the correct decision in scrapping the times from today. Tomorrow we will start a fresh and I hope to do well.” KTM Rally Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz, enjoying her time back on the KTM 450 RALLY, rode a solid prologue in difficult conditions.  Sanz: “It was such a strange day today. I felt good on the bike and for me, this is all about preparation for the Dakar at the beginning of next year. I am happy with how I rode so I just want to focus on tomorrow now.” On Monday, the riders will head into Stage One, the first of the five full stages of the Atacama rally. The stage leaves Copiapó and heads north before circling through the desert and later heading back to the starting city.  

After passing through pre-race scrutineering complication-free, Monster Energy Honda Team are now poised to tackle the seventh edition of the Atacama Rally, beginning in Copiapó, with the duo Paulo Gonçalves and Kevin Benavides. The final day before the bikes go into action in the Chilean desert for the 2017 Atacama Rally, was a day of last minute preparations for the Monster Energy Honda Team; a final chance to set up the two Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes and get them through the technical and administrative checks – the day went without a hitch.  The rain has recently made its presence felt in the world’s most arid desert and could prove to be a decisive factor in some of the forthcoming five stages; however the forecast for now is sunny conditions.  This afternoon the race gets underway with a short, fourteen-kilometre prologue on the outskirts of Copiapó. As usual, a speedy start will be essential to guarantee a good overall position. Paulo Gonçalves and Kevin Benavides both arrive at the event highly-motivated and will be aspiring for top-position overall results by the time the Atacama Rally concludes next week.  Tomorrow sees the first full stage, a loop beginning and ending in Copiapó with a total of 272.47 kilometres with 226.18 of these against the clock.  Paulo Goncalves  ”I recently had a fall in which I suffered a dislocation in my hand and I’m not fully recovered yet. Yesterday we had the ‘shakedown’ and everything was in place, the bike’s running perfectly, so I hope that the race will go well. It is an important test because it will be good preparation for the Dakar. In the championship I am close to second place in the overall standings and although I would have preferred to come here without any problems, we will nevertheless do our best to finish ahead.” Kevin Benavides  ”I am very happy to be able to do a good season of training. I feel much better with the recovery of my hand, which is at almost 100%. I am excited to compete in another world championship event with Paulo. We have been able to test out the bike, and it’s working very well. The performance is superior and we are very excited about that. I am happy with the team and to be able to work with them. The complicated moments have passed and now there are three world championship dates where we will show the same passion and will as always. The Chilean desert is a great place, I often train here and I have to say it is very beautiful. It will be a tough yet interesting race, where we will have to pay special attention to the navigation and take care of ourselves physically. Also the terrain could be a factor because the recent rain will have left a few hazards. As I’ve already mentioned, I feel confident that I will have a good race.”  

While the desert is flourishing like never before, rain and cold weather are evident at the start of the third round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. The Atacama Rally takes place exclusively in the desert of the same name, recognised as the driest desert in the world. Here, in Chile, climate change has seen temperatures in Copiapò no more than 13°C during the day’s administration and scrutineering checks….when the sun is shining. That said, these strange weather conditions have not stopped the riders from going to test in the immense Copiapò dunes. Pela Renet (Husqvarna) and Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) returned with a smile. “It is always a pleasure to do a tour of the desert on the motorcycle,” commented the Frenchman. “And, despite the wet sand, there was grip, which bodes well for tomorrow.” The best riders in the world are reunited for this third round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, but we also note with sadness the absence of two great champions who should have been present: Toby Price (KTM), whose fractured femur on the Dakar was complicated, and Antoine Meo (KTM), who injured his knee last week. So Sam Sunderland, Matthias Walkner and Laia Sanz will defend KTM colours, while, at Honda, we find the oldest but no less talented of the riders, Paulo Gonçalvez, and the Argentinean Kevin Benavides. We also welcome Yamaha France, which, for the first time, has registered its three rookies Xavier de Soultrait, Adrien Van Beveren and the Argentinean Franco Caimi.  Two British riders who reside in Dubai, David McBride and Dave Mabbs, have also made the trip to the Atacama Desert. Quads In quads, no less than eight riders are registered and seven in the FIM category, including Rafal Sonik, Ignacio Casale – who is preparing for the Dakar with Yamaha – Rodolfo Guillioli, Kees Koolen and Alexis Hernandez…Tomorrow, after the press conference and the riders’ briefing, the Prologue of 14km takes place at 15.00hrs in the Copiapò dunes, 20km from the service park situated in the parking area at the Antay Hotel. On Monday, there is a long 226km loop solely in the dunes and sand that the competitors will tackle before leaving the mining town and heading north….  

The Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Racing Team have travelled to Chile in South America to battle for victory at the third round of the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship. Series leader, Sam Sunderland will be heading the charge, along with team-mate Matthias Walkner. Top female Dakar rider Laia Sanz is also back, competing aboard her KTM 450 RALLY. Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland hasn’t put a foot wrong this season. Following on from his winning result at the 2017 Dakar Rally, wins in Abu Dhabi and Qatar have cemented his position at the top of the world rankings. The British rider currently leads the championship by 21 points. Sunderland is looking to carry his impressive form into the Atacama Rally. Fully rested after the summer break, he is confident of a good result. Sunderland: “I’m feeling strong and fit so I’m looking forward to having a good race here in Chile. My bike is working really well and I’m hoping to continue my good form from the start of the season. It’s a perfect event to prepare for the Dakar – the team has worked really hard to get here and it’s always good to race in South America, in order to get used to the terrain. “There is going to be some tough competition from the other teams and the local riders. It’s five very hard days riding,  but I’m up for the fight.” Sunderland’s teammate Matthias Walkner is also looking to do well at the Atacama Rally. Walkner lies fourth in the championship, just one-point behind second placed Pablo Quintanilla. Walkner, who finished the 2017 Dakar as runner-up to Sunderland, is focused on climbing up the world championship rankings and has his sights set on a good result in Chile. Walkner: “It’s cool to be back in race mode after the summer break. Preparation has been pretty good over the last few months, but I am ready now to get racing again. I really enjoy riding in South America, I love the different terrain we ride here. Hopefully, the road book will be ok and we’ll have a good event. There are a lot of other good riders here, and Sam is very motivated, but I’m going to be going for the podium.” KTM Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz is also fired up for the Atacama Rally. After spending the first half of the year riding enduro, the Spaniard is now starting her preparation for the Dakar in January. Jumping aboard her KTM 450 RALLY just one week ago, the world’s best female Dakar rider will use the Atacama Rally to reacquaint herself with rally riding. Sanz: “It’s nice to be back on the rally bike and it’s always nice to ride here in Chile. This is my first rally race this year since Dakar, so the bike still feels a little unfamiliar. My goal here is to put in some distance on the bike, practice navigation and try to get my rhythm back. It’s never easy after such a long break, but I will ride my best.” The Atacama Rally is a predominantly desert based rally held in the north of the Chile, starting in the dunes of the Atacama region. A 14km Prologue kicks off the event on Sunday 13th August before the main event starts on Monday with the first of five full days covering 1900km, over 1400 of which are special stages.  

From 10 to 13 August, Hungary is organising the third round of the 2017 FIM Cross Country Rallies Bajas World Cup in Veszprém, a magnificent little historic town full of old world charm. Built on five hills, it has a hundred listed Baroque buildings, and its narrow streets, bridges and historical mills make it a popular centre for culture and tourism. Just 17 km from Lake Balaton, Veszprém is the largest town in the Bakony Forest. For four days, Veszprém will be the centre of the HunGarian Baja with the administrative and technical verifications taking place on Thursday followed by a press conference in the Town Hall and a starting ceremony in Óváros Square in the heart of the old town. On Friday afternoon, a 11.4 km Super Special will be organised to determine the starting order for the first selective section. The course includes some spectacular jumps that the riders – and the public – will certainly give the respect they are due. The assistance paddock is located at an airport, Szentkirályszabadja, and the organisers have gone to great pains to create a convivial atmosphere. On Saturday, the riders will strike out for two 136.60 km loops and on Sunday they will cover two loops over 103.20 km. Altogether, 54 riders will take part in this HunGarian Baja: 6 motorcycles and 7 quads in the FIM categories, 6 motorcycles and 5 quads in the European Bajas Championship and 30 riders in Enduro XL.  
Among the FIM motorcycle riders are Alessandro Ruoso (KTM), Stefan Svitko (KTM) and Adrien Maré (KTM) while Arnaldo Martins (Suzuki), Pawel Samek (Suzuki) and Jaroslaw Kalinowski will be defending their colours in quad.

Zo’n 95.000 bezoekers kwamen afgelopen weekend naar het TT Circuit in Assen om te genieten van de races en het overige spektakel tijdens het grootste auto-, motor- en kartraces-evenement van Europa.Foto’s: Peter Notenboom Fotografie Grootste publiekstrekker was ongetwijfeld de komst van het Renault Formula One Team. De aanwezigheid van Formule 1 coureur Nico Hülkenberg op zondag zorgde voor veel enthousiaste reacties. Voor de motorsportliefhebbers was de aanwezigheid van WK Superbike coureur Michael van der Mark ongetwijfeld een belangrijke reden om naar Assen af te reizen. De Rotterdammer won onlangs voor de tweede keer in successie de prestigieuze 8 Uren van Suzuka. Uitgebreid raceprogramma Naast de demonstraties was ook het raceprogramma dit jaar weer uitstekend verzorgd. Zo werden er drie Yamaha motorraces verreden, de YZF-R125 Cup, de Yamaha YZF-R3 Cup en de Yamaha YZF-R6-Dunlop-Cup. Yamaha is sinds 2012 officieel motorpartner van de GAMMA Racing Day en is naast de komst van wereldtopper Van der Mark tevens verantwoordelijk voor een primeur in de wereld van het motorracen. Nooit eerder werden er op één dag drie op elkaar aansluitende en vergelijkbare wegraceklassen van één merk verreden. Dakarbivak Ook buiten de baan was er een uitgebreid en aantrekkelijk programma samengesteld. Zo was op het binnenterrein een heus ‘Dakar bivak’ ingericht met het Team Petronas De Rooy IVECO, Mammoet Rallysport, Van Velsen Rallysport, het Rainbow Truckteam, het Rally Team van “de Groot Fresh Group en het Maxxis Dakar Team van de broers Coronel. Motorrijders Maikel Verkade, Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Mirjam Pol en Dakar 2018 debutant Paul Spierings waren ook van de partij. In een ‘Dakarparade’ werd er een rondje op het circuit gereden. Erik van Loon kwam nog in actie met zijn spectaculaire Ferrari F1 auto. 

  Qatar’s defending FIA World Cup champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Poland’s talented young driver Aron Domzala will represent Overdrive Racing in this weekend’s Veszprém-based Hungarian Baja, round eight of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. Al-Attiyah arrives in Central Europe with a commanding lead in this year’s championship after claiming victories in Dubai, Qatar, Kazakhstan and Spain with his French co-driver Matthieu Baumel and Overdrive’s all-conquering V8-engined Toyota Hilux. The Qatari has won the Hungarian Baja on three occasions (2008, 2014 and 2015) and gave Overdrive Racing its first and only victory in 2014. But Toyotas prepared by the Belgian team have graced the podium in three of the last four seasons: Venezuela’s Nunzio Coffaro finished third in 2013 and Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke was runner-up in 2015. Poland’s Aron Domzala lost ground on his fellow FIA World Cup title contenders after incurring a time penalty following a tyre fire in Spain and the Pole and navigator Maciej Marton finished out of the points in 12th position. But Domzala is keen to hit back on the Hungarian round of the series and still has his eye on a top three championship finish. Overdrive Racing’s CEO Jean-Marc Fortin said: “This is another important Baa round of the FIA World Cup in Europe and one that is important to both Nasser and Aron for different reasons. Victory for Nasser would put him into a very strong position to regain his FIA World Cup title and Aron is keen to bounce back with a podium finish.” The event is being staged by the Garzone Racing Organisation Pronotion Limited in conjunction with the FIA and the National Automobilsport Federation of Hungary (MNASZ).  After technical scrutineering and administration on Thursday, the event gets underway with a ceremonial start in Óváros Square in Veszprém on Friday evening after crews have tackled a shakedown stage earlier in the day and a short 11.41km super special stage from 6pm. The second leg on Saturday (August 12) consists of two selective sections of 136.6km apiece, starting at 08.30hrs and 13.20hrs respectively. Two further timed stages of 103.2km take place on Sunday from 08.10hrs and 12.10hrs to bring the competitive action to a conclusion. The event will be centred around the nearby BudaWest airport.

Since his switch from bikes to four wheels before the Dakar 2016, Jakub Przygonski scored his first victory. Together with navigator Tom Colsoul he won the 24th edition of the Italian Baja riding a Mini All4 Racing.  Acciona Dakar After the Acciona Dakar Team wrote history by finishing the Dakar for the first time in a 100% emission free vehicle, again a great achievement was scored by finishing 11th in the Italian Baja. With the experienced Andrea Mayer behind the wheel and Emma Clair as navigator. After the Dakar the team continued working on improvements to the car, and has shown good results are possible with climate neutral vehicles. Final result  Baja Italia  2017: 1. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Colsoul (BEL) MINI ALL4 Racing – 5h 41m 21s 2. M. Zapletal (CZE) / M. Sykora (SLO) Ford – 5h 57m 33s  3. M. Abu Issa (QAT) / X. Panseri (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 6h 12m 44s

Organisator NPO heeft bekend gemaakt dat de tiende editie van de Oilibya Rally van start zal gaan in Koningsstad Fes. De finish is in Erfoud, op 10 oktober.  De deelnemers wacht een warm welkom in Fes. Een historische stad waar een groot sportcomplex plek zal bieden aan de technische keuringen en alle servicevoertuigen. Niet ver van Fes gaat de rally van start met een korte ‘Superstage’, waarna de rally zuidwaarts koerst richting Erfoud.  Honda Monster Energy Team Veel grote teams doen mee in Marokko. Het fabrieksteam van Honda met rijders Paulo Goncalves, Ricky Brabec en Kevin Benavides heeft al bevestigd erbij te zijn. e Oilibya Rally is de laatste race in het Cross-Country Wereldkampioenschap, en een belangrijke laatste test in aanloop naar de Dakar van 2018.  Beleef de Oilibya Rally van dichtbij!  GPT Rally is natuurlijk uw partner als het gaat om het boeken van hotels en vluchten. Maar er zijn ook VIP pakketten verkrijgbaar, waarbij sponsoren en relaties de rally op een unieke manier van dichtbij mee kunnen maken! Meer weten? Informeer bij GPT Rally naar de mogelijkheden.

KM TOT 249,00 – PS1 70,73 – PS2 68,09 First half of the Marathon stage leads the competitors to the bivouac set up in a sacred place. Mena Valdearcos wins in the category of bikes, Souday in control of quads, De Seynes/Liparoti crew commands the SSVs Total distance: 249,00km.  – PS1 70,73 – PS2 68,09 The first part of the Marathon stage brought the competitors in the magical Sa Itria, where the rally caravan has literally fallen into the time machine. The bivouac was set up in the area of the famous Sa Itria Sanctuary, where a church dedicated to the Virgin of Itria and mysterious megalithic ruins demonstrate that the region was inhabited since very distant times. For the night this place will serve as sanctuary for riders and drivers … without assistance. Under the patronage of Menhir, so-called “Perda de sa Itria”, the competitors will spend a well-deserved chill-out evening. Bikes, quads and SSVs will rest in a crowded parc-fermé. The third day of the rally is in fact the midway point of the first Marathon stage. At the end of the 249 km long stage between Arborea and Sa Itria the competitors were sent to a separate bivouac and left without support from their teams until they will be reunited at the end of the stage 4. As one of the fundamental parts of rally-raid, the Marathon stage lasts for two consecutive days. As the first and the second one, also the third stage was cut by 2 special stages of 70,73 and 68,09 km respectively. The track manager Dario Del Vecchio explains:_”Since the Italian TT Rally-Raid Championship is joining the rally today, I thought to spice up the competition. The first special is very fast as it uses the WRC and tyre-testing tracks in Monte Grighine. The second special is more navigated, very technical, trickier, and finishes with a steep down-hill. The first part of the stage will be ideal playground for the SSVs, while the second part will be extremely challenging for all 4-wheels vehicles. Another interesting point of the first part of the Marathon is the altitude – the race scales from 0 to 1400 m of altitude to finish then at around 800 metres.” Mena Valdearcos, Souday, De Seynes – heroes of the day In the battle of bikes Oriol Mena Valdearcos won the first part of the Marathon stage, while Jacopo Cerutti, winner of both special stages, hurt his hand after the second special and got reached by the helicopter. The medical team sewed his hand right at the spot and afterwards the 28-years-old returned to the bivouac by himself. Arrived late at the finish line, Cerutti got 38 minutes of penalty, slipping eventually to the 5th place overall. Alessandro Botturi, who finished the stage in second, became the new leader of the overall classification and is currently leading also the Italian Raid TT, in front of Maurizio Gerini and Mirko Pavan. Maurizio Gerini finished the stage in third place. We can also call it bad luck, but Andrea Mancini , unofficial leader of the second special stage, made a mistake in the very last last piece of his extremely fast stage and was penalized, finishing the day in fourth. Reaching the finish-line Andrea said: “I am quite happy with my today’s performance, but also angry with myself for the mistake I made in the last part of the second special stage. That’s where I lost the today’s stage.” There have been no changes in the category of quads – Sebastien Souday won the stage and still tops the overall classification, while the second and the third place are still occupied by Rafal Sonik and Kamil Wisniewski. In was a great and very fun day for the pioneers of the SSV category, with the French crew De Seynes/Liparoti dominating the stage and the overall classification, still followed by fearless Italian crew Ercolani/Politino. And now, an unusually hot day in Sardinian wilderness is about to turn into a magical evening with a great Sardinian feast to celebrate the race, racing spirit, friendship and life. _”Besides being a great sport event, this is also a great opportunity for the promotion of Sardinia. As non-competitor I can’t say much about the race itself, but the riders told me that the terrain here is unique, when compared to other races around the world. Even if this year we don’t have the biggest names competing, I am thrilled to see these young guys battling for seconds.”_ commented the Race Director Tullio Casti. “Once you pass the Sardegna rally school, you fear nothing more,” added Camelia Liparoti.  STAGE 3 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS 1. Oriol Mena (SPA) Honda 2h34.17.742. Alessandro Botturi (ITA) Yamaha 2h34.36.153. Maurizio Gerini (ITA) Husqvarna 2h36.11.144. Andrea Mancini (ITA) Beta 2h36.21.525. Mirko Pavan (ITA) 2h38.16.796. Cristian Espana Munoz (SPA) KTM 2h38.44.807. Luigi Martelozzo (ITA) Husqvarna 2h42.58.818. Omar Chiatti (ITA) Yamaha 2h44.13.739. Fausto Vignola (ITA) Husqvarna 2h46.17.4210. Alessandro Cavicchi (ITA) Husqvarna 2h49.23.98

Cerutti still in control of bikes, De Souday fastest in quads, De Seynes/Liparoti leading the SSV category. Stage 2: High tension loop Arborea – Arborea Total distance 212,0Km  PS1 74,23 – PS2 55,84 On the second day of racing in the wilderness of stunning Sardinia some of the steepest up-hills and down-hills of the planet Enduro challenged the 44 fearless competitors from 8 nations. In the loop stage starting and finishing in Arborea the riders had to engage all their skill and experience to the maximum as the pace and surface changed constantly. Today’s stage was actually much shorter compared to the first one, but shorter doesn’t mean always easier. “However, the shorter stage means that you will can actually jump into the pool after a very dusty stage,” said Antonello Chiara , one of the rally organizers, at yesterday’s briefing. “I am not scared to admit that initially I felt a bit disappointed by the fact that many factory teams didn’t join us this year. Yesterday I changed my mind. I witnessed to the tough fight between the competitors and evidently this year Sardegna Rally Race attracted many enduro and rally-raid stars of the future. I am truly amazed by performances of Oriol Mena, Jacopo Cerutti, Maurizio Gerini, Andrea Mancini, Mirko Pavan … I wish I could list them all! I am also truly happy that we managed to introduce the the Side by Side category this year. I’ve been always thinking that Sardegna is a perfect place to do that.” added Antonello Chiara Stage 2: facts and quotes A total of 212 km was cut by two special stages (of 74,23 and 55,84 km respectively) for riders and quad riders, while the SSVs only faced the first speed test of the day. The stage was caracterized by pure blood enduro racing, steep up-hills, tricky down-hills, flying rocks and a healthy dose of navigation. In the category of bikes Jacopo Cerutti extended his overall lead by 4 minutes. A 28-year old rider dominated also in the first special and, at this point of the race, confidently tops the classification. “The stage was quite tough, high temperatures and heat, but fortunately all went well, even if I made a minor mistake at the end of the second stage,” said the happy winner. The second-placed rider of the first leg Oriol Mena Valdearcos did a minor navigational error and slipped down the slope, but still managed to finish in fourth. Alessando Botturi , winner of the Sardegna Rally race 2014, won the second special stage, helped Oriol Mena out of troubles and ended the day in second. The third man of the day is Andrea Mancini , finishing the stage in third place, while for the 3rd of the first leg, Maurizio Gerini, is out of competition due to a mechanical failure. It was quite a day for Sebastien Souday , the fastest of the quads, followed by Rafal Sonik and Kamil Wisniewski. Reaching the finish line after a very demanding stage, Rafal Sonik commented: “The first special stage today was pretty pleasant, because the UTVs were going together with us, so we knew that the track would be a little wider, at least enough for the quad. For the second special stage I knew instantly that it would be very tough, very tricky and very narrow, as the UTVs didn’t go. It’s very challenging race but that’s Sardinia Rally Race!” The French team De Seynes/Liparoti took over command of the SSV category, as Enrico Ercolani and Paolo Politino , after some adventures with the first two wheels and a flat tyre, stands in second place. OVERALL STAGE 2 (unofficial)  1. Jacopo Cerutti (ITA) Husqvarna 2h35.55.50 4. Alessandro Botturi (ITA) Yamaha 2h37.37.85 5. Andrea Mancini (ITA) Beta 2h42.11.27 2. Oriol Mena (SPA) Honda 2h45.32.68 9. Cristian Espana Munoz (SPA) KTM 2h47.11.37 6. Omar Chiatti (ITA) Yamaha 2h49.02.36 7. Mirko Pavan (ITA) 2h49.56.58 8. Luigi Martelozzo (ITA) Husqvarna 2h51.01.60 9. Txomin Arana (SPA) Yamaha 2h51.37.55 10. Fausto Vignola (ITA) Husqvarna 2h52.04.72

It’s the final countdown – the breathtaking island is hosting the 10th edition of the legendary Goldentyre Sardegna Rally Race as the Grande Baia Resort & Spa has just turned into the race headquarters with a paddock early this morning. Action in the six day event will get underway with the Prologue in Beruillas on Saturday, June 10, at 5 pm. This year’s edition is even a bit glamorous, as the rally celebrates its tenth birthday. Tough and challenging as always, the Sardegna Rally Race is also one of the most enjoyable rallies. “When I was travelling around the globe – sometimes also to race – I realized something important: there was no place like Sardegna in the whole world! Competing in a rally is the best way to see the hidden aspects of any place, so imagine to find them in Sardegna, where the nature is really incredible. If you ride on the top of Gennargentu, you will see the sea from every side. Amazing! I still remember how I felt when I got there for the first time in my life – my thoughts were primitive, I felt part of the mother Nature,” said Antonello Chiara, one of the rally organizers together with Gianrenzo Bazzu. Among the stars on show will be Alessandro Botturi, 5-times Dakar contestant and multiple Italian Enduro and TT champion, Jacopo Cerutti, two-times Rally Dakar contestant and a rising star of Italian Rally and Enduro racing, Maurizio Gerini and Mirko Pavan, just to mention a few. The foreign line-up is formed by a reining world champion Rafal Sonik in quad category, his fellow countryman Kamil Wisniewski, French quad rider Sebastien Souday, Japanese rider Sukenobu Tetsunori and last but not least there are also strong Spaniards Oriol Mena and Txomin Arana. A special challenge will face the six SSVs on the entry list (Side by Side Vehicles), with lady rider Camelia Liparotti on board of a Yamaha YXZ 1000R, this time as navigator to Eric De Seynes, head of Yamaha Motor Europe. On Sunday, June 11, the first of the five legs will take the competitors on a 1300 km long adventure towards Arborea.

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel emerged unscathed from Friday’s 147.94km sixth stage of Rally Kazakhstan to secure overall victory by the margin of 7min 43sec and the outright lead in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. After moving into the lead on day two of the 2,500km event across south-west Kazakhstan, the Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux duo were never able to rest on their laurels on demanding special stages laid on across the Central Asian country’s Mangystau oblast. The quickest time on the final stage was sufficient for Al-Attiyah to seal his third win of the season after victories in Dubai and Qatar. Al-Attiyah said: “A great result for us. We played it smart from the very start. We pushed when we had to and had the right strategy. It was a really enjoyable rally, fantastic, and I am sure many more drivers will come in the future. Thanks to my team, Overdrive, and it was nice to win the last stage. Now we lead the championship and try to keep on like this.” Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and Belgian co-driver Tom Colsoul delivered a second successive runner-up position on a long-distance round of the FIA World Cup and pressurised Al-Attiyah hard throughout the six days. They led after day one and never gave the Qatari the opportunity to ease his pace. Przygonski climbs to third in the championship standings. “The last stage was not easy,” said Przygonski. “There was a lot of water in the last part and it was hard to go fast but we are happy. We were pushing from the beginning to the end and it was a nice fight with Nasser. We enjoyed the race and the terrain in Kazakhstan. It has everything that is necessary in cross-country.” Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German navigator Timo Gottschalk won three of the event’s six selective sections but an accident and broken suspension on day one put paid to the Saudi challenging for the overall victory. He delivered an impressive performance in the new Mini John Cooper Works Rally nonetheless and reached Aktau in 11th overall. “We enjoyed the rally a lot after the problems on the first day,” said Al-Rajhi. “We have a few races coming and I look forward to those. I had a puncture this morning 10km after the start. It was a small stage and you cannot win when something like this happens. I did not want to take any risks on the last stage.” Aron Domzala and new co-driver Maciej Marton enjoyed a successful first appearance in Kazakhstan and managed to bring the second of the Overdrive Toyotas to the finish in third to round off the podium places. The Pole threatened Przygonski’s hold on second overall for a couple of days before losing 10 minutes on the penultimate leg. Last year, Yuriy Sazonov was crowned as the winner of the Kazakhstan candidate event for inclusion in the FIA calendar and fourth position was the best he could realistically have hoped to achieve against the professional teams in his Hummer H3 with fellow Kazakh co-driver Vitalyi Yevtyekhov. Fellow Yerden Shagirov and his Ukrainian co-driver Dmitro Tsyro shrugged off penalties that were later removed from their overall time and reached the finish in Aktau in fifth position in their Toyota Hilux, despite stopping several times in the closing kilometres after rolling their Toyota. The Lithuanian duo of Antanas Juknevicius and Darius Vaiciulis were sixth overall in a similar car and nearly gained a place with Shagirov’s last stage drama. Both cars were built by Overdrive Racing. Seventh-placed Yasir Saeidan of Saudi Arabia teamed up with Russian navigator Alexey Kuzmich at the 11th hour and the decision was a good one. The Toyota Land Cruiser driver dominated the T2 category from start-to-finish to extend his lead in the FIA T2 standings after five rounds. Qatar’s defending FIA T2 champion Adel Abdulla was his closest rival in eighth overall, but the Nissan Patrol driver lost chunks of time with wiring loom issues early in the race and further time losses in the sand dunes hampered his progress. The Doha driver reached Aktau 3hrs 17min 14sec behind Saeidan in the overall classification with French co-driver Sébastien Delaunay. The experienced Czech Miroslav Zapletal and his Slovenian navigator Marek Sykora recovered well from fourth stage suspension issues south of Zhanaozen to finish ninth overall in his Ford F-150, although they were the first of several crews to claim at least 100 hours of time penalties. Turbo charger issues forced the Russian duo of Viktor Khoroshavtsev and Anton Nikolaev to take 100 hours of time penalties on day two, but the BMW X3 CC crew recovered well over the closing days to round off the top 10. Al-Rajhi was 11th, Kirill Chernenkov 12th, T3 winner Claude Fournier reached Aktau in 13th in his Polaris RXR 1000 and Dmitry Pitulov was 14th. Mohammed Abu Issa capped a thoroughly miserable week – where a multitude of problems had cost him time – by rolling his Mini All4 Racing gently on the last stage, although the Qatari and navigator Xavier Panseri did reach the finish in 15th position. AMFK President Marat Abykayev took part in the event with his son Nursultan but crashed his Toyota Land Cruiser heavily out of the final stage. The final selective started 35.45km north of Aktau and included parts of the opening stage. The timed action ran for 147.94km and included repeat runs over the scenic tracks along the shores of the Caspian Sea run in the opposite direction. After the torrential rain that had battered the area on Wednesday night, rally officials sent a recce crew to drive through the stage again on Thursday. With Thierry Magnaldi already en route to Europe, navigator Gilles Picard teamed up with route co-ordinator Sergey Talantsev. “We drove the first few kilometres and then headed to the passage control and carried on,” said Picard. “There was some mud and some standing water but nothing to cause too much concern.” The next round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies will be the Italian Baja on June 15/18.

Officials at the Automotorsport Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan have announced a quality field of 25 of the world’s leading drivers for the Central Asian country’s inaugural round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies on May 20-27. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, the two-time winner of the Dakar Rally and the defending FIA World Cup champion, heads a field that includes eight FIA Priority drivers and competitors from 15 nations. Rally officials are also arranging a National Rally running behind the main international event. Al-Attiyah and his French navigator Matthieu Baumel are in excellent form after winning last weekend’s FIA special stage round of the Middle East rally series in Jordan and face strong competition from a fleet of Mini All4 Racings in the deserts of western Kazakhstan. Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi pushed the Qatari on a couple of stages at the recent Qatar Cross-Country Rally and he joins Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and Qatar’s Mohammed Abu Issa in a trio of German-built X–raid Mini All4 Racings. Other leading non-Toyota or Mini drivers include the experienced Czech Miroslav Zapletal in his Hummer H3 Evo VII and the Mobilex Racing Team’s Yuriy Sazonov in his own Hummer H3. All the regular FIA T2 Championship contenders will make the journey to Central Asia to continue a contest in the category for series production cross-country vehicles that has seen Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Seaidan take a commanding championship lead after four rounds. The Toyota Land Cruiser driver faces the likes of defending champion, Adel Abdulla, the UAE’s Mansour Al-Helai and Saudi team-mate Ahmed Al-Malki. Several local drivers add weight to the category, including Marat Abykayev, President of the Automotorsport Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Kirill Chernenkov. The T3 contest will be fought out between the French duo of Claude Fournier and Patrice Garrouste in a pair of Polaris RR 1000s. “We are delighted that our inaugural round of the FIA World Cup has attracted the leading competitors in each of the T1 and T2 categories and we can expect some fascinating competition over the six competitive days of the event,” said Marat Abykayev. “I am sure that teams attending the rally for the first time will enjoy the challenge of our beautiful terrain and our stages and this event will be the start of Kazakhstan’s regular slot in the cross-country rallying calendar.” Rally Kazakhstan starts and finishes in the main square in Aktau City, although it will be based at the Kenderly Sea Resort, around 220km from Aktau, for three nights after the second selective section on May 22.

Nederland is een splinternieuw festival rijker. Motorliefhebbers reizen zaterdag 26 augustus af naar het festivalterrein op Vliegveld Twenthe om elkaar te ontmoeten op het eerste Dutch Motorcycle Festival. Een festival voor de echte motorrijders die weten wat liefde voor de motor betekent. De organisatie is in handen van de makers van MOTORbeurs Utrecht, de grootste motorbeurs van Nederland. “Het festival draait om liefde voor de motor, waar oude vrienden elkaar ontmoeten en nieuwe vrienden worden gemaakt”, aldus organisator Malou Peters van Jaarbeurs. “Het wordt vooral een heel gezellig festival met eindeloos motoren kijken, gave shows, testritten en rijlessen, goede muziek en lekker eten. Zowel voor de doorgewinterde motorrijders, de beginnende rijders en zelfs mensen die nog niet in het bezit zijn van een motorrijbewijs, maar ‘m stiekem wél zouden willen hebben. En natuurlijk denken we ook aan de jongste motormuizen die er alleen nog maar over kunnen dromen.“ Op dit moment wordt hard gewerkt aan de programmering onder het motto van ‘Niets moet, alles mag’. De bezoekers krijgen een hoge mate van inspraak in het programma. Via social media kunnen zij laten weten wat zij op het Dutch Motorcycle Festival willen zien, horen, beleven en ervaren. Malou Peters: “De 1,2 kilometer lange start- en landingsbaan van het voormalige militaire vliegveld biedt een geweldig decor om er een prachtig festival van te maken.” Details over Dutch Motorcycle Festival Wat: Dutch Motorcycle Festival, van de makers van MOTORbeurs Utrecht Wanneer: 26 augustus 2017 Waar: Vliegveld Twenthe in Enschede Tickets:Voorverkoopprijs: €16,50 Kassaprijs: € 18,50 Kinderticket, 6 t/m 13 jaar: € 5,- Kinderen t/m 5 jaar: gratis

Op 13 mei komt wedstrijdleider Alexander Kovatchev naar Ermelo om tekst en uitleg te geven over de komende edities van de Balkan Offroad Rallye en de Breslau Poland. In de werkplaats van 4×4 Centrum Ermelo geeft Kovatchev een inkijkje in het programma voor de komende rally’s die varen op internationale competitie en een uitstekende sfeer. Deelname is betaalbaar en erg toegankelijk. In totaal staat er in de wedstrijd acht dagen rijden op roadbook op het programma met een totaal van 2.500 wedstrijdkilometers. Ronald Schoolderman van 4×4 Centrum Ermelo is weer van de partij in de Balkan Offroad Rallye: “Ik nodig iedereen uit bij ons in de werkplaats voor een prachtige middag en avond rondom deze wedstrijden.” De beide rally’s staan open voor deelnemers uit alle klassen, van motoren tot trucks. Details over de presentatie: Aanvang: 13 mei 2017 vanaf 16.00 uur Locatie: 4×4 Centrum Ermelo, Harderwijkerweg 128a, Ermelo Aanmelden via: info@4x4centrumermelo.nl

Poland’s Jakub Przygonski, Dubai-based Briton Sam Sunderland and Peru’s Alexis Hernandez won the second competitive stage of the Qatar Cross-Country Rally and hold the outright leads in the car, motorcycle and quad categories. The stage of 334.08km ran between Rawdat Rashed and a finish close to the Sealine resort, south of Doha, in a fierce hot desert wind. Navigational issues were a factor for many crews and Abu Dhabi Racing’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi lost vital minutes before the second passage control. Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, on the other hand, suffered power steering and gearbox woes and was lucky to lose so little time. Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi took full advantage and looked to be heading for the stage win in his new Mini John Cooper Works Rally, but he was pipped at the post by Polish team-mate Jakub Przygonski. A delighted stage winner was upbeat after his achievement. “It was a nice stage for us and Tom (Colsoul) made good navigation. The stage was tough with a lot of off-piste and we did it and we are really happy. For us, we need to learn more and more to be fast in the future, so opening the road now is okay. This will be good training for us.” “It was a good start, but we had some problems with overheating of the car,” said Al-Rajhi. “We cut the engine and we lost time. We had one small mistake with the navigation, but second place is good for me and we have a good starting position for tomorrow.” Overdrive Racing’s Erik van Loon and Toyota GAZOO’s Leeroy Poulter ruined a potential X-raid Mini 1-2-3 with third and fourth places and demoted Qatar’s Mohammed Abu Issa (who lost time with a costly puncture) to fifth in the third Mini. Al-Attiyah and Al-Qassimi hold sixth and seventh places. After his crash in Abu Dhabi, the last thing Al-Attiyah needed was no power steering on his Toyota Hilux. “I was really worried because I still have a pain. The steering rack has completely stopped. It was really difficult to make 190km without power steering. And then the gearbox lever was broken. Matthieu (Baumel) try to change himself, but it took time and we were stuck in third gear to the finish. But I am surprise to lose so little time.” Al-Qassimi said: “My main problem was I lost a lot of time because I lost the track, maybe between four and five minutes in one place. At the end I had a slow puncture, but it was good on the sandy sections because I am used to this. The Peugeot is too big for the lines on the rocky stages. I am always outside the line on these stages.” Sunderland, riding for the Red Bull KTM Factory Team, used his favourable starting position and confidence he has gained from two massive wins already this season to steal the initiative. He caught the riders in front and now holds an outright lead of 9min 32.9sec over Monster Energy Honda Team’s Paulo Gonçalves, although Sunderland’s starting position for Thursday’s stage should enable his rivals to reduce that gap. Honda’s Kevin Benavides holds third, despite fuel pump issues on the road section after the stage, and Pablo Quintanilla of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Team is fourth. Overnight motorcycle leader Antoine Meo dropped around 26 minutes with navigational woes before PC1 on the day’s stage and slipped to seventh in the overall standings. Ride to Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi holds ninth place. Sunderland said: “Obviously it’s always hard to have the first day in Qatar and to adjust the brain to start to think about a lot of navigation, especially after Abu Dhabi, where it is all open GPS. I pushed all day and managed to pass all the guys. We are here and safe and the bike was awesome. It was heavy for the hands. They are pretty destroyed after all the stones. It was a tough day. We will have to see how we go with the strategy.” Second-placed Goncalves said, “I start the rally well. It was a really tough stage with difficult navigation and also some dangerous tracks. At the beginning I tried to keep my speed more or less safe but, after the refuelling, I start to go a little faster. I am happy to arrive with the second overall. The bike is okay. We have more than 1000kms still to go, so we don’t do any calculations. I take each day as it comes.” Peruvian Alexis Hernandez also misread early route instructions on his quad, but managed to refocus to set the quickest time in the quad category and extend his outright lead to 6min 12.1sec over Poland’s Rafal Sonik. Dutchman Kees Koolen is third. Argentina’s Lucas Innocente was badly delayed on the opening stage, failed to complete the route on Wednesday and incurred massive time penalties. Saudi Arabia’s Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi won the shorter non-FIM section on his Yamaha quad. On a stage that finished at PC2 for the national riders, Sultan Al-Masood was second. Qatar’s Adel Abdulla broke a front suspension arm on his way to the fastest T2 time in the opening stage, but the Nissan Patrol driver was in excellent form on the first desert section and he reached Losail with a lead of 50.6 seconds in the popular support championship for series production cross-country vehicles. Abu Dhabi Racing’s Mansour Al-Helai holds second and series leader Yasir Saeidan is third. Local Chevrolet Buggy driver Mohammed Al-Mannai won the day’s stage in the Qatar National Baja and leads the event by 7min 09.2sec from Mohammed Al-Meer. Saudi’s Ahmed Al-Shegawi is third. Wednesday – as it happened The real meat of the event began with a 334.08km section from Rawdat Rashed that wound its way around the west and south of Qatar to a finish near Sealine. Super special stage winner Antoine Meo opted to start from 15th with Walkner in 14th and Sunderland in 13th. It meant that the three factory KTM bikes were working together. The unenviable task of running first on the road fell to Saudi quad rider Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi. Mohammed Al-Balooshi was the first of the leading riders on two wheels in fifth. The top 15 ran at three-minute intervals, but South African quad rider Martin Beyers did not take the start after his somersault in the water splash on Tuesday and Qatar’s Ahmed Al-Kuwari was also sidelined. Czech Miroslav Zapletal was handed road opening duties in the cars with Leeroy Poulter and Yazeed Al-Rajhi following two and four minutes behind. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi slotted into fourth and overnight leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was 10th. An overnight road closure caused the stage start to the delayed for around an hour. Overnight quad leader Alexis Hernandez lost his way early on, as Sunderland used his starting position to his advantage to lead at PC1 from Quintanilla and Renet. Both Walkner dropped several minutes to his team-mate and Meo suffered his own navigational agony and dropped 26 minutes to Sunderland. Al-Attiyah edged into a small advantage over Al-Rajhi and Abu Issa in the cars. Thomas Bell was unable to start after technical issues on his Range Rover 5 Bowler and Yerden Shagirov, who had complained of gearbox issues on Tuesday, retired from the stage. Al-Rajhi whittled Al-Attiyah’s advantage down to just 39 seconds at the second checkpoint, but the Qatari lost 10 minutes to the next time control point with power steering issues and Al-Rajhi held on to claim the second fastest time in his latest specification Mini after being pipped to the win by Przygonski. Tomorrow (Thursday), the third stage of 353.02km starts close to the former bivouac at Sealine and runs south towards the Inland Sea before heading west and up the western coast of Qatar. Refuelling takes place at PC2, in Al-Galayel, and the stage finishes at Mekaines on the Salwa Road.

The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has announced the strongest ever entry received for Qatar’s fourth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, taking place on April 17-22. The entry lists were published on Monday evening and outline a truly quality field of 33 cars, 14 motorcycles and six quads, with competitors from a staggering 26 nations and many of the world’s leading stars taking part. Ten of the car entrants are Priority 1 drivers. Topping the impressive field of drivers in the car category is the defending FIA World Cup champion and two-time Dakar winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah. But the Qatari, who crashed out of a comfortable lead at last week’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, faces fierce competition from a fleet of four X-raid-built Minis, driven by Russian Vladimir Vasilyev, Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and Qatar’s Mohammed Abu Issa. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi, the comfortable leader of this year’s FIA World Cup – after becoming the first Emirati since 1992 to win the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – will make his first appearance at the event. His entry also marks the first time a factory-specification Peugeot has competed in Qatar. Adding spice to a truly quality field of drivers are the likes of the experienced Czech Miroslav Zapletal, fellow countryman Martin Prokop, former FIA World Cup leader Aron Domzala, South Africa’s Leeroy Poulter and Dutchman Erik van Loon. Qatar will also be represented by Adel Abdulla, Mohammed Al-Mannai, Mohammed Al-Harqan, Rashid Al-Muhannadi, Khalid Faraj Al-Mohannadi, Abdulla Al-Rabban, Jamal Fakhroo and Mohammed Al-Meer. Eight of the world’s leading off-road riders, who dominated last week’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, will also be present in Qatar. The Red Bull KTM Factory Team fields Dakar winner and FIM series leader Sam Sunderland, Austria’s Matthias Walkner and Frenchman Antoine Meo. Pablo Quintanilla and Pierre Alexandre Renet ride the two Rockstar Energy Husqvarnas and Paulo Gonçalves and Kevin Benavides are entered by the Monster Energy Honda team. Emirati Mohammed Al-Balooshi and local rider Ahmed Al-Kuwari represent the GCC region. Poland’s Rafal Sonik endured a disappointing ride in Abu Dhabi last week, but the Pole head a quad entry that includes Peru’s Alexis Hernandez Ponce, Guatamala’s Rodolfo Schippers and Argentina’s Lucas Innocente. “We are delighted that all the efforts of staff at the QMMF have been rewarded by such a quality international entry for this year’s Qatar Cross-Country Rally,” QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai. “We have strength in depth across all three categories and some of the world’s top stars in the sport will take part in the rally for the first time.” The QMMF is also running a National Baja behind the international event. After a drivers’ briefing and the pre-event press conference, competitors will tackle a new 5.54km super special stage in the Losail area next Tuesday (April 18). The purpose-built super special has been designed within the confines of the Losail motocross premises and offers free access to spectators. The first of four selective sections (334.08km) through the desert gets underway on April 19 and is followed by three further stages on April 20, April 21 and April 22. They will run for 353.02km, 337.76km and 343.32km, respectively. In a route of 1,994.17km, the QMMF has laid on 1,373.82km against the clock.

Gerard Seesing is niet zo van de feestjes. Liefst werkt hij gewoon. Maar het 40-jarig bestaan van Reiger Suspension is niet iets wat hij zomaar voorbij kan laten gaan. “Het is ook wel een mooi moment”, geeft hij toe. “Als je ziet waar we vandaan komen, is het best iets om trots op te zijn.” In een hoek van de kippenschuur van de ouders van Gerard Seesing begon het in 1977 – nogal een contrast met het huidige bedrijf in Hengelo. Seesing had zelf een crossmotor gebouwd van een allegaartje van onderdelen van de sloop, maar het ging voor geen meter. “Totdat ik mijn eigen schokdempers maakte”, vertelt Seesing. “En prompt Kees van de Ven voorbij reed. Ik had geen idee wie Kees van de Ven was, maar het viel wel op. Iedereen wilde weten waar ik die groene schokdempers vandaan had. De enige reden dat ze groen waren, was dat mijn vader in die tijd een groen Kadetje had en daarvoor een blik verf in die kleur had staan.” Crossmotor ingekort Niet veel later kocht Seesing een nieuwe crossmotor, een Suzuki. “Ik kwam er niet op vooruit. Toen ben ik gaan nadenken: wat zou ik moeten veranderen om er beter mee te kunnen rijden? Ik heb het ding doorgezaagd, vijf centimeter ingekort en ik heb de balhoofdhoek veranderd. Mijn vader was woest: ‘Denk jij dat je het beter weet dan die Japanners?’ Nou, de eerstvolgende vier wedstrijden won ik. Vervolgens heb ik heel veel Suzuki’s bewerkt en aangepast voor anderen. Tegenwoordig zijn ze nog een centimeter korter, dus zo verkeerd had ik het niet gezien.” Seesing doet alles op gevoel en op gezond verstand. Daarmee is Reiger groot geworden. “Mijn drijfveer is altijd geweest om dingen beter te maken. Dat doen we door te luisteren naar onze klanten en door te testen. Ik wil snappen wat een coureur voelt. Als ik dat snap, kan ik het beter maken. Van blije coureurs worden wij ook blij.” Colin McRae Seesing werkte niet met de minsten. Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen – om er maar een paar te noemen. “McRae dacht dat hij het beste van het beste had. Ik ben ernaast gaan zitten en heb ’s avonds een nieuwe set dempers voor hem gebouwd. De volgende dag hebben we die getest en ik vroeg: ‘Wat denk je ervan?’ Hij heeft nooit meer iets anders gebruikt. Gaandeweg hebben we het vertrouwen gewonnen van de grootsten in de sport, simpelweg door goed te luisteren en mee te denken. Zo zijn we groot geworden.” Toonaangevend merk Reiger is inmiddels hét toonaangevende merk in de offroad-auto- en motorsport. “En we groeien nog elk jaar met tien procent”, zegt Seesing. “Ook in andere takken. Zo leveren we dit jaar vijftig auto’s aan Defensie. Daar ben ik heel trots op, dat we ook uit die hoek het vertrouwen krijgen.” Aan de toekomst denkt Seesing niet te veel. Liever richt hij zich op het hier en nu, met de ontwikkeling van nieuwe diensten en producten, zoals stuurhuizen, hydro jacks en schokdempers voor vliegtuigen. “Je weet toch niet wat de toekomst brengt. De vragen en behoeften van de markt veranderen steeds en het is aan ons om nieuwe oplossingen te bedenken, dus we blijven gewoon doen waar we al veertig jaar goed in zijn.”      

De voormalig Dakar deelnemer, Ebert Dollevoet, wint vandaag de VHC Offroad Rally Havelte. Na twee dagen en vele kilometers kwam hij samen met zijn navigator Marcel Snijders als snelste over de finish. Het weer was vandaag stukken beter na de kou van zaterdag. Het zonnetje kwam er al vroeg door en dat gaf stoffige paden wat uitnodigde om er dwars doorheen te gaan. Seconde werk Ondanks dat de navigatie moeilijk was draaide het uit op directe gevechten en seconde werk. De top drie van vandaag reed bijna de gehele wedstrijd samen. Dollevoet, Jasper, Van Driel en Schoolderman vlogen over de zanderige paden in Havelte. Puzzelen Net als gisteren bleek de proef vandaag uitdagend. Het was puzzelen voor de navigatoren om de juiste paden te vinden. Toch slaagden velen erin om de goede weg te vinden door het militair oefenterrein. Ook Gert-Jan van der Valk is de weg een keer serieus kwijt geweest, “Kwijt raken is een, maar terug vinden is moeilijker”. Voor Van der Valk was dit weekend zijn rally debuut. In korte tijd hebben zij een auto weten te bouwen in Tiel. En ook voor zijn navigator Branco den Lange is het nog leren in de auto en kreeg dit weekend een vuurdoop. De volgende stop van het NK Offroad Racing is de Baja Deutschland in de buurt van Leipzig. Daar zien we naar verachting de grote namen uit de Nederlandse wedstrijden terug, en hoogstwaarschijnlijk ook Gert-Jan van der Valk die opwerkt naar Dakar. Uitslag T1 Herman Jasper / Evert Blaauw Bas van Driel / Han van Goch Ronald Schoolderman / Marcel Blankestijn T2 Bert Heskes / Rogier Lindeman Hans Weder / Bob Tromp Christian Femont / Peter Janssens Special Ebert Dollevoet / Marcel Snijders Bernd Jager / Co de Wit Ton Stoker / Jan van de Elzen SBS Joost Hofmans / Mark van der Spank Marcel Huigevoort / Lisa Huigevoort Hans Aendekerk / Brecht Ceyssens     [widgetkit id=”168″]

Het is te zien aan het gedrag van de deelnemers, we zijn weer terug in Havelte. De wedstrijd die bekend staat om het ingewikkelde navigeerwerk en de vele sporen. Ook vandaag bewees Havelte zich weer als een zeer lastige wedstrijd. Nieuwe livery Het Eb-Rally Team verscheen dit weekend met de nieuwe livery. De rood, blauw, witte Toyota ORD werd twee weken terug nog in het camouflage wit door Ronald Schoolderman getest. Vandaag nam Eelco Bekker zelf plaats achter het stuur. “Het is even wennen” gaf Bekker aan, de verbeterde Toyota ORD heeft door alle aanpassingen meer vermogen. “Ook de nieuwe versnellingsbak is nog even wennen maar het voelt goed”. Terug van weggeweest is ook Arno Baauw, het is veel werk geweest voor het team om de Wildcat weer helemaal opnieuw op te bouwen. En net op tijd, want hij verscheen pas gister avond om 23:15 in het servicepark. Schade bij de toppers Niet bij iedereen ging het even goed. Na de eerste volledige klassementsproef zagen we Rick Aarts al niet meer terug. Zijn Bowler Wildcat bleek koppelingsproblemen te hebben waardoor het starten aan KP3 onmogelijk was. Bij terugkomst in het servicepark zagen we de oranje-wit bowler wel weer rollen. Wie nog meer rolde maar daar minder blij mee was is Dave Klaassen. De winnaar van de strandrace IJmuiden vergistte zich in een bocht en rolde. Dit zorgde voor aanzienlijk wat schade maar de kooi is geheel intact. En reserve ruiten, die heeft het team van DaklaPack Rallysport gelukkig bij zich. Lachende gezichten Het is een lastige rally in Havelte maar dat zorgt natuurlijk niet voor alleen maar problemen. Als je door het servicepark loopt zie je overal lachende gezichten. De teams genieten zichtbaar van de uitdaging in Drenthe, waaronder Herman Jaspers. Voor Jaspers is het een thuiswedstrijd en middels een korte “Het ging goed!” laat hij weten dat hij geniet. Uitslag VHC Offroad Rally Havelte – zaterdag T1 Herman Jasper Bas van Driel Ronald Schoolderman T2 Bert Heskens Hans Weder Herman Schaeks Special Ebert Dollevoet Bernd Jager Ronnie van Beek SBS Joost Hofmans Marcel Huigevoort Hans Aendekerk     [widgetkit id=”167″]