Africa Eco Race, Stage 4: Bad Luck For Yamaha… Maybe?

[advrider]

After a tough 455-kilometer special running from Assa to Remz El Quebir, in temperatures as high as 45 Celsius (113 Farenheit), Stefan Svitko took his KTM to the win in Stage 4 of the Africa Eco Race. But while he was first on the day and almost grabbed first overall too (Maurizio Guerini leads overall, by only 42 seconds), Yamaha’s Alessandro Botturi had a small victory of his own—one snatched from the jaws of defeat. Sort of.

Botturi, as we told you yesterday, ran into some mechanical trouble on Stage 3 that ate away at his timesheet. While fussing and trying to get his Yamaha Tenere 700 World Raid back in action, he actually left the special stage area, and that earned him a three-hour penalty from the org. Understandable actions from both parties; desert racing history is filled with stories of riders taking creative liberties with the rulebook, and also with stories of the rulebook being thrown at riders when the organizers find out. Sometimes. In the case of the Dakar Rally, it really seems to help alleviate the penalty if the rider is French… In this case, the penalty put Botturi all the way down to 20th overall.

The penalty meant Botturi had something to prove, and he came out of the gate hard in Stage 4, blasting his way all the way back up to ninth in the standings. There’s still a lot of time between him and a podium, but who knows? Svitko could get run over by a camel or something. In the desert, anything can happen.

Elsewhere in the Yamaha team, Pol Tarres is still pounding out hard miles in his second-ever rally raid, and managed to combine strong riding and on-the-fly navigation to end the day in sixth overall position. Although Yamaha would no doubt be happier if its factory team was 1-2, it’s still likely pleased to see two top 10 riders after five days.

Stage 5 will be the longest run of the race, with a special of more than 450 kilometers, followed by a liaison of more than 240 kilometers. If the riders can hold themselves and their bikes together, they’ll be rewarded with a race day on Sunday.

See the Stage 4 and overall standings below. Once more, remember that the race org is publishing these in French, so you’ll have to be clever to read them. By the way, note that there are no Americans or Canadians running this year! What’s up with that?

Stage 4 Scratch

Etape 4 ASSA / RAZ EL QUEBIR
Classement sur Secteur Sélectif 4 – 455,42 km – 21/10/2022		47 concurrent(s) classé(s)

Overall standings after Stage 4

Etape 4 ASSA / RAZ EL QUEBIR
Classement Général – 21/10/2022		47 concurrent(s) classé(s)

Vezi sursa