Once again leading the way after dominating the event so far aboard his Ténéré World Rally fitted with three-stage GYTR kit, former hard enduro racer Pol Tarrés extended his lead in the general ranking to over an hour in another arduous and lengthy special in the third stage of the Morocco Desert Challenge.
Monday’s 361km ride (the second longest special of the event) saw riders travel across the challenging terrain parallel to the Algerian border with the added complication of no fewer than eight military check points. The terrain in this part of Morocco is among the most difficult of the event with only a limited number of tracks which are used exclusively to transport heavy military equipment, resulting in poor road conditions. The poor conditions, along with the military check points, mean speed is up and down presenting even further challenges to the riders on track.
Tuesday sees riders take on a slightly shorter stage with a 261km timed special, but with a further 108km in liaison, it will still be a long day on the bike covering over 300km for the third consecutive day.
Pol Tarrés – Stage 3: 1st General Ranking: 1st
Today we had another victory; they told us this stage would be easy but it was not! It was very difficult, both for navigation and the terrain. I was very happy to win as I made some mistakes, which is normal as I was riding all day alone after opening the track. Despite some mistakes, I was in the right place for all the important things and this meant we were able to finish ahead of our rivals and extend the lead to one hour. I am really happy as today I could push a lot, I was riding really well on a difficult track. The bike is in one piece and working very well, I am very happy about the new GYTR kits so I am looking forward to pushing on further tomorrow.”
Marc Bourgeois – Team Manager
It was a tough day today with a very long stage, so I am very proud of Pol because he continued his progress and increased his gap. It is not easy to maintain concentration when you open the track, so it is nice to continue like this. We need to continue step by step to reach the top. The bike is performing very well, the GYTR equipped Ténéré is proving very reliable as we have not had any issues so far, which is impressive especially on a very bumpy stage like this. Pol is performing very well, so we will see what tomorrow brings.
