- The driver from Lleida, accompanied by Jaume Betriu, has finished the Emirati event in sixth position in Challenger, fifth among the competitors of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).
- Despite mechanical problems in the Taurus T3 Max, Pons Rallysport closed the last stage eighth in its category, a result that allowed it to move up in the overall standings.
- “The car lacks evolution, and that has made us less competitive against our rivals. Even so, we keep the most important thing, which is the accumulated experience and a final result with which we can be very satisfied.”
Eduard Pons has put an end to his first participation in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (ADDC). With Jaume Betriu on his right, he finished a creditable sixth in the Challenger category, fifth among the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) drivers. The fifth and final stage, which linked Mezaira'a with Abu Dhabi, was the end of a rally marked by technical problems and the harshness of the UAE desert.
The final day, with 167 timed kilometers of a total of 365, has presented a lot of sand and dune sectors that have once again tested the endurance of the teams. Pons and Betriu were able to manage the special with solvency to cross the finish line in eighth position in the Challenger, an effort that helped them to climb in the general classification.
The mechanics did not make things easy for the duo from Lleida, who had to deal with cooling problems in the Taurus T3 Max of the Nasser Racing structure from the beginning of the rally. Despite this, he has managed to complete the complicated second round of the W2RC, key to gain experience on a stage where he accumulates little shooting.
“Today we went a little better because the stage was shorter, the temperatures were lower and the team gave us a little more pressure on the turbo. The car, with this little extra, has behaved a little better, but it lacks evolution, and that has made us less competitive against our rivals. Even so, we keep the most important thing, which is the accumulated experience and a final result with which we can be very satisfied”, said Pons.
After his forced abandonment in the Dakar Rally, where a crack in the chassis after a rollover cut short his chances of completing the event, finishing the ADDC has been an important learning experience to continue progressing in this type of terrain.
“The balance is positive. We have achieved a fifth world championship position in an extremely demanding rally, the event with the most sand and dunes of the entire championship, which makes it a very complex technical challenge. I still have to gain more confidence in the dunes, but in this event I was able to gain a significant number of kilometers”, concluded the driver.
Source: Pons Rallysport / Mediagé Comunicación
