Dakar leader Barreda handed severe penalty
Dakar 2017 bikes leader Joan Barreda is among the three Honda factory riders who are to have an hour added to their times following Thursday's stage.
Photo by: A.S.O.
The Spaniard ended the day with an 18-minute gap over his nearest rival, Husqvarna's Pablo Quintanilla.
However, Barreda, along with teammates Michael Metge and Paulo Goncalves, was found to have refuelled in a prohibited zone during the Jujuy – Tupiza test.
The organisers have stated they are also looking into the data for Honda's fourth factory rider Ricky Brabec.
Honda can appeal the decision, although the insistence from Dakar representatives was that the offense had been clear cut.
Barreda's penalty promotes Quintanilla to the lead of the rally, with the Spaniard demoted to ninth, 41 minutes off the lead.
Matthias Walkner, Stefan Svitko and Sam Sunderland are set to start Friday's stage as Quintanilla's nearest rivals, the former pair having passed Sunderland in the standings after times were adjusted.
Several riders were awarded time after the stage following crashes for Toby Price, Armand Monleon and Alessandro Botturi, as various riders stopped to assist their stricken competitors.
UPDATE: After further investigation from the stewards, Brabec, Honda South America rider Franco Caimi and Honda Portugal rider Pedro Bianchi Prata have all been handed one-hour penalties.
Revised bikes standings after Stage 4:
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pablo Quintanilla | Husqvarna | 12h54m02s |
2 | Matthias Walkner | KTM | +2m07s |
3 | Stefan Svitko | KTM | +5m52s |
4 | Sam Sunderland | KTM | +6m12s |
5 | Gerard Farres | KTM | +12m02s |
6 | Xavier de Soultrait | Yamaha | +12m38s |
7 | Adrian van Beveren | Yamaha | +14m50s |
8 | Pela Renet | Husqvarna | +15m13s |
9 | Joan Barreda | Honda | +41m41s |
10 | Diego Duplessis | KTM | +42m15s |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments