Rafał Sonik at the start of the crucial rally in the race for the 2016 World Cup

The prologue at the track served as the opening to competition in the next edition of the Sardegna Rally Race. This round might be of key significance for the fight for the FIM World Cup, because the winner of a truly hot duel between Sonik and Casale will be in a much better situation before the next two rallies in the series. During the warm-up, the Pole was slightly faster. 

Theoretically, based on his experience and the specific nature of the rally, Rafał Sonik is this rally’s favourite. The current general classification leader has won the last three editions of the Sardegna Rally Race, and he feels totally at home among the narrow, steep, and rocky paths. His opponent from Chile has not yet raced in similar conditions. What is more, he took his Yamaha Raptor 700 for the route through the mountains, which will be much harder to drive along a difficult mountain terrain than the Yamaha YFZ 450 driven by Rafał Sonik.

‘Ignacio told me at the inspections that this rally might be the one to decide the winner of the World Cup. And he’s right. We both won Dakar, and now we have the opportunity to face each other in five completely different places around the globe. Here, on Sardegna, we are both determined to win, so this rally will surely be difficult, dangerous – and above all – interesting,’ said Rafał before the start.

The two great rivals cannot focus solely on the duel between them, because this year’s starting list also includes several other experienced quad riders. For example, Kamil Wiśniewski (second place last year), Sebastien Souday, or Antoine Lecomte. The host country will be represented by Enrico Ercolani.

The fastest participant of the prologue was a débutante in the cross-country world – Axel Dutrie from France. Rafał Sonik came up second, but his result was only a few hundredths of a second away from the Ignacio Casale’s and Sebastien Souday’s results.

‘The track was pretty bad already, but the prologue’s result has hardly any significance. The real fight begins tomorrow. Each year, I look forward to the Sardegna Rally Race, and when it finally begins, I get stage fright every time.  This rally is difficult and dangerous. First of all, this is because its route is very demanding, enduro-style, planned for bikers only. Quads find it very difficult to deal with it. Secondly, navigation is incredibly challenging, and thirdly – special stages, though short, are truly exhausting,’ says Sonik.

The first stage of 270 km is planned for Friday. Quad riders and bikers will go on a loop near Budoni – a town located at the north-east coast of Sardegna. The next two days are the marathon stage, with no technical support, and the rally will end with two loops near Arbatax, where the finish line is situated.

Results of the prologue

1. Axel Dutrie (FRA) 1.26
   2. Rafał Sonik (POL) + 0.03
   3. Ignacio Casale (CHL) + 0.03
   4. Sebastien Souday (FRA) + 0.03
   5. Kamil Wiśniewski (POL) + 0.08