Yesterday in Badajoz, Daniel Sanders deprived Tosha Schareina of a coveted home win by just 4 seconds, but the Spaniard got his own back today, edging out the Australian at the end of a lengthy duel. "Chucky" fought gallantly despite having to open the course but had to yield near the finish. Schareina secured his first win since stage 5 of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge by 3′18″ and rocketed into the overall lead. The two favourites are now 1′42″ apart in the race for the trophy. "Chucky", who had remained undefeated since the start of the bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal, was reminded that all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow, he will set out to take back control from the new leader, who will be leading the charge on the road to Lisbon.
There was more to the stage than the clash between Schareina and Sanders, though, as Luciano Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda HRC) also delivered solid performances and only faltered towards the end, conceding 3′19″ and 3′46″ to the winner. The Argentinian and the American are locked in a vicious duel for the bottom step of the overall podium: Benavides (+9′22″) overtook Brabec (+9′32″), but they are just 10 seconds apart. Much like last year, it looks like the Iberian rally will go down to the wire!
RALLY2: CANET UNSHAKEABLE ON HOME TURF
After storming to victory in Badajoz yesterday, Edgar Canet had his work cut out for him to repeat his exploit, faced with the dogged determination of Bruno Santos (BS Frutas Patrícia Pilar). The Portuguese rider seemed to have prevailed by a second, but he received a penalty for speeding and the win passed on to the Spaniard. Michael Docherty (Bas World KTM) rounded out the podium at 2′20″. The top 3 in the stage reflects the overall, where Canet extended his lead to 5′57″ over Santos and 7′42″ over Docherty on the eve of the return to Portugal.
RALLY3: FOUR OF A KIND FOR ZOLDOS
Much like Edgar Canet in Rally2, Thomas Zoldos bagged his fourth consecutive win in the class for enduro motorbikes tuned for rally raids. The Frenchman made short work of Salvador Amaral (Wingmotor) and Carlo Cabini (RS Moto). He now commands an overall lead of more than an hour over the new runner-up, Cabini, and the Finn Ralf Molander (Desert Fox Rally Project).
QUADS: KANOPKINAS RISES AGAIN
Antanas Kanopkinas won the prologue, only to be pummelled by his teammate Gaëtan Martinez in the following days, so he was looking for payback. Mission accomplished for the Lithuanian, whose main sparring partner today was Marek Łój of the Poland National Team, 4′59″ back. Martinez struggled in the special, dropping 18′56″ to the benchmark time. The Frenchman still clings to the overall lead, but Kanopkinas has cut the gap to 21′38″. Senegal's Alexis Varagne, flying the colours of Drag'On Distribution, continues to round out the podium just over an hour back.
4:30 pm: final press conference
7 pm: prize-giving
Portugal: UTC+01:00 / Spain: UTC+02:00
Source: W2RC / A.S.O.
Photo: ImagensDesportivas.com
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