Alessandro Zanotti, who had been leading the race until the last stages of SS2, had one of his wheels broken while the Hungarian Matthias Somfai got a flat tire at the HunGarian Baja today (Saturday).
According to the racers, the tracks were extremely hard at the HunGarian Baja on Saturday. The outcome of the stages was unpredictable during the race. Alessandro Ruoso lost a four-minute-advantage against Alex Zanotti because of an unfortunate accident and now he is 16 minutes behind his rival. The situation is almost the same in quad category because Matthias Somfai lost his first place due to a puncture and now Kamil Wisniewski has a 12-minute-advantage.
It seems the competition will only be decided on Sunday in the FIM World Cup Championship race. The two stages mixed up everything in the quad and motorcycle categories on Saturday at the 10th HunGarian Baja. In both categories, the leaders had accidents and they have a big disadvantage compared to the current racers.
For a long time it seemed that the victory cannot be taken away from Ruoso. “My team indicated during the race that I had a comfortable lead so it is enough to finish the race safely. So I slowed down a little bit and tried to ride safely but unfortunately my back wheel got broken so I am just grateful that I could even finish the stage. The mechanics repaired the bike and despite the 16-minute-disadvantage I try to be positive and I will do everything for the win tomorrow.” – Alessandro Ruoso said.
Due to this accident, the first position was taken over by Alex Zanotti. His priority from now is to protect his advantage and finish the race safely. “SS1 was extremely hard but I think that the field was lot better at SS2. It was hard to see the rocks and the holes because of the high grass but I think that I was fortunate. It would be better for us if the cars started these kinds of track. My goal is to win the overall classification so I will not be dissatisfied if I do not win the stages tomorrow.” – Zanotti said.
The only woman in motorcycle category, Andrea Mayer, was glad for delivering the Yamaha in one piece. “The track was very hard and I am really tired but my motorcycle has no problems so I wait the next stages with high hopes.” – Andrea said. She is 10th in the overall classification and 3rd in her category.
The Hungarian Matthias Somfai raced really well at SS1 but he lost his first place because of an unfortunate accident. “We serviced the landing gear after the Superspecial and this change worked out really well. Unfortunately I got a flat tire so I was just able to finish the stage. Not only did I lose the first position but also I have a 12-minute-disadvantage.” – Somfai said. Now the leader is Kamil Wisniewski but the defending World Champion, Jose Luis Espinosa, is sneaking right behind the leaders.
“We could not bring our best technology to Hungary so I needed some time to get to know this vehicle. I think that I am getting better and better and I hope that I will be able to finish on high. To be honest I think the tracks are characteristic here and I really enjoy racing them.” – the ‘Black Knight’ said. The European Championship is lead by the Polish Lukasz Laskawiec, while the Hungarian Richard Hodola is the fifth and Lajos Horvath is the eight.