After heavy overnight rain, the cloud hung low over Seville this morning, making it impossible for the 2 helicopters providing safety cover for the Andalucía Rally to take off and fly to the start of the special. As the morning progressed and the cloud base remained stubbornly low several scenarios were explored. The last of these was a shortened special stage of 84 kms. For that to be viable a deadline was fixed for 14:00 but with conditions still too difficult rally boss David Castera and his team were left with no alternative but to cancel the day’s stage.
ON TRACK
David Castera (Rally Director): "We've decided to cancel Stage 2 of the Andalucía Rally because our helicopters couldn't reach the stage, due to bad weather conditions. The stage itself is quite clear, but it's 120 kilometres away and there's a lot of fog in between, with zero visibility. So the helicopters couldn't get there. We waited until the last minute to cancel. We made the stage shorter as the hours went by, but the deadline was 2pm. That has now passed, and our helicopters still can't get there, so we've been forced to cancel the stage."
RADIO BIVOUAC
The undoubtedly unique Laia Sanz has left a deep impression on rally-raid. Since her move to cars, Spanish fans have been looking for a female rider to continue the Catalan’s legacy, even if her 20 world titles and top 10 Dakar finish on two wheels are unrepeatable. Sandra Gómez (29), the only woman in the motorcycle category on this Andalucía Rally, is Laia's friend, teammate in the Trial of Nations and admirer. And is only too aware that comparisons - especially from fans and press - are inevitable. With an extensive international career in hard enduro and trial, Gómez competed on her first rally in Morocco in 2021, in preparation for the Dakar 2022. She completed both events despite her inexperience, finishing second female in Saudi. This year, with more experience on a rally bike (mentored by her good friend Lorenzo Santolino), she is aiming for more: "Of course the women's trophy is the objective, it is important to give visibility to women in rallies so that soon there will be more of us", she explains. Despite the fact that her racing achievements could fill more than one page, and some stunt work on the hit series Money Heist, she is struggling to get the necessary funding to take part in the Dakar 2023. If she finally manages to do so, it would be a good reward for the suffering she has experienced this year, during which she has spent the whole summer at a standstill due to mononucleosis, an illness that curiously also affected Laia Sanz in her day. "I spent two months doing absolutely nothing and I have lost all my strength and muscles. After Andalusia I have to train a lot to get in shape for January"... if the lack budget doesn't prevent it.
STAT OF THE DAY: 38 + 25
With the end of the first ever W2RC fast approaching on this, the last round of the championship, it is perhaps timely to look at how points are rewarded. Let’s start with the bikes…. The maximum number of points you could score on the Dakar was 38, more than the other rounds because it has the status of a marathon rally. On the other three, shorter rounds (Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Rallye du Maroc and Andalucía Rally) the maximum score was / is 25. Obviously, after that the number of points awarded decreases as a function of the finishing position. Pablo Quintanilla finished second on the Dakar and was awarded 30 points, Matthias Walkner got 24 points for third. On the other rallies the second placed man gets 20 points, 3rd gets 16 and so on all the way to the 15th placed man who gets just one point for their efforts. The Rally2 category uses the same system, whereas in Rally3, for modified enduro bikes with reduced fuel range, the Dakar is unsurprisingly not part of the championship. This year only the Rallye du Maroc and the Andalucía Rally counted towards the Rally3 championship. It should be noted that the RallyGP category enjoys the status of a World Championship where as the other categories (Rally2, Rally3, Quads) are classified as World Cups. In addition there is a manufacturers’ championship where a maximum of 3 RallyGP riders can be entered by a constructor with only the best two riders scoring points. Tomorrow we’ll look at the cars…
W2RC
With the second stage not being run, there are obviously no changes to the W2RC standings. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) is still 24 points ahead of Loeb who clearly doesn’t benefit from today's cancellation. In T3, 'Chaleco' Lopez (Can-Am Factory South Racing) is 29 points ahead of Cristina Gutierrez and 37 points in front of Quintero, the two Red Bull Off Road Junior Team contenders. And the best for last: in the T4 category the two leaders are currently tied on points with both Marek Goczal (Cobant-Energylandia Rally Team) and Rokas Baciuska (South Racing Can-Am) on 155 each. The third candidate, Austin Jones (Can-Am Factory South Racing Can-Am) is three points behind. He lost a lot of time on the first stage and will have a hard time overtaking any of his rivals in the general standings. In the bike race, where everything depends on the final general standings, Sunderland (GasGas Factory Racing) is still in second place, eight ahead of Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda).
QUOTES
Sam Sunderland (GasGas Factory Racing): “A little bit frustrating for everybody involved but you can’t choose the weather. Obviously we all want to race but the helicopters couldn’t take off and the priority always has to be safety. It was out of everyone’s hands – lets hope for a better day tomorrow.”
Glyn Hall (Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Principal, Rally Raid): “These things happen. I know that ASO and especially David Castera will be extremely disappointed and I know that if it had been humanly possible to make it happen David would have done so. We’ve got two more stages to go and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”
Sebastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme): "It's always frustrating when you think you're going to race and you can't, but the weather conditions were very tricky and the helicopters couldn't get to the special. That means we were not safe and in those conditions you don't take the risk of going out. The organisers cancelled the stage and I think it was the only thing they could do.”
