SOLID RESULTS FOR QUINTANILLA AND SHORT ON RALLY DU MAROC MARATHON STAGE.
ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING RIDERS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE CHALLENGING STAGE THREE IN MOROCCO.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pablo Quintanilla and Andrew Short have successfully completed stage three of the 2019 Rally du Maroc. Finishing the day in sixth and 13th places respectively, Quintanilla now lies fourth in the provisional overall standings with Short just over two minutes behind in seventh.
With no overnight assistance allowed by their teams and only one set of tyres permitted for the two-part marathon stage, machine preservation was extremely important over days two and three. Eighth fastest on Monday, Pablo Quintanilla was able to make full use of his start position as he entered the stage early on Tuesday morning and chased down his rivals ahead. Managing his pace to conserve his rear tyre on the fast, slippery special, the Chilean put in a superb ride to ultimately place sixth on the stage. Although the intended route was cut short for safety reasons, Pablo’s time was sufficient to move him from ninth up to fourth in the provisional rally standings.
Third on the previous stage, Andrew Short was one of the first competitors to cover the Saharan terrain of day three. With riders only receiving their road books 15 minutes before setting off this morning, Andrew enjoyed the challenge of navigating his own way through the checkpoints and completed the long marathon stage in a commendable 13th place. Showing consistent form over the three days of the rally so far, Short sits seventh in the current rally standings.
Stage four of the Rally du Maroc totals 508.30 kilometres and includes a single timed special of 408.53 kilometres.
Pablo Quintanilla:“It was a very long day today and we started very early in the morning. The first part of the stage was dusty but I felt good and was able to keep to a good pace. With it being the second half of the marathon stage my tyre was not perfect and it made things very slippery. In the end I think I had a good ride, my time was okay and I have a good start position for tomorrow’s long stage four.”
Andrew Short:“It was a really fun day for me today. I lost a bit of time but I was riding up front and didn’t have many tracks ahead of me. The course was hard to see and the navigation wasn’t easy, which made things tricky in a few places. It was a challenge, but it was fun at the same time. I was able to figure a few things out after making a couple of mistakes early on and on the whole, I’m pleased with how I rode. It was a good experience for me because I think it makes me a better rider.”
2019 Rally du Maroc – Stage 3 Provisional Classification
1. Toby Price (KTM) 3:00:33
2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 3:02:28
3. Franco Caimi (Yamaha) 3:02:54
4. Johnny Aubert (Sherco) 3:04:34
5. Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 3:04:49
6. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 3:05:06
…
13. Andrew Short (Husqvarna) 3:16:10
2019 Rally du Maroc – Provisional Overall Classification [After Stage 3]
1. Toby Price (KTM) 11:57:39
2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 12:01:45
3. Franco Caimi (Yamaha) 12:04:19
4. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 12:04:20
5. Luciano Benavides (KTM) 12:05:31
6. Joan Barreda (Honda) 12:05:333
7. Andrew Short (Husqvarna) 12:06:44
Text/Bild: Husqvarna