Joan Barreda’s name is more and more branded in the history of the Dakar. In the fourth stage of the 2022 edition, one of those that he himself had indicated as one of the most selective, the Honda rider signed his 29th stage success in the most famous rally raid in the world, the second this year.
An important victory for “Bang Bang”, who kept a frenzied pace from the start of the special, taking the lead at km 158 of the 465 timed scheduled between al Qaisumah and Riyadh, after a surprising Danilo Petrucci at dictate the pace.
Taking advantage of a good starting position (today he started 24th), when compared to that of many other men in the standings, the Spaniard gained seventh place in the general, significantly reducing his gap and bringing him to 13’12 “against the leader Sam Sunderland, who held his GasGas in front of everyone with the seventh fastest time of the day, albeit paying 10 minutes on the Spaniard.
On the contrary, the British slightly increased his advantage over his rivals, bringing it to 3’00 “over Matthias Walkner, who with his KTM managed to snatch the second position from Adrien van Beveren. The Frenchman of Yamaha had to settle for the 12th stage time and now he is third at 4’54 “from the top, after yesterday almost overtaking, bringing him just 4” from Sunderland.
As already mentioned, the other hero of the day, however, was undoubtedly Petrucci. The former MotoGP rider in fact held an excellent pace even after being overtaken by Barreda and arrived at the finish line with an amazing third time at 6’53 “, also being overtaken by the other Honda of Pablo Quintanilla, who with the 4’37 “late he regained the sixth position in the general at 11’13”.
This result, however, can only increase the Terni’s regret for the retirement two days ago, because even in the second stage he was fighting for the top 5 when he ended up knocked out. So there is the step to stay with the best, but by now the KTM driver will only be able to take away some satisfaction like today, given that after returning to the race he travels more than 19 hours late.
Among the main protagonists of the day are the Sherco colors, with Rui Goncalves who finished fourth ahead of team mate Lorenzo Santolino. The Spaniard therefore confirmed himself as one of the drivers to keep an eye on also in view of the final victory, given that at the moment he even finished fifth in the overall, with a gap of just 10’28 “over Sunderland.
Santolino was overtaken after the conclusion of the test by the other GasGas of Daniel Sanders. The race direction has in fact accepted the complaint presented against the ten-minute penalty that had been inflicted on him in the second leg for not respecting a control zone. Although he finished only 17th today, the Australian was therefore fourth again in the overall, 7’07 “behind his teammate. The American Skyler Howes lost ground instead: the Husqvarna rider today finished 21st and now overall he is eighth at 15’16 “.
The winner of the last edition Kevin Benavides, now tenth at 25’12 “, was also delayed, but his teammate in KTM, Toby Price, undoubtedly got the worst. Starting second, the Australian found himself at pay 27’30 “. In general, therefore, he is 16th at 43’36 “and it cannot be denied that he and Ricky Brabec are the great disappointments of this first part of the race, given that the American from Honda has never shone and is 18th at 52’58. “.
Today Mason Klein also struggled more, 25th at 22’11 “, but that of the American remains an excellent race for a rookie of just 20 years: in the general he is 15th and retains the primacy both among rookies and in Rally2 As far as the Original by Motul is concerned, the Lithuanian Arminas Gelazninkas always dictates the pace, now 30th in the overall behind an excellent Paolo Lucci, also today author of a brilliant 22nd time with the Solarys Racing Husqvarna.
Quad: Maksimov’s first ring, Copetti remains leader
Moving on to the Quad category, the first stage success of the Russian Aleksandr Maksimov was celebrated at the finish in Riyadh, but it must be said that for the moment this edition is giving us a much more open race than what we have seen in the most recent past.
The rookie, in fact, closed today’s timed 465 km with a margin of just 1’52 “over the winner of the last edition Manuel Andujar and with 3’08” over the French Alexandre Giroud. In the general classification, however, the American Pablo Copetti always leads, today fourth at 4’17 “.
His margin over Giroud remained 14’20 “, but Maksimov also remained quite far behind, who always had to deal with the 17-minute penalty remedied in the early stages of the race. Andujar then followed in fourth place, 29 ‘behind. 08 “. So much also the ground lost by the Polish Kamil Wisniewski, who therefore saw the top 5 blow in the general by the Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros.
Dakar 2022 – General Motorcycle Ranking after Stage 4 (Top 10)
Pos | Pilot | Motorcycle | Time / Gap | Penalty |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sam Sunderland | GasGas | 15.30’01 “ | |
2 | Matthias Walkner | KTM | + 3’00 “ | |
3 | Adrien van Beveren | Yamaha | + 4’54 “ | |
4 | Daniel Sanders | GasGas | + 7’07 “ | |
5 | Lorenzo Santolino | Sherco | + 10’28 “ | |
6 | Pablo Quintanilla | Honda | + 11’13 “ | |
7 | Joan Barreda | Honda | + 13’12 “ | |
8 | Skyler Howes | Husqvarna | + 15’16 “ | |
9 | Stefan Svitko | KTM | + 20’42 “ | |
10 | Kevin Benavides | KTM | + 25’12 “ |
Dakar 2022 – Quad general classification after Stage 4 (Top 5)
Pos | Pilot | Quad | Time / Gap | Penalty |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pablo Copetti | Yamaha | 19.25’41 “ | |
2 | Alexandre Giroud | Yamaha | + 14’20 “ | |
3 | Aleksandr Maximov | Yamaha | + 24’55 “ | + 17’00 “ |
4 | Manuel Andujar | Yamaha | + 29’08 “ | |
5 | Marcelo Medeiros | Yamaha | + 1.15’38 “ | + 15’00 “ |
#Dakar #Moto #Stage #Barreda #repeats #Petrucci #excellent #3rd