The first stage win at the Andalusia Rally 2022 went to Honda newcomer Adrien Van Beveren. World Championship leader Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) didn’t show any weakness either.
The first stage of the season finale of the 2022 Rally Raid World Championship in Andalusia consisted of a 315 km long special stage, which mainly led over gravel roads through olive groves and wheat fields. The navigation shouldn’t be a challenge on the first day of the race, but some participants still had problems finding the right way.
Adrien Van Beveren, who switched from Yamaha to Honda after the retirement, swept through the special stage with the fastest time and crossed the finish line after 4:45 hours. His teammate Ricky Brabec, on the other hand, got lost and was also given penalty minutes for exceeding speed limits – the American is the only one who can theoretically still prevent Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) from winning the world championship. The Championship leader, in turn, followed Red Bull KTM’s Kevin Benavides on Stage 1 to finish the day in second.
“Yesterday David Castera said it would be easy navigation, but it was so difficult,” said day winner van Beveren. “There were many changes of direction. It was beautiful and very technical. But the road book fried my brain, very different from the desert. Nevertheless I enjoyed it. My bike is excellent for this type of terrain. It has a lot of traction when it’s slippery.”
Sunderland knows they are a day closer to winning the World Cup. «The first stage is done and out of the way. It was an intense stage, between olive trees and the terrain was difficult to read. But yes, overall we are one step closer to making it,” said the Englishman. “After winning the prologue, I wanted to start the stage 13th, but unfortunately it was a bit dusty out there. I thought the conditions would be perfect after the rain of the last few days, but I was wrong. After about 30 or 40 kilometers I found my rhythm.”
By the way: Tosha Schareina actually drives in Jorge Martinez’s rally team, but at the Andalusia Rally the GASGAS driver is integrated into the structure of BAS KTM.
| Rally Andalusia 2022 – result of stage 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | driver (nation) | Team | time/dif | Strafe |
| 1 | A. Van Beveren (F) | Monster Energy Honda | 04:45:33 | 00:00:00 |
| 2 | S. Sunderland (GB) | GASGAS Factory | + 0:02:34 | 00:02:00 |
| 3 | L. Benavides (AR) | Husqvarna Factory | + 0:03:53 | 00:00:00 |
| 4 | K. Benavides (AR) | Red Bull KTM | + 0:04:48 | 00:06:00 |
| 5 | T. Schareina (E) | BAS World KTM | + 0:07:13 | 00:03:00 |
| 6 | L. Santolino (E) | Sherco TVS | + 0:08:05 | 00:02:00 |
| 7 | J. Rodrigues (PT) | Hero Motosports | + 0:09:08 | 00:00:00 |
| 8 | R. Branch (BWA) | Hero Motosports | + 0:11:46 | 00:00:00 |
| 9 | R. Gonçalves (PT) | Sherco TVS | + 0:15:40 | 00:02:00 |
| 10 | R. Brabec (USA) | Monster Energy Honda | + 0:16:07 | 00:04:00 |
| 11 | Ji. Florimo Dogwood (CHL) | Monster Energy Honda | + 0:20:48 | 00:00:00 |
| 12 | S. Bühler (D) | Hero Motosports | + 0:20:49 | 00:02:30 |
| 13 | F. Caimi (AR) | Hero Motosports | + 0:33:18 | 00:06:00 |