 
Sealine Cross Country Rally
2015 Cross Countries Rally Round 2 , Stage 5
Barreda and Goncalves on the Qatar Sealine Rally final
podium
The FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship winds up with a stage
victory for Joan Barreda and a second-place for Goncalves assuring both
riders a step on the final rostrum as the championship’s second round
finishes.
It was yet another display of velocity and tactics as the Honda CRF450
RALLYs of Team HRC’s dynamic duo Joan Barreda and Paulo Goncalves notched
up a second consecutive one-two to round off the Sealine Cross-Country Rally
in style.
The 365.28 kilometre special stage, offering up the now habitual mix of
rocks, dunes and navigation, was dominated by the Team HRC riders who had
fought tooth and nail all week to overcome the handicap imposed on them by
the unfavourable starting-order of the first day.
Starting out from six position today due to the new rules which allow
riders to select their starting positions out of the top six, Team HRC hit
hard and snatched a fine stage victory. Barreda crossed the finish-line with
a 1’21 advantage over team-mate Paulo Goncalves, in second. After five
days of racing, the Portuguese ace consolidates his third overall position,
coming home 1’53 behind Barreda, runner-up of the Sealine.
 Joan
Barreda - STAGE: 1ST FINAL: 2ND
It’s been a good week with a fast pace all through the rally. I pushed
really hard and I’m pleased. It was never an easy job, particularly the
first day; we knew that it would be a complicated one. We were looking to
change the strategy of the first day and we were just six seconds off
winning the first stage. We been battling with Marc all week and in the end
the difference has been minimal. I’m happy with the hard work that we’ve
done. The consolation is that we can really believe in the right direction
that we are taking.
 Paulo
Goncalves - STAGE: 2ND FINAL: 3RD
The rally has finished - the second race of the world championship - but
maybe the previous result in Abu Dhabi was our setback, as it meant that we
had to start from the front. The positive aspect is that we have never
stopped fighting. That way, we have been able to win the last three stages
and recuperate quite a lot. Barreda finished second and I came third. With
the new rules it was impossible to win, but the most important thing is to
finish on the podium. The bikes performed perfectly. We are pleased. Now it’s
time to look forward to the next goal and do everything possible to achieve
it.
 Wolfgang
Fischer - Team HRC Team Manager
So, finally second and third place on the podium. Congratulations to
Joan and Paulo and the whole team. Unfortunately, it was the best that we
could do with the unfavourable positions at the start of the race, which
resulted in them missing out on points and results from Abu Dhabi. But in
the end everything worked really well, technically and also tactically for
the team. The rider performance was great so we are happy to arrive here at
the end. This race is always a good milestone and a proving point for
navigational skills, getting the riders into physical shape and also for the
technical preparation of the new parts and new technology on the bike. It
was a pity that our third rider Jeremias could not follow the whole race. He
was a good help to improve our team tactics, but he’s not in bad shape and
will recover quickly from his slight injury and we are looking forward to
the next race to be in the fighting for top positions in the world
championship. Now time to pack!
Results Stage 5
1 BARREDA Joan SPA Team HRC 4:07'51 2 GONCALVES Paulo POR Team HRC + 1'21 3
COMA Marc SPA KTM Red Bull Rally Factory + 3'17 4 VILADOMS Jordi SPA KTM Red
Bull Rally Factory + 5'01 5 SUNDERLAND Sam GBR KTM Red Bull Rally Factory +
7'24 6 QUINTANILLA Pablo CHI KTM Warsaw Rally Team + 9'02 7 WALKNER Mathias
AUT KTM Red Bull Rally Factory + 27'53 8 MONLEóN Armand SPA KTM Warsaw
Rally Team + 34'55 9 ALBALOOSHI Mohammed UAE KTM UAC + 44'39 10 PIATEK Jakub
POL KTM Orlen Rally Team + 53'48
Final Results Sealine Cross-Country Rally 2015
1 COMA Marc SPA KTM Red Bull Rally Factory 19:56'48 2 BARREDA Joan SPA Team
HRC + 4'40 3 GONCALVES Paulo POR Team HRC + 6'33 4 VILADOMS Jordi SPA KTM
Red Bull Rally Factory + 17'59 5 QUINTANILLA Pablo CHI KTM Warsaw Rally Team
+ 18'00 6 SUNDERLAND Sam GBR KTM Red Bull Rally Factory + 21'10 7 WALKNER
Mathias AUT KTM Red Bull Rally Factory + 1:40'18 8 MONLEóN Armand SPA KTM
Warsaw Rally Team + 2:42'33 9 PIATEK Jakub POL KTM Orlen Rally Team +
3:55'00 10 ALBALOOSHI Mohammed UAE KTM UAC + 4:00'21
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