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.
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.
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.”
