BRABEC STEPS UP ON STAGE 2 AND OVERALL2023-05-11 11:51Ricky Brabec was today the fastest rider from the Monster Energy Honda Team. The American was third on the second stage from the Sonora Rally, held today between Hermosillo and Puerto Peñasco. With this result he also steps up in the overall ranking, climbing to third place. The stage was supposed to have a total of 541 km – 286 on the chronograph and 255 of liaison but was shortened by the organization, who also postponed the start due to “unforeseen circumstances and to ensure maximum safety for competitors”. Brabec, who is a record holder from the Sonora Rally with four victories, has now a four minute (4:16) gap for the leader with three more days to go and a lot of tracks to ride. Pablo Quintanilla is 4th with a 4:56 minutes gap, Adrien Van Beveren 7th with a delay of 7:41 minutes and Nacho Cornejo 14th overall with a 18:34 minutes gap. The Sonora Rally left today the bivouac in downtown Hermosillo for the beach camp in Puerto Peñasco, where sandy tracks and the beaches of the Sea of Cortez awaited the competitors. For tomorrow, stage number 3 will consist of a circuit with start and arrival in Puerto Peñasco with a 350 km of special stage and a liaison of 116 km. The “menu” for the riders won’t be much different from today. Again there will be quite a variety of terrains, with gravel tracks, sand and chott. Low humidity and high temperatures – up to 35ºC – will continue to demand a lot from the rider’s physique. Ruben Faria General Manager ”Today we had the second stage of the Sonora Rally. It was a fast stage with some navigation and a lot of dangerous points. For this reason some riders crashed and are out of the race, that happend with Skyler Howes and Sam Sunderland. Monster Energy Honda Team riders did well and Ricky Brabec was third, followed by Pablo Quintanilla, Adrien Van Beveren and Nacho Cornejo. Adrien was going very fast but then he saw Skyler crash and was affected by that - because of the dangers that were not mentioned in the road book he decided to ride in a more calm rhythm to play safe. This is only the second stage and our riders are well placed for tomorrow. I know they will do their best and we have to think about the race on a day by day basis”. Ruben Faria Ricky Brabec 2 ”Day 2 started out good with many dangers and we rode as safely as possible but with speed to make some time up but we also lost time to the end. Navigated well but it was difficult to understand the time opening bonus. Sometimes almost not really a fair advantage but it is what it is. When I was already doing the liaison after the special section I heard some strange noises on the bike and now everything needs to be checked. Team is working hard and we will do what we can for the next few days.” Ricky Brabec Pablo Quintanilla 7 ”The second day of the Sonora Rally is over and the stage was shortened. The first part of the stage was fast with some broken sections and it was really tricky to see the danger. After this we were riding between the vegetation on fast pistes and sandy tracks. It was hard to keep a good navigation but in the end I finished in a good position, I didn't lose too much time. I am in a good position for tomorrow to catch some time overall since we will have some dunes and the longest stage of the rally.” Pablo Quintanilla Adrien Van Beveren 42 ”Today things did not turn out the way I wanted. I started riding fast in the piste and then I found Skyler and Sam Sunderland that crashed. There were a lot of dangerous points in the road book and some were not marked. The two riders that were in front of me crashed and for this reason I was not confident about the road book. So I decided to play safe and rode carefully until the end. In my opinion the road book was not good, but this is racing and we have to adapt.” Adrien Van Beveren José Ignacio Cornejo 11 ”Stage 2 is behind us and as usual I did my best. The track was a little bit dangerous in the beginning but then I decided to play safe and rode not as fast as I could. Even so I felt good most of the day and enjoyed the ride! It is not easy to go fast in this desert but I will keep fighting to push and climb in the overall standings”. José Ignacio Cornejo Rider Standings Provisional Standings on Stage 2 Sonora Rally Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap 1 Sanders Daniel 4 AUS Gas Gas Factory Team 01:28:08 Source: Honda Racing Corporation Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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