Rally dos Sertões: Varela, Baumgart and Spinelli fastest cars in the prologue./ Goncalves, Azevedo and Coma fastest in bikes Saturday

In his 16th participation in the Brazilian "Rally dos Sertões", the World Rally Cross Country champion Reinaldo Varela showed a strong pace this Saturday during the prologue in Goiânia.

With his co-driver Gustavo Gugelmin, he did the fastest time in the 10 km dispute, which set the starting order for the 1st stage of the 22nd edition of the Rally, which leaves Goiânia on Sunday (24) towards Caldas Novas.

Aboard a prototype of 340 HP, Varela and Gugelmin (Overdrive Toyota Hilux) recorded the time of 00:05:59 minutes. Cristian Baumgart and Kleber Cincea (NWM Ford Ranger) also did a good start and ended the prologue with a time of 00:06:12 mins. The four-time Rally dos Sertões champion, Guilherme Spinelli and Youssef Haddad (Mitsubishi ASX Petrobras) were the third duo (00:06:13).

Forty-five cars participated in the prologue. Besides the four entered duos in the FIA T1 category, there are 10 competitors in the T1 Prototypes, nine in the Pro Brazil, seven in the Super Production, four in the Production, four in the T2 category and 11 in the T2 Production / TR4.

In the trucks, six-time Rally dos Sertões champion, Edu Piano and the co-drivers Solon Mendes and Antonio Carlos de Sales (Ford Racing Truck) were the fastest on the trucks, with the time of 00:07:44 minutes. The trio Felicio Tadeu Bragante / Ricardo de Paula Costa / Paco Corder (Ford F4000) was the first runner-up (00:08:20), followed by duo Kenner Garcia / Rafael Dal Bello (Ford F4000), with the time 00:08:37.

This Sunday (24th), the competitors depart towards Caldas Novas in the dispute of the 1st stage of the Rally dos Sertões 2014. It will be 216.21 km in total on the first day (40.50 km of initial liaison, 155.65 km of special and 20.06 km of final liaison).

Between Goiânia and Belo Horizonte, Sertões will go through five more cities. Three will host the rally for the first time: Catalão, Paracatu and São Francisco. Caldas Novas and Diamantina complete the route.

Besides cars and trucks, the Sertões also has disputes in the categories of bikes, quads and UTVs. There are seven stages, more than 2600 km (1572 km of special). The dispute has 197 competitors in total from seven countries: Brazil, Chile, Spain, France, Poland, Portugal and the UK. In bikes and quads category, the Sertões will also be valid for the FIM World Cross Country Rally. 

The prologue of the "Rally dos Sertões" was held this Saturday (23rd) in Goiania (Goiás State) and set the starting order for the 1st stage of the Rally dos Sertões, which starts on Sunday (24th) its 22th edition, towards Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais State).

Defending the title on bikes, the Portuguese Paulo Gonçalves (Honda HRC Team) was the fastest on the 10 km track in a straight line, with a time of 00:06:01 minutes. The Brazilian Jean Azevedo (Honda Mobil Rally) also showed that he is among the favorites to fight for his sixth title in the Sertões and finished as the first runner-up (00:06:08s). The Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM Red Bull Factory Team), who is leading the FIM World Cross Country Rally, was third (00:06:20).

Thirty-seven bikes competed in the prologue. "It was a short special. I got a really nice time. The grid is very strong and I need to go well to recover in the FIM World Cross Country Rally", said the Portuguese, who does not consider bad being the first to start tomorrow towards Caldas Novas (GO), which will be the final destination of the 1st stage.

"It will not be so bad, because of the dust, but we will still discuss with the team the best position", said. The first 10 riders in the prologue can choose the starting position in the initial stage.

In the fight between the quads, the Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros (Taguatur Racing), winner of the Rally dos Sertões in 2012, was the best in the prologue, beating the current champion Robert Nahas (second) and the Polish Rafal Sonik (third). Seventeen quads were in the prologue.

With 21 UTVs in the dispute, the category also had a good fight during the prologue. José Hélio and Edmilson de Camargo Jr. (Polaris Racing) were the fastest (6min41s). The second and third were the duo Rodrigo Varela / John Henry Arena (Divino Fogão Rally Team) and Gustavo Xavier / Breno Rezende, respectively.