{"id":4882,"date":"2017-10-06T11:35:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T09:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rafalsonik.pl\/en\/?p=4882"},"modified":"2017-10-18T11:36:38","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T09:36:38","slug":"deciding-battle-world-cup-title-sonik-won-first-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rafalsonik.pl\/en\/rally\/deciding-battle-world-cup-title-sonik-won-first-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"The deciding battle for the World Cup title \u2013 Sonik won the first hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rafa\u0142 Sonik won the first stage of OiLibya Rally in Morocco and took the leader\u2019s place. His greatest rival, Kees Koolen, was only fifth, which opened the way for the Pole\u2019s ride for another World Cup title. \u2018There are still four days of hard rivalry ahead of us, and getting a place on the podium is still my goal, but I won\u2019t deny it that today\u2019s results are motivating,\u2019 smiled Sonik.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rivalry in the wilderness of Sahara is a feat for the fans since the very first kilometres of the race. Both quad riders and bikers are in for a deciding round, with the FIM World Cup and Championship title on the line. Among four-wheelers, the first hand went to Rafa\u0142 Sonik. Initially, Alexandr Maksimov was classified before him, but the Russian rider received a penalty of 3 minutes and went down to the second place.<\/p>\n

\u2018The atmosphere was quite nervous today. We didn\u2019t get the roadbook for the access road of almost 350 kilometres. We were led by the organizer, who first left a group of 30 bikers and quad riders at a gas station, and then failed to find the start line. We were driving alone, with our hearts in our mouths, in the pale dawn, but luckily the locals here are very friendly. They showed us which way the previous group went at crossings,\u2019 said Sonik.<\/p>\n

What Rafa\u0142 Sonik feared the most before today\u2019s stage of 800 km and special stage just shy of 300 km was the response of the injured ankle to the long hours of driving. \u2018It wasn\u2019t so bad. It hurts much less than I expected. Despite the long distance, this stage wasn\u2019t too difficult, so we\u2019ll see how it goes further down the road, at more difficult sections. It\u2019s good that I can keep up. I know that it\u2019s not the level of a champion, but I\u2019ll try to draw from my experience as much as I can. We are in for four days of serious racing,\u2019 added Rafa\u0142 Sonik, the defender of the World Cup title.<\/p>\n

Winning the stage and five minutes of advantage in the classification created a perfect opportunity for Rafa\u0142 Sonik, who is eight points behind Kees Koolen in the general classification of the World Cup. The Dutch rider is currently on the fifth place. \u2018I don’t feel too exhausted, even though I only managed four hours of sleep and I got off my quad after twelve and a half hours of driving. The first test of endurance will take place tomorrow. This is what I\u2019m now focusing on,\u2019 he concluded.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the riders will face 364 km of a special stage, which will take them through numerous wadis and sections of small dunes situated close to one another. There will also be sections that will let us feel the breeze in the hair.<\/p>\n

Results of the first stage<\/strong>:
\n1. Rafa\u0142 Sonik (POL) 03:41.06
\n2. Bruno da Costa (FRA) +0.14
\n3. Aleksandr Maksimov (RUS) +0.28
\n4. Sebastien Souday (FRA) +3.59
\n5. Kees Koolen (NLD) +5.29
\n6. Alexis Hernandez (PER) +5.53<\/p>\n

General classification<\/strong>:
\n1. Rafa\u0142 Sonik (POL) 03:52.16
\n1. Aleksandr Maksimov (RUS) +0.34
\n3. Bruno da Costa (FRA) +1.14
\n4. Sebastien Souday (FRA) +3.52
\n5. Kees Koolen (NLD) +4.58
\n6. Alexis Hernandez (PER) +6.21<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rafa\u0142 Sonik won the first stage of OiLibya Rally in Morocco and took the leader\u2019s place. His greatest rival, Kees Koolen, was only fifth, which opened the way for the Pole\u2019s ride for another World Cup title. \u2018There are still four days of hard rivalry ahead of us, and getting a place on the podium […]<\/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":[43,41],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe deciding battle for the World Cup title \u2013 Sonik won the first hand - Rafa\u0142 Sonik<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rafalsonik.pl\/en\/rally\/deciding-battle-world-cup-title-sonik-won-first-hand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The deciding battle for the World Cup title \u2013 Sonik won the first hand - Rafa\u0142 Sonik\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rafa\u0142 Sonik won the first stage of OiLibya Rally in Morocco and took the leader\u2019s place. 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