Bikesportnz

American Honda rider Ricky Brabec took over the lead as the Rallye du Maroc stage in Morocco reached the halfway stage.

The Rally du Maroc has reached its midway point with United States rider Brabec claiming the stage three win and also the overall lead.

Once again, a lengthy, high-speed, full stage with little navigation, although the sudden changes in pace and the lightning speed needed to make correct decisions led several riders to make mistakes.

At the previous night’s briefing, David Castera, the Rally du Maroc director had revealed what riders could expect from this third stage: Fast tracks, some stone-filled, but others sandy and undulating which would really give the bikes the chance to let rip.

This time round, there were fewer dunes which were smaller in size and presented no major difficulties apart from two short stretches of broken up dunes at kilometres 149 and 192.

Nevertheless, navigation proved tricky for some of the riders and the 341-kilometre timed special stage caused some reshuffles in the general standings.

Brabec was the leading protagonist of the day. The Monster Energy Honda Team rider, with some excellent navigation, set a white-knuckle pace that no other rider was able to match.

Brabec not only won the stage but also snatched the overall Rally du Maroc lead with a ten-and-a-half minute advantage over the nearest second-placed rider, team-mate Pablo Quintanilla.

Chilean Quintanilla took advantage of his starting position to excel once again today. The Chilean followed in the wake of Brabec and, despite a minor navigation error, posted ninth place, meaning he now holds second spot in the general standings.

For José Ignacio Cornejo it was another steep learning curve in the tricky environment. After a slight lapse early on, he picked up the pace until the critical point of the day, among those dropping several minutes on the stage.

If it was heads for Brabec, it was tails for Joan Barreda. The Spaniard from Castellón was keen to make up time yesterday and proved fastest until around kilometre 240, at which point he dropped time due to a navigational blunder.

The rider, after some moments of disorientation, was able to get back on the right track a few kilometres further on, although having skipped a waypoint which he has been penalised for.

Early today, the fourth and lengthiest stage of the Rally du Maroc gets underway: 367.43 kilometres against the clock out of a total trek of 546.30 kilometres.

For the third time, the action will play out across the wide area to the east/northeast of the town of Zagora.

“I started sixth today, not a bad starting position, although there was a lot of dust,” said Brabec.

“Kevin was in front of me and I could see him. Yesterday we adjusted the handlebars, but I didn’t feel comfortable, but I had to keep going. From the refuelling until the finish, I did my best but unfortunately my team-mates made a few mistakes, as Mathias did.

“I managed to find the way because I was going slow at that moment. I saw the line where we had to leave the river, but there were also many other tracks there.

“My gut instinct told me and I followed it. I was riding alone for the final 60 kilometres, with no references. It was a good day, but there are still two more to go. We have to stay focused and keep pushing.”

Photo courtesy Honda

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Provisional Standings after Stage 3