2014 Sealine Rally Stage 3 Results | Honda’s Barreda Retakes Lead

2014 Sealine Rally Stage 3 Results | Honda’s Barreda Retakes Lead
Team HRC Honda's Joan Barreda
2014 Sealine Rally Stage 3 Results | Honda’s Barreda Retakes Lead
Team HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda

2014 Sealine Rally Stage 3 Results

Team HRC Honda’s Joan “Bang Bang” Barreda took his second-stage victory Wednesday in the 2014 Sealine Rally, round 2 of the 2014 FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship.

Barreda, who also won the opening stage, set off from sixth place Wednesday on his Honda CRF450 Rally, and immediately found his rhythm. With this, and his flawless navigation, Barreda was able to overtake his rivals during the 411-kilometer special.

Barreda finished 2:15 minutes ahead of his rival, Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma, and 4:02 ahead of teammate Helder Rodrigues.

With two stages remaining, Barreda now takes the lead off Coma; overall, Barreda leads Coma by 1:19 minutes. In third is Coma’s teammate Jordi Viladoms, who is 7:21 seconds behind. Sealine Rally Stage 2 winner, KTM’s Sam Sunderland, is currently sixth overall.

As for the reigning FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion, Paulo Goncalves finished stage 3 in fifth, and is fourth overall in the standings, 9:36 minutes behind Barreda.

2014 Sealine Rally Stage 3 Quotes:

Joan Barreda (Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally) says: “Today I’m really happy because I started out in sixth place after yesterday’s position. I kept up a really good rhythm from the first kilometers.

“I caught up with Marc at kilometer 30 and then Viladoms. I kept pushing really hard to try and catch up with Paulo and Sam, and finally, after refueling, with some difficult areas and navigation, I reached them, and we finished altogether in a group. So, I’m really happy with another victory, and also a victory for Honda.”

Marc Coma (Red Bull KTM 450 Rally) says: “There are longer stages, also for the final two days, and the surface is very stony and white so it is very difficult to see the piste. It’s also wet. We still have a long way to go and after three days of hard riding and we must really stay very focused and try to push.”

Helder Rodrigues (Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally) says: “One more day in Qatar. A long stage with a lot of navigation. In the beginning there was a very high speed. Marc and Joan caught me and kept up a good rhythm until the refueling.

“Then after the refueling everyone went off together in a group until the finish-line. I think that it’s a very close race, but Joan has a bit of a margin to win the race. It’s good for us and good for Honda. Paulo and I will be in there fighting for the first place. I’m happy with the day. I’m pleased with the result and am also happy with the team result. Everyone’s pleased.”

Paulo Goncalves (Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally) says: “Again it was a very hard day. I started in second position overall and we had a lot of really difficult navigation and we were able to really pick up speed in the special.

“But after the refueling navigation got very tough, and we lost some time, and the riders who started behind Sam and I caught up with us, and we all arrived in a group. I lost a little time today but I will try and make it up tomorrow.”

Thursday’s penultimate stage in the Sealine Rally will take riders a total of 410 kilometers with 404 of those timed specials.

2014 Sealine Rally Stage 3 Results:

1 Joan Barreda 04:53’43 ESP HONDA TEAM HRC
2 Marc Coma +02’15 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
3 Helder Rodrigues +04’02 PRT HONDA TEAM HRC
4 Jordi Viladoms +06’11 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
5 Paulo Goncalves +08’03 PRT HONDA TEAM HRC
6 Sam Sunderland +10’09 GBR KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
7 Ruben Faria +27’21 POR KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
8 Mohammed Abu Issa +01:02’22 QAT YAMAHA Abu Issa
9 Mohammed Albalooshi +01:04’30 UAE KTM KTM UAC
10 Jakub Piatek +01:24’32 POL KTM Team Hanesco

2014 Sealine Rally Overall Standings after 3 of 5 Stages:

1 Joan Barreda 11:10’37 ESP HONDA TEAM HRC
2 Marc Coma +01’19 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
3 Jordi Viladoms +07’21 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
4 Paulo Goncalves +09’36 PRT HONDA TEAM HRC
5 Helder Rodrigues +09’55 PRT HONDA TEAM HRC
6 Sam Sunderland +15’11 GBR KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
7 Mohammed Albalooshi +01:41’46 UAE KTM KTM UAC
8 Mohammed Abu Issa +02:24’26 QAT YAMAHA Abu Issa
9 Rafal Sonik +02:59’47 POL HONDA Poland National
10 Julián Villarrubia +03:11’07 ESP HONDA Poland National

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