Valid for the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship for bikes and quads, Sertões attracts major national and international names. Among UTVs, record with 23 vehicles entered in competition
For the second consecutive year, the Rally dos Sertões – Country main off road competition – part of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) in the bikes and quads categories. In 2014, Brazil will be the penultimate event of the World Championship, which features six races worldwide. Therefore, major brands and large national and international beasts will race at the rally 22nd edition next month, with the start in Goiânia (GO), on August 24th, towards Belo Horizonte (MG), stage of arrival on the 30th.
With major brands of bikes entered – with the official KTM factory team, international and national Honda, and competitors with bikes Kawasaki, Yamaha and Husqvarna – the duel will be strong. 40 are enrolled, divided into subcategories FIM 450 cc, Marathon, Open Production, Super Production and Over 45.
Sertões Champion in 2010, Spaniard Marc Coma, KTM, is one of the stars confirmed in the main category, the FIM 450cc, and will have a tough battle with the defending champion of the Brazilian race, the Portuguese Paulo Goncalves, Honda.
Coma – Third in Sertões past year – is leading the world championship, with 51 points, and Gonçalves comes in third with 44. Other highlights in the modality will be the Spaniard Jordi Viladoms (KTM), fourth in the world rankings, and the Portuguese Helder Rodrigues (Honda), who is in fifth. The international “fleet” still have the bikes Frenchman David Casteau (KTM), the British Sam Sunderland (KTM), the Portuguese Ruben Faria (KTM), among others.
In total, between bikes and quads are now 17 international riders confirmed with representatives from Spain, UK, Portugal, South Africa, France, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
To face the foreigners, Brazil will also have their beasts in the category. Sertões World Champion, Jean Azevedo is confirmed in the Honda team and will compete in FIM 450cc. The São Paulo was the best Brazilian rider in the 2013 edition bikes, finishing fourth in Super Production category, even after having suffered a right shoulder injury just before Sertões and left without fully able to fight for the title.
Other confirmed Brazilians are Nielsem Bueno (Honda), Vicente de Benedictis Neto (KTM), Guto Klaumann (Honda), Ike Klaumann (Honda), Leandro Silveira (Yamaha), Ramon Oliveira Sacilotti (Kawasaki), and others.
In the quads category, the Polish Rafal Sonik (Honda) also wants to fight for his second title in the Sertões. Champion in 2010, he was surpassed in 2013 by the Brazilian Robert Nahas, who took the title. Sonik comes packed with the leadership in the world, which has 77 points.
But both Nahas, as Marcelo Medeiros – champion in 2012 and second last year – and Tom Rose (winner in 2011) are also among the favorites. In the last edition, Nahas and Medeiros staged a fierce dispute, alternating wins with very close times. Nahas got the better by just 2min10s. The category will have 19 quads in 2014, divided into FIM and Quads Quads.
UTVs record
Since it debuted in Brazil events, the Rally dos Sertões Series 2011 the UTV category is the fastest growing in the rally, attracting riders for the dispute competing in the categories bikes, quads and cars.
In the 22nd edition of Sertões, the modality will be 23 vehicles, divided into Production and Super Production.
Carlo Collet, champion in the 2013 edition, will race for another title, as well as Bruno Sperancini, champion in 2012. Last year’s vice champion Rodrigo Varela will also be in the fray. Three with UTVs Can-Am.
One of the novelties in the category is the arrival of Zé Hélio, who will compete with UTV Polaris. Rally World Champion in motorbikes, he is the newest member of the modality that captured the rally competitors around the country. The category also have two UTVs from France, official team Xtreme Plus, with the experienced Carlos Ambrósio and Leandro Torres.
In addition to the bikes, quads and UTVs, the Sertões also has the categories cars and trucks contest. The competition starts in Goiania on 23rd August, with the prologue and the promotional start in the renovated Goiania International speedway.