The second stage of the Sardinia Rally has proven to be a tough day for the Repsol KTM Team, as the day’s first special, 38 kilometres, ended the hopes of the two members of the team. The worst part was for Gerard Farrés who, just when the special had started and he was racing in fine form, no mistakes, he had a head-on crash with David Casteu, who had got lost and was riding in the opposite direction, trying to find the right way.
Despite such bad fortune, the good news is that after a preliminary exploration, Farrés only has a deep cut to his foot, which has already been stitched. The Repsol rider will return to Spain this afternoon, where tomorrow morning he will have some X-rays done at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus hospital, in order to rule out any possible fractures.
The great difficulty of navigation in this rally has again been patent, as most of the riders got lost during today’s first special. The stage ran through an area similar to yesterday’s, running through many firebreaks, very slow uphill areas and steep downhill areas more similar to a trials track, where it was very easy to get lost. As it was not really a track, the paths that led off to the sides were barely visible. The second special, the rally’s longest with 76 kilometres, is made up of faster, stony tracks, combined with very slow areas.
Jordi Viladoms was one of the riders who got lost during the first special, and finished in 30th position, losing over fifteen minutes. Faced with this result, the Repsol rider concentrated on finishing the stage in good shape, following the roadbook closely and keeping his own pace. In this way he finished the second special in fifth position, just one minute behind the winner.
After two loop-style stages centred around the town of San Teodoro, tomorrow’s stage will end in the town of Gavoi, after two specials of 50,5 and 39,4 Km each.
Jord Viladoms, 9th at 16 mins 30 secs
“Today was madness. I got very lost on two occasions during the first special. What really happened was that I was totally mistaken about how to tackle the first stage. Yesterday I managed to finish second relatively easily, four seconds behind Cyril, and today I went out to try and attack some more. But right after the start I got lost, caught up with Cyril, and then we both caught up with “Chaleco”, because we’d all got lost. Then I found the right path, continued, saw myself in first position, got excited, and decided to attack to put more ground behind me. But it was a bad strategy, because I tried to run too fast and didn’t pay enough attention to the roadbook, losing fifteen minutes. During the second special, I took it easy again and it worked out well.”
Gerard Farrés, withdrawn
“Well, I’m hurt, but taking everything into account I’ve been extremely lucky, because I could have been very badly injured. We crashed into each other head-on in an area where we were riding full-throttle in fourth gear. It was a slightly curved straight, though luckily we saw each other right at the last moment and were able to swerve enough to hit each other sidelong, which is how my boot got ripped off. I could have been very badly hurt. It’s a shame, because we did very well yesterday and today I’d been doing well for fifteen kilometres, finding all the indications, and it wasn’t me who made the mistake.”
