Yamaha In Contention For Top Honours After Stage One At Morocco Rally

2016-10-04 09:01
Finishing the first full day of competition at the OiLibya Morocco Rally without any difficulties, all four Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team riders find themselves inside the top 15 in the provisional standings. With the race now entering Morocco's desert dunes Alessandro Botturi, Hélder Rodrigues, Adrien Van Beveren and Rodney Faggotter remain in the fight for a good final result at this week-long adventure in the heart of the north African country.

Starting from the city of Agadir, the first stage at the OiLibya Morocco Rally saw riders follow a straight line towards the south and next to the Atlantic ocean. Faced with heavy winds and a lot of dust Yamaha Racing riders were assigned with the demanding task to open the tracks for the greatest part of both special stages.

Effectively battling his way through a day of tricky navigation Alessandro Botturi wrapped up the day with 7/8 results in the two special stages to place himself ninth in the rally's provisional overall standings. The Italian is closely followed in 11th by his teammate Hélder Rodrigues.

Less than 20 seconds behind in 12th sits Adrien Van Beveren, with Australian Rodney Faggotter 14th overall after stage one. Continuing his strong run at this year's Morocco Rally, WR450F mounted Frenchman Xavier de Soultrait is currently 10th in the overall standings.

Heading from the ocean to the dunes, stage two of the OiLibya Morocco Rally will be the longest in this year's event. With a total distance of 554 km tomorrow's stage two will see competitors race a special stage of 291 km.

Alessandro Botturi - Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Alessandro Botturi, Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team rider
9th Overall

"Everything is going according to plan so far. I started the day third and found myself behind Hélder right after the start of the second special stage. The greatest challenge for today was navigation. There were lots of tricky places where you could get easily lost and lose a bunch of time. The feeling on the new bike is perfect so far and I'm confident we can battle for a good final result at this rally. We still have four long days to go and we'll keep battling to get as closer as possible to the top."
Hélder Rodrigues - Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Hélder Rodrigues, Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team rider
11th Overall

"It was a difficult day with quite demanding navigation. I was the second to start the special stage behind Rodney. I passed him and pretty much opened the tracks for the rest of the day. My goal was to be fast without making any mistakes and that's exactly what I did. I raced two good special stages and I also secured for myself a good starting position for tomorrow. We all know it's going to be a long rally so there was no point pushing hard since day one. I feel great on the bike so my plan is to push even harder tomorrow to improve my position in the overall standings."
Adrien Van Beveren- Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Adrien Van Beveren, Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team rider
12th Overall

"I was a bit cautious after the start of the first special test today. There was lots of dust from riders in front and that made it a lot easier to make mistakes. I finished the first special stage without any problem and went on to push a bit more in the second and last special for the day. As the day went on I kept improving my pace and that's a very good thing for the rest of the rally. Tomorrow we are heading towards the desert dunes of Morocco and for me that's where the real race will start. My goal is to stay fast and avoid any navigational mistakes."
Rodney Faggotter - Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Rodney Faggotter, Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team rider
14th Overall

"It's been a learning day. I got to lead out right from the start, which made things a lot more interesting. My navigation was good and just before the end of the first special stage Hélder caught up with me and I let him pass. Right after the start of the second special Botturi passed me as well. Despite a small fall just before the end I crossed the line without any major problems. Overall, I'm learning a lot racing among the best riders in the world. As for tomorrow, I'm looking forward to being the cat and not the mousse in the game for the top."
OiLibya Morocco Rally 2016 - Provisional Classification After Stage 1

1. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 01:36:16
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 01:37:22, +01:06
3. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 01:37:50, +01:34
4. Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, 01:39:09, +02:53
5. Paulo Goncalves (POR), Honda, 01:39:34, +03:18
6. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 01:40:42, +04:26
…
9. Alessandro Botturi (ITA), Yamaha, 01:41:32, +05:16
10. Xavier de Soultrait (FRA), Yamaha, 01:42:11, +05:55
11. Hélder Rodrigues (POR), Yamaha, 01:42:42, +6:26
12. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 01:42:57, +06:41
14. Rodney Faggotter (AUS), Yamaha, 01:50:20, +14:04

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

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