Desafio Ruta 40: bathing in an ice-cold river, Sonik flees his rivals

‘That was the tiniest penalty possible that I could get. I drove through two rivers with flying colours, technically, as the experience dictates. But in one I made a mistake that could have cost me much more than a few minutes of a loss,’ said Rafał Sonik, who ended the first stage of Desafio Ruta 40 at the second place in the FIM classification.

Almost 340 km through the wilderness of Argentina. A lot of driving on rocky, mountain paths. Clouds of dust, labyrinths of ravines, dry riverbeds and crossing the streams flowing down the snowy peaks. With difficult navigation, technically challenging terrain, and many places dangerous enough so that they were accompanied by three exclamation marks in the roadbook to boot. This is what the first day of rivalry in the fourth round of the FIM World Cup series was like.

‘I recognized several characteristic points,’ said Rafał Sonik at the finish line. ‘Some sections of the special stage were the same as during one of the Dakar’s stages, but this time we drove in the opposite direction. It didn’t help me avoid a navigation error, when I drove into the wrong dried riverbed and Walter Nosiglia with several other quad riders caught up with me.

Losing a few minutes there turned out to be a stroke of luck. The Bolivian rider rushed forward, taking the entire “tail” of rivals with him. And in the meantime, the defender of the World Cup title maintained a solid pace and caught up with them in another ravine – one filled with water.

‘When I drove up, I saw two competitors helping to drag Kees Koolen’s quad out of the river. Only the driving wheel and navigation were above the water, so I have no idea how is it possible that his original vehicle reached the finish line at all… the engine and the exhaust system must have been completely flooded,’ wondered Sonik.

The other of the most dangerous rivals of the Polish rider was also out of luck. The leader of the World Cup classification, Alexis Hernandez, did not finish today’s stage and his quad was brought to the bivouac on a platform trailer. The failure, which went undiagnosed by the mechanics, probably excludes the rider from Peru from the fight for the first place in Desafio Ruta 40. If he does manage to arrive at the start line on Tuesday, the huge time penalty will most probably mean losing the position of the leader in the general classification of the series.

The only Polish player in the Argentinian competition might take advantage of that, even though he didn’t avoid adventures on the way. ‘Usually, when I cross a river, I go upstream for a while and then I drive on downstream. This time I did differently. And I fell down up to my waist into the water, which is ice-cold at this time of the year, because the rivers are supplied by water from the melting snow from the Andes’ peaks. Luckily, the quad did not die on me and the water did not reach the engine. But I couldn’t drive out of the river, and tugging to and fro, I managed to drag my quad to the bank with my own hands. I got chilly and I lost the stage win, but that was the smallest penalty I could get,’ he said.

What is important for the final result is the fact that the knee that Sonik injured during the Sardegna Rally is in much better shape now. ‘Even though the terrain is highly eroded, the pain that I feel on the bumps is less problematic than in Chile. Most importantly, the knee no longer swells afterwards. So, I’m ready for Monday and the stage that will take us from Villa Union to Tinogasta. I hope this stage will be yet another, good Dakar-style stage,’ he concluded.

Results of the first stage (FIM):
1. Pablo Copetti (ARG) 5:09.53
2. Rafał Sonik (POL) +5.48
3. Kees Koolen (NLD) +17.09
4. Rodolfo Guillioli (GUA) +23.07
5. Lucas Innocente (ARG) +29.38
6. Nicolas Robledo (ARG) +2:06.26
7. Nicolas Vidal (CHL) +4:13.59
8. Alexis Hernandez (PER) +4:20.07

Quads classification (FIM):
1. Pablo Copetti (ARG) 05:13.58
2. Rafał Sonik (POL) +5.51
3. Kees Koolen (NLD) +17.09
4. Rodolfo Guillioli (GUA) +23.17
5. Lucas Innocente (ARG) +29.50
6. Nicolas Robledo (ARG) +2:07.09
7. Nicolas Vidal (CHL) +4:15.11
8. Alexis Hernandez (PER) +4:20.24