Adrien Van Beveren delivered a committed performance during the second full-day of racing at the Merzouga Rally to finish in second position.
Continuing his strong run at this year’s event his teammate Helder Rodrigues came home in fifth, with the Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team duo currently occupying third and fourth in the general classification.
Featuring a large amount of racing in deep sand, stage two of the 2016 Merzouga Rally was another test for Adrien and Helder’s navigational skills. Powered by his WR450F Rally machine Adrien posted the fastest time in the first of the day’s two special stages. Making up almost three minutes on the race leaders the Frenchman kept pushing hard to complete the day in a time of 04:53:03 – a little more than one-minute behind the day’s winner Gerrard Farres.
“My plan for the day was to push hard for a good result and to make up for the time lost yesterday. Again there were lots of dunes with tricky navigation but I was feeling good from the start. I attacked the first special stage and ended up posting the fastest time in the overall.,” said Adrien Van Beveren “Then I caught Helder and we rode the second part of the day together. There were places with lots of dust and others full of stones, so I tried to stay focused and avoid mistakes. I’m happy with second from today. My feeling on the bike keeps getting better. We also made small improvements in the suspension set-up and the bike gives even more confidence in the off-piste sections.”
Remaining focused on his goal of a good overall result Helder Rodrigues had the demanding task of opening several of the day’s tracks. Putting in a mistake-free performance aboard his WR450F Rally bike, the Portuguese rider wrapped up the day with the fifth best time.
“It was another good day for us. I was the second rider to start the stage and found myself having to open the tracks on more than one occasion. Overall, I had a good pace today and I’m pretty happy with my navigation as well. It was another day with lots of sand and dunes and my goal was not to make any mistake or loose a lot of time anywhere. The more time I spend on my bike the more comfortable I feel to push and that’s great for the rest of the race. Tomorrow is going to be an even harder day but we’re ready for it. My bike feels great and everything is moving in the right position to keep on fighting for a good overall result.”
Stage three of this year’s event will see riders do battle in a 223km special stage. In addition it will also be the first day of the event’s marathon stage, with riders forced to perform all maintenance on their bikes by themselves within a designated marathon bivouac.
