Joan Barreda Wins Stage Three Of Morocco Rally
Cycle News Staff | October 16, 2013
Team HRC’s Joan Barreda earned his second stage win of the three-stage old Morocco Rally today, the Spanish rider besting Red Bull KTM’s Chaleco Lopez by two and half minutes on his CRF450 Rally.
Barreda is now seven minutes and 27 seconds clear of his teammate Paolo Goncalves in the overall standings. Goncalves was sixth in today’s stage after winning yesterday.
Rookie Jeremias Israel finished third today on his Speedbrain entry.
“It’s incredible to get a third win for Honda in this rally,” said Barreda. “We are really pleased. Today has been a very important day for us and we’ve made up a lot of time. Especially for Paulo [Goncalves], who had an excellent stage, and who’s doing extremely well looking to win the championship.”
Red Bull KTM’s Kurt Caselli finished 10th today. He is well down the overall standings after incurring a 20-minute penalty in the first stage of the race.
Caselli’s teammate Marc Coma was fifth today. The Spanish off-road legend is third in the overall standings, seven minutes and 41 seconds behind Barreda.
“I’m very happy with today’s special,” Goncalves said. “I opened the way for the whole day with 70 km off-road and 50 km of dunes, setting the pace with a good speed. Tomorrow will be a stage to try and make up some time. The bike has been incredible. I’ve been amazed at its performance in the race so far and it just keeps getting better and better.”
