Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Adrien Van Beveren Takes Stage Victory For His First Race Of The Season in Qatar
aprile 20, 2016 - Yamaha Racing

Adrien Van Beveren Takes Stage Victory For His First Race Of The Season in Qatar

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The newly-appointed Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team's rider #adrienvanbeveren won the Sealine Cross Country Rally second stage today on his Yamaha #wr450frally in Qatar; a promising performance for his first race of the season, that also reflects the #yamaharacing mechanics hard work on the new bike set-up.

It was hot on track today for the second stage of the Sealine Cross Country Rally as Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team's riders Hélder Rodrigues and #adrienvanbeveren started their journey at 6AM local time. The mercury soared and the sweltering heat rose steadily to 37°C at noon. The competitors raced 100km more than yesterday, to complete a 346km timed special. The second stage was very demanding for the riders, with a route made of 85% rocky terrain in the desert and 15% abrupt dunes, with two track portions in the sand. The end of the stage was particularly tough, as the navigation got even more complicated, with constantly changing directions; there were endless possibilities on the Qatari desert's broad open tracks but only one path that led the riders to the Losail International Circuit, were the bivouac is set up.

Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team's Van Beveren is gaining momentum on his #wr450frally and scored a stage win today after a smart race. After a good start, on a steady pace, he first misread some road-book navigational notes just before refuelling. But then, the young rider stabilized his speed, coordinating the road-book playback whilst kept a podium pace. Van Beveren gained confidence over the distance as he was having a sensational ride on his #wr450frally. He made adequate track analysis in the last kilometres resulting in his first stage win of his first race of the new season. 

After Hélder Rodrigues' first stage win in Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge last week, this achievement is very encouraging for both Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team's riders for the upcoming steps as well as for the #yamaharacing technical crew that keep working hard on improving the bike's performance.

Hélder Rodrigues was on the virtual podium until the last check point of the race. The experienced rider proved again today, throughout most of the stage, that he still has what it takes. Unfortunately, he got caught up in a trap with other Dakar top-riders. On one of the most critical zones of the rally, a few kilometres before the finish, he made a reading mistake in his road-book. That prevented him from improving his overall score on today's second stage. He ended up 11th on the stage and remains sixth in the overall classification. 

Next Stage: Stage 3, April 20th 

For tomorrow's third stage, the Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team riders are preparing for quite the same stage format: a long road-book for a lengthy stage, with new navigational challenges on the rocky-sandy tracks in Doha's wilderness.