Sardegna Race Rally: marathon stage’s tit for tat

This year, Sardegna Race Rally does not give riders valuable points for the World Cup classification, but it doesn’t mean that any of the riders ease up. Rafał Sonik and Sebastien Souday are fighting tit for tat third day in a row. On Tuesday, they were in a tight duel, even though they knew that they wouldn’t be able to be helped by their service teams during the ad hoc bivouac at Sa Itria.

In many races, it is the marathon stage that casts the deciding vote about the final results. Each participant must decide whether they take the risk and stake everything on one card, whether they ease up a little, conserving their rides. Rafał Sonik and Sebastien Souday, who are fighting like crazy for the win in the Sardegna Rally Race, fought a very tight battle during the third stage, once again sharing the wins between them.

‘I won the first stage. I caught up with Sebastien at the end of the route. I still had a lot of power in me. I felt I was strong and that I could go hard. I think he was a bit irritated with navigation, because it became much more difficult during the last kilometres,’ reported Sonik.

During the second part of the second stage, the French rider, who started the section a few minutes after Sonik, caught up with him quickly and started to drive away. ‘He was going crazy fast! In the forest, when the shadows and light places hide holes and rocks, or on boulders – in each place when I tried to stay safe anyway. He risked a little, but he knows every nook and cranny here. Every little piece of the forest. It is his race, but we fought till the very end. And it will be the same tomorrow and the day after,’ promised Sonik.

Kamil Wiśniewski arrived at the finish line on the third place both times and this is also his position in the general classification. The most important thing is that the White&Red team arrived at the finish line of this stage at Sa Itria driving fully functioning quads. ‘We knew that the mechanics wouldn’t be allowed to service our quads, so we conserved our strengths. There are still two stages and four sections ahead of us, so a lot can happen. Sebastien is incredibly fast, but he is an ‘all or nothing’ rider. Last year, he was successful. This year, I’m not going to make his task easier,’ ended Rafał Sonik, with a smile.

On Wednesday, the riders will return to San Teodoro, when they began their race. The service teams will wait there, ready to prepare the quads for the Thursday’s final stage.

Results of the third stage:

First section:
1. Rafał Sonik (POL) 01:26.59
2. Sebastien Souday (FRA) +2.11
3. Kamil Wiśniewski (POL) +8.30

Second section:
1. Sebastien Souday (FRA) 01:26.35
2. Rafał Sonik (POL) +9.50
3. Kamil Wiśniewski (POL) +20.13

General classification:

1. Sebastien Souday (FRA) 09:06.52
2. Rafał Sonik (POL) +14.27
3. Kamil Wiśniewski (POL) +6:00.37