São Miguel do Gostoso (RN) - The Honda Racing team celebrated the arrival of the RN 1500 Rally on Friday (11/4) in São Miguel do Gostoso (RN), the first stage of the Brazilian Championship and the second of the Latin American Rally Raid Championship. After four days of disputes, the team led by Dário Júlio secured victory in the overall motorcycle classification, with Martin Duplessis, as well as second, third and fourth places in the table, occupied by Bruno Crivilin, Romain Dumontier and Tiago Wernersbach, respectively. To complete their dominance, the team won all three categories they took part in: Moto 1 (Duplessis), Moto 2 (Crivilin) and Moto 3 (Wenersbach).
For the Argentinian Duplessis, the current two-time Latin American champion, it was a special thrill, as it was his first overall win in a race in Brazil. After overcoming difficulties at the start, he managed to maintain a strong and steady pace at the controls of his Honda CRF 450RX to celebrate at the end of the 27th edition of the race. “I'm very happy; we did a great job. Everyone in the team started the season strong, and that's very important. It was a difficult race. On this last day, with the dunes, I felt good, the bike was perfect and the team did a great job,” he said.
Also entered in Moto 1, Romain Dumontier made his Honda Racing debut with second place in his class and third overall. For the Frenchman, who also competes on a CRF 450RX, the RN 1500 served as an adaptation to the equipment and the characteristics of Brazilian rallies. “The race was very interesting, and the atmosphere in the team is great. I had problems on the last stage with the navigation equipment, which was a shame because it prevented me from fighting for the win.”
Bruno Crivilin didn't need much time to show his potential. Riding his CRF 450RX for the first time in rally competition, he won two stages overall (including Friday's), came second in the accumulated results among all the bikes, and won the Moto 2 class. “I'm very happy. on this last day I had the experience of opening the race and rode in the dunes for the first time. I understood how to navigate them, and I managed to be fast. I won two days in a row; I won my class, and I'm leading the overall Brazilian Championship. The team was sensational, and the bike was great. Congratulations to the whole team; we all won,” said the Capixaba rider, a 12-time Brazilian Enduro champion. The sport, in fact, will be his focus again in the next few days, with the second race of the season.
Riding the CRF 450RX for the first time, Tiago Wernersbach, also from Espírito Santo, made his Moto 3 debut, maintaining the tradition of winning the RN 1500 in the years he competed for Moto Brasil. “This last day was very different from the others, with the sand. I concentrated, did well once again, and, as well as winning the category, I was fourth overall, riding not far off the pace of the frontrunners. I'm very happy, and now I'm going to keep improving and preparing for the next ones.”
The RN 1500 Rally began in the city of Gravatá (PE), last Tuesday (8/4), and also passed through Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte. The drivers covered a total of 1,188 km, 953 of which were timed sections.
With his performance in the traditional race, Crivilin leads the overall Brazilian standings with 98 points, two more than Duplessis, according to the unofficial results. Dumontier is third, with 83, and Tiago is seventh, with 71. The next challenge in the championship is the Minas Brasil Rally, in Araxá (MG), from May 15 to 17. The Honda Racing Rally Team is sponsored by Pro Honda, Honda Seguros, Axalta, DID, NGK, Ogio and ASW.
27th RN 1500 Rally
Brazilian Rally Raid - first race
Results (unofficial)
Final standings (top three)
General Motorcycles
1st - Martin Duplessis #3 - Honda CRF 450RX - Honda Racing - 12h40min19
2nd - Bruno Crivilin #11 - Honda CRF 450RX - Honda Racing - 12h40min32
3rd - Romain Dumontier #23 - Honda CRF 450RX - Honda Racing - 12h47min37
4th - Tiago Wernersbach #7 - Honda CRF 450RX - Honda Racing - 12h55min53
Source: Honda Brazil
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