Rafał Sonik on the podium of the World Cup series for the eighth time

On the last day of the OiLibya Rally, Rafał Sonik jumped onto the third step on the podium and as such, sealed his “silver” result in this year’s World Cup series. ‘Sure, as any other ambitious sportsman, I was aiming for the gold medal and the seventh trophy in my career, but as I look back at what I lived through this season, I’m satisfied. The eight place on the podium in the career is just as good as a win.

The last stage of rivalry in the Sahara was to decide both on the fate of the rally and on the final order in the World Cup general classification. ‘There was only a slight chance that anything changes in the classification, but the fight continues until the very end. In Qatar, when I was moving like a snail through the desert, with a broken axle, I was convinced that Alexis Hernandez took away my win. But he also experienced a serious equipment failure and I won. Had I given up, I wouldn’t have worked my way up to the podium in the general classification,’ emphasized Sonik.

Unfortunately, the Qatar scenario did not repeat itself in Morocco. The win in the last stage went too Kees Koolen, who threw Sebastien Souday off the first place at the last moment. The Dutch rider won OiLibya Rally and won the first World Cup trophy in his career.

‘Kees Koolen drives a phenomenal quad that was developed by him and his team for the past several years. This season proved that even though his quad has better parameters and can do more, I’m still able to compete with him. I just need to be sound in body. Unfortunately, I had to deal with a knee injury in South America, and later with a broken bone in my ankle. These injuries foiled my plans, but I’m still satisfied that I didn’t give in to the pain. There is no other thing that brings such joy than the moment when we again and again beat our limits,’ he summarized.

During the final stage of the rally, Sonik fell into another navigation trap set by the organizer. ‘I had to go back to pass a waypoint and I had to drive close to 30 additional kilometres. I reported the mistake in the roadbook to the organizers, but it couldn’t have affected the final result.

‘The time has now come to celebrate,’ added Sonik, who won the World Cup trophy six times already. ‘I’d love to enjoy the first place and another ‘gold’ trophy in my collection, but standing on the podium after such a difficult, exhausting and painful season is enough of an award. Now it’s time to take some rest. In two weeks, we’ll start getting ready for the Dakar Rally. This will be my tenth time there and the anniversary, 40th edition of the marathon. There can’t be a better time to fight for a Bedouin, can it?’ concluded “SuperSonik”, who now has six gold and two silver medals in his collection.

Results of the fifth stage:

1. Kees Koolen (NLD) 02:16.14
2. Bruno da Costa (FRA) +0.56
3. Dmwitryi Shilov (RUS) +5.13
4. Rafał Sonik (POL) +6.17
5. Alexander Maksimov (RUS) +6.43

General classification:

1. Kees Koolen (NLD) 12:30.42
2. Bruno da Costa (FRA) +3.46
3. Rafał Sonik (POL) +12.45
4. Sebastien Souday (FRA) +27.09
5. Alexis Hernandez (PER) +50.50

Final World Cup Classification:
1. Kees Koolen (NLD) 109
2. Rafał Sonik (POL) 92
3. Hernandez (PER) 84
4. Rodolfo Guillioli (GUA) 47
5. Ignacio Casale (CHL) 28