After starting the prologue #1, Dakar winner Ricky Brabec had another tough day at the office, finishing ninth in the second stage, and dropping to seventh in the overall Andalucia Rally standings. Meanwhile fellow American Andrew Short seems to be adapting to his new Yamaha set-up, finishing 6th on the stage and nearly a minute ahead of Brabec. It was Brabec’s Honda Teammate Kevin Benavides finished second on the stage and taking the overall lead.
Following team orders to take it easy in Andalucia, Brabec said, “It was a good day. The second special was the same as yesterdays. Not much going on there; just a bit rougher terrain and more fesh-fesh on the corners." Despite taking it easy, Brabec is still 7th overall and Top American on elapsed time.
“The first special was difficult,” admitted the American Ace. “These guys are really fast and these roads are really scary and really slippery. We are taking no chances. We are just cruising out here and enjoying the scenery. Two days left, and just trying to get to the finish so that we can go home and prepare for the Dakar.”
Today’s challenge sees the longest stage of the race with a total of 434 kilometres, including a single 300-kilometre special to be held in the province of Seville.
