Day 1 of the marathon stage and the first racer Robert Wallace in the moto category, opened the race at 7:00 am saying: “I am looking forward to it. It is going to be a tough stage with the navigation, and it might slow me down a bit on the road. I think Tobias will be able to catch me soon”, showing the young Tobias Ebster behind him, who was warming up his bike starting from second place.
“Feeling good! Marathon stage is always something different as we have no mechanical assistance. I will try to catch the leader and make the route by myself,” Tobias said before making a dynamic start in the special stage. The SSVs started 2 hours later, followed by the Rally 2 category.
The participants navigated in a route of 250 kilometers, unfolding through the stunning mountainous scenery of Agrafa region, finishing at the remote bivouac near lake Plastiras. Everyone must rely on themselves to repair their vehicle, as assistance from their mechanics is prohibited during the marathon stages.
The Czech Engel Milan who started in the 5th position achieved the fastest time of the day on his KTM 450 EXC-F, doing a time of 3h:58:15:22, leaving behind Guillem Martinez Boronat from Spain, with a gap of 5:00:55. Third to finish today’s stage was Pol Tarres after 4h06:39:13 riding his Yamaha Tenere 700.
A really impressive achievement was the one from the Polish Rafal Jawien, racing for Polaris team, who even though he started in the 123rd position, managed to finish 5th on a Sportsman XP 1000 S.
After a fascinating day of rallying, the contestants had only a few hours to repair their vehicles and have some rest before the second day of the marathon tomorrow, a stage of 390 kilometers back to the main bivouac.
Source of text and video: ICARUS Sports
Photo: Actiongraphers
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