The next “Adventure Cannonball is another extreme – due to the weather and the condition of the tracks in the southern region of the Cotswolds – so for this one it is small bikes only.
We will resume with the Big Bikes on Salisbury Plain for February.
More info here: https://rallymoto.co.uk/cotswold-adventure-cannonball/
Leaving the Ballamoar campsite at 9.30 on Saturday morning and starting in pairs at one-minute intervals, the first riders away were numbers 1 and 2 Robert Quayle and Dave Leach, followed by Doncaster’s Jon Weir and Duncan Sanderson. The conditions were perfect. The first special test was at St Judes and was untimed, the riders then went made their way to Laxey for the first check. After some refreshments at the beach café the riders made their way to Snaefell via the Windy Corner track. Then on to Ballaugh for a special test which was also untimed. This completed the first loop of 48 miles. After another check at Ballamoar the riders headed south for a check and fuel stop at Earystane plantation. A good run followed through Corlea and South Barrule plantations before heading back to Ballaugh for the first timed test of the day.
Fastest in the test was Robbie Wallace from Northallerton on the big Husqvarna 500 with a time of 423 seconds. Jordan Corkill from Douglas followed with a time of 431 seconds. Once back at Ballamoar this completed the southern loop with a mileage count of 51.
Riders were then sent out on a shortened northern loop (30 miles) to take in 2 timed tests at St Judes (run back to back) and a timed test at Ballaugh.
With an earlier start time of 9am, the riders awoke to mixed conditions on Sunday. After the first test at St Judes the rain became heavy and the temperature dropped. The test times were slower than on Saturday due to the overnight heavy rain making the stubble field very slippy. Riders were finding the conditions tough before getting to the check at Laxey. Heavy rain and wind over the Glen Mona track made it very difficult. Once at the check in Laxey and after refreshments things started improving.
By midday conditions were much improved although some of the riders did get caught in heavy hail stone showers. But by the time they reached the Earystane check the sun was out and riders were rewarded with beautiful views over the south of the Island.
After 9 tests over the two days the overall winner on 2575 seconds was Jordan Corkill, Robbie Wallace was 51 seconds behind on 2626 seconds. Robert Quayle from Andreas rode really well to finish third behind the young guns, with a time 2763 seconds. Jon Weir from Doncaster was 4th, last year’s ATRC champion Nigel Beaumont was 5th followed by Dave Leach who just pipped Mike Wells from Gloucester by 13 seconds. 8th place went to Robbie’s Dad Duncan Wallace.
All the riders enjoyed a full 2 days of riding with over 250 miles of rallying.
Official details of the bike are yet to be revealed nor has Yamaha confirmed that the bike would go to production. Despite that, the optimism from the bike enthusiasts seem to suggest that the it will be soon. Speculations state that Yamaha would be making an official announcement in the Intermot or EICMA 2018.
The Ténéré 700 does not exactly see itself in the touring bike category and is more focused on the dirt. Despite that, it is still capable of being used for long rides. The bike’s style and design are heavily inspired from Yamaha’s rally-raid endurance racing bikes.
Victory for Kevin Benavides and third place for Paulo Gonçalves in the second stage of the Desafío Inca. The Monster Energy Honda Team riders improve in the overall standings.
In a lengthy, looping second stage in the dunes, Kevin Benavides was able to take control of the race and set the pace during the 350-kilometre special on the second day of the Desafio Inca. Starting out from further back proved a blessing for the Argentinean, whose stage victory allows the rider to move up into sixth position in the general standings.
Portuguese team-mate Paulo Gonçalves showed himself to be the most consistent of the team. Today he posted third place and occupies fourth place overall, 21 seconds behind the leader after two days of competition. Accompanying Gonçalves in the general rankings is José Ignacio Cornejo, who suffered the ‘handicap’ of being among the group of riders opening the track. Despite finishing with the sixth fastest time, the Chilean is fifth overall 3’33” behind the leader.
A navigation error put a spanner in the works for Ricky Brabec today, who had originally set out to claw back time and positions in the race. After two days of racing, the American holds ninth some 25 minutes adrift of the overall leader.
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BENAVIDES Kevin | ARG | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 3:55’21 | |
| 2 | WALKNER Matthias | AUT | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +0’54 | |
| 3 | GONCALVES Paulo | POR | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | +2’55 | |
| 4 | SHORT Andrew | USA | Husqvarna Factory Rally Team | Husqvarna | +4’03 | |
| 5 | QUINTANILLA Pablo | CHI | Husqvarna Factory Rally Team | Husqvarna | +4’48 | |
| 6 | CORNEJO José Ignacio | CHI | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | +8’14 | |
| 7 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | FRA | Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team | Yamaha | +10’58 | |
| 8 | CAIMI Franco | ARG | Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team | Yamaha | +14’13 | |
| 9 | DE SOULTRAIT Xavier | 9 | FRA | Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team | Yamaha | +15’43 |
| 10 | MENA Oriol | SPA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | +15’45 | |
| 11 | BRABEC Ricky | USA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | +17’02 |
The longest day at Serres Rally and that is day 3, forecast was for rain, which never came, allowing the riders a cloudy day to enjoy the three stages of Sidirokastro, Belles and Metochi.
Day 3 took the riders to Sidirokastro and Fea Petra landscapes, and then up and round the mountain of Belles, always in view of the spectacular Lake Kerkini and Doirani.
1st in today’s standings was #1 Stefan Svitko (KTM XC 450), 2nd was #2 Wesley Pittens (YAMAHA WR 450F) and 3rd for the day was #6 Paul Spierings (HUSQVARNA FE 450). The unlucky rider for the day was #7 Thorsten Kaiser after a crash left him out the race (broken hand).
In the other categories winners: In class 1 #12 Chris Barwick, #29 Peter Jansen in class 2, #4 Roberto Barbieri in class 4, Jozef Oprchal in class 5, #211 Timo Heinen in class 6. In the Veteran class #5 Kreidl Ferdinand, and once again #15 Gabriela Novotna was 1st in the women.
Tomorrow we will see the riders compete in the Serres Rally marathon stage which will take them over the border to Bulgaria to do the SS7 Belasitsa and SS8 Ograjden stages.
Joaquim Rodrigues of Hero Motosport won with ease in the moto segment of India Baja, beating TVS riders KP Aravind and Abdul Wahid Tanveer, who qualified for Merzouga Rally in Morocco next month, finishing which he would qualify for next year’s Dakar Rally.
The Indian edition of the ‘Road to Dakar’ challenge runs across the length and breadth of the Western Thar desert. The competition saw 132 participants rallying more than 650 km in just 48 hours, making it one of the toughest endurance tests ever in Indian motorsport.
The third season of the India Baja, the Indian edition of the internationally coveted ‘Road to Dakar’ Challenge, is back in the dunes of Rajasthan. With special stages starting from 18th August, the competition will travel more than 650 km across Jaisalmer in just 48 hours, before the announcement of the ultimate winner on 19th of August.
Being a ‘Road to Dakar’ challenge, one of the just five such challenges held across the planet, the winner of the India Baja 2018 will get a direct gratis entry to the 42nd Dakar Rally to be held in South America in 2020. The winner will also be entitled to a complimentary entry to Morocco’s Afriquia Merzouga Rally of 2019. The total monetary advantages to the winner of the competition amount to €20,000, which covers the registration fee for one motorcycle in both the events.
The Atacama Rally, on Chilean soil, turned out to be hugely successful for Monster Energy Honda Team’s Argentinean rider Kevin Benavides, who clinched overall victory and the leadership of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.
The final day, on a 155-kilometre looping route, starting and finishing in Copiapó, was battled out over the same course that had been used in Stage One. Competitors had to have their wits about them and were faced with some challenging navigation in the dunes as well as some off-piste and dry river beds.
Kevin Benavides rounded off the Atacama Rally as he had started; proving to be the sharpest rider in the race, claiming the final stage and the overall rally victory after an intense final day. The Argentine dominated, stamping his mark of authority throughout the stage and leaving adversaries unable to keep his trail. Moreover, the victory takes Benavides and the Honda CRF450 RALLY to the head of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship leader board, where he now shares the same points as the incumbent world champion.
Benavides’ team-mates in the Monster Energy Honda Team, Paulo Gonçalves, José Ignacio Cornejo and Ricky Brabec all continued to improve day by day, today occupying fifth, sixth and seventh positions respectively in this final stage and sixth, seventh and ninth in the final rankings.
The next appointment for the Monster Energy Honda Team will be at the Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina to be held at the end of next week. The race will take place from 25th to 31st August getting underway in San Miguel de Tucumán and concluding in San Juan.
Source: Official Monster Energy Honda Team
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BENAVIDES Kevin | 2 | ARG | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 14:19’39 |
| 2 | PRICE Toby | 11 | AUS | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +4’25 |
| 3 | QUINTANILLA Pablo | 1 | CHI | Husqvarna Factory Rally Team | Husqvarna | +6’27 |
| 4 | WALKNER Matthias | 3 | AUT | Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team | KTM | +10’21 |
| 5 | CAIMI Franco | 8 | ARG | Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team | Yamaha | +22’47 |
| 6 | GONCALVES Paulo | 4 | POR | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | +23’32 |
| 7 | CORNEJO José Ignacio | 10 | CHI | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | +39’07 |
| 8 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 6 | FRA | Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team | Yamaha | +41’39 |
| 9 | BRABEC Ricky | 15 | USA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | +1:01’32 |
| 10 | SHORT Andrew | 12 | USA | Husqvarna Factory Rally Team | Husqvarna | +1:03’49 |
