World WRC Championship, Sardinia Rally. 1st stage
VILADOMS AND FARRÉS KICK OFF WITH A GOOD
PERFORMANCE IN THE SARDINIA RALLY
 The
Repsol riders finished second and sixth after the rally's
first stage, where Gerard Farrés has taken injured
Marc Coma's place
Today the first stage of the Sardinia Rally was disputed,
the first of for tests for points which make up the WRC Championship.
Jordi Viladoms finished third in the two specials disputed
and is second in the general classification, four seconds
behind the leader, Cyril Despres; while Gerard Farrés
was 6th in the first special, and 2nd in the second, placing
himself in sixth position in the general classification.
Photos
This rally, held on the island of Sardinia, is quite a peculiar
test, very different to the rest of the WRC events, as it
is disputed on narrow, winding, mountain roads, and where
navigation plays a crucial role. Viladoms and Farrés,
like the rest of the riders, participate with a small bike
to adapt to the demands of this race: a KTM 530 EXC for the
former, and a KTM 450 EXC for the latter; instead of the 690
Rally they normally use for the desert, or in a test like
the last Dakar Series.
An example of the peculiarities of this race is that the
trip used to to measure distances and to follow the roadbook
indications is different. On this occasion, it is a decimal
point greater than normal, as there are a lot of crossroads
on these tracks. Instead of measuring distances one hundred
metres at a time, the trip is adjusted here to measure them
ten by ten, in order to correctly indicate the crossroads
that might turn up every thirty metres, instead of every 300,
or every few of kilometres, as is normally the case in desert
races.
Today's stage was 78 kilometres long, timed, divided into
two specials of 36 and 42 kilometers each. The terrain is
very dry, as it has not rained for some time, and the riders
found very hard-surfaced tracks, very stony, and the odd field.
It was a very tough terrain, which combined with sand in some
places, made riding difficult, due to the lack of adherence
of the bikes.
Quotes
Jordi Viladoms >> 2nd at 4 secs.
“It went very well and I'm very happy so far. This is
a very complicated rally, with a lot of navigating and on
a much smaller scale than normal. What's more, there are a
lot of paths and tracks that aren't visible. As navigation
is so difficult, if you want to ride fast it's easy to miss
a crossroad, so you have to follow very closely what the roadbook
says.
I think it went well for that reason, because though maybe
I'm not the fastest rider, reading the roadbook is very important
and that is what gave me the position I have. What's more,
I finished just three seconds behind Cyril Despres, and less
than a minute behind “Chaleco”. Tomorrow they'll
be the ones to open up the track, in front of me. It's easy
to make mistakes, so we'll have to be very alert, as today
I did well, and others made mistakes. I'll have to concentrate
very hard in order not to be the one who makes the mistakes.
In any case I'm very happy, and it's a very nice race, fun
and exciting, particularly if you find the right way, of course!
Gerard Farrés >> 6th at 1 min. 17 secs.
“It can't get tougher than this, so I'm very happy with
how things have gone, because it's perfect for learning. Also,
the good thing is that having ran yesterday's warm-up stage
well, I was able to start behind the favourites, riding alone
throughout the two specials, which is perfect for me to learn,
because no one caught up with me.
I had a small newbie problem during the first special, because
when I started off I realised I'd set up the roadbook wrong,
and lost a couple of minutes, but anyway, today's stage went
very well and I'm very happy. I was caught up with by the
rider behind me, though he fell back later on and I was able
to continue alone. The truth is that it was tough, because
having so many indications, and when the roadbook has changed
its scale between one section and another, it gets more complicated
and you are constantly checking it.”
Official Results
>> Classification Special 1
1. Francisco LÓPEZ (KTM) 38:23.27
2. Matteo GRAZIANI (KTM) at 8.42
3. Jordi VILADOMS (REPSOL KTM) at 10.82
4. David CASTEU (KTM) at 27.27
5. Alex ZANOTTI (APRILIA) at 57.02
10. Gerard FARRÉS (REPSOL KTM) at 1:52.15
>> Classification Special 2
1. Cyril DESPRES (KTM) 51:19.13
2. Gerard FARRÉS (REPSOL KTM) at 59.13
3. Jordi VILADOMS (REPSOL KTM) at 1:27.49
4. Francisco LÓPEZ (KTM) at 1:52:08
5. Paolo CECI (APRILIA) at 2:12.06
>> General Classification
1. Cyril DESPRES (KTM) 1:31:16.86
2. Jordi VILADOMS (REPSOL KTM) at 3.85
3. Francisco LÓPEZ (KTM) at 17.62
4. Matteo GRAZIANI (KTM) at 1:03.63
5. David CASTEU (KTM) at 1:09.19
6. Gerard FARRÉS (REPSOL KTM) at 1:16.82
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