One second came between Rafa\u0142 Sonik and Ignacio Casale at the finish line of the first stage of the Sealine Cross-Country Rally. The two Dakar Rally winners completed the entire stage as a duo. Even though the defender of the World Cup title tried to lose his rival, Casale kept up and tried to attack only at the last kilometres.<\/p>\n
\u2018The first stage is always very difficult at any rally. And this is particularly the case at the Qatar Rally, where we have to deal with complicated navigation and learn it very fast. Luckily, I made only a few minor mistakes today,\u2019 commented Sonik at the finish line.<\/p>\n
After the end of today\u2019s combat, Rafa\u0142\u2019s quad did not resemble the same vehicle that he raced on at the desert \u2013 it was covered in mud. The storms that went over Qatar a few days ago left many water in multiple places, surprising several participants, who flooded their engines. \u2018I had to be very difficult at times, in particular as it was me in the lead for 200 km of the special stage, and Ignacio kept close, leaving the navigation to me. He accelerated only at the dunes, at the end of the stage, where his Raptor turned out to be slightly faster than my Honda. Slightly, that is by one second,\u2019 laughed SuperSonik.<\/p>\n
This result of the Monday\u2019s combat means that the World Cup leader will have the opportunity to catch up at least two minutes on Tuesday. This is the difference between them at the start. Only a small mistake or lack of determination on the side of the Chilean might be enough for Rafa\u0142 Sonik to catch up with him. \u2018This is my fifth time here and I know that it\u2019s not possible to run away from your rivals here. In the past, me and Mohamed Abu-Issa used to fight like this. Now, everything indicates that it will be me and Ignacio that will fight for every second. I\u2019m very curious about the upcoming days,\u2019 commented Sonik. <\/p>\n
The first stage was also the shortest stage that waited for the participants at the Qatar Rally. \u2018Today, we were trying to set the pace to the difficulties in navigation. Initially, I didn\u2019t push, but later I caught on a rhythm. I hope that tomorrow will be another successful day,\u2019 ended Sonik, who will need to face 345 km on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Unfortunately, 20 km before the finish line Jakub Pi\u0105tek, a Polish bike rider, had an accident. The young participant was taken to hospital by the medical chopper. All Polish car teams completed the stage: Marek D\u0105browski and Jacek Czachor (6th place), Aron Dom\u017ca\u0142a and Szymon Gospodarczyk (21st place), Jarek Kazberuk and Robin Szustkowski (26th place).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One second came between Rafa\u0142 Sonik and Ignacio Casale at the finish line of the first stage of the Sealine Cross-Country Rally. The two Dakar Rally winners completed the entire stage as a duo. Even though the defender of the World Cup title tried to lose his rival, Casale kept up and tried to attack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n