The Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team has battled through a challenging third stage at the Silk Way Rally with Adrien Van Beveren faring best and placing seventh overall. Finishing close behind in eleventh was Andrew Short, who lost a lot of time following a mistake at a river crossing. Frustratingly for Ross Branch, the early race leader’s participation in the rally is over following a technical issue while leading today’s stage.
Due to a rise in coronavirus cases in Mongolia, Silk Way Rally organisers were forced to re-route the course to avoid entering the country. The revised schedule keeps the event within Russia and will now be played out over a total of five stages with the third stage, and the first leg of the event’s marathon stage, taking place today. The mixed terrain special included the additional hazard of multiple river crossings, which provided a serious challenge for all riders.
Adrien Van Beveren secured another consistent result on stage three with the Frenchman bringing home his Yamaha WR450F Rally in seventh place. Maintaining a consistent pace throughout the 133-kilometre special, Adrien knew the importance of conserving his machine on leg one of the marathon stage and finished just under eight minutes behind the stage winner.
For Andrew Short, the third stage of the Silk Way Rally proved to be a frustrating one. A small crash early on slowed his pace, before a mistake while crossing a river resulted in the American’s bike becoming fully submerged in the water. Fortunately, Andrew was able to fire his Yamaha WR450F Rally back into life and successfully completed the stage, in 11th place.
Entering day three with the provisional rally lead, Ross Branch began the stage on a positive note by passing through the first waypoint as the fastest rider on the special. Frustratingly, Ross’ bike would suffer from a technical issue shortly after, bringing the race to a premature end for the early race leader.
With the revised schedule, the second leg of the event’s marathon stage will take place tomorrow on the same route as today. Upon completion, the riders then face just one more day of racing on Tuesday 6 July.
Adrien Van Beveren – Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team
“It wasn’t the best day for me but it could have been worse. There was a lot of water and vegetation and when I can’t see the terrain I don’t like to push and risk mistakes. I decided to take the safer option of riding consistently to reach the finish and for tomorrow, as I will know the stage a little better, I hope to push a little bit harder.”
Andrew Short – Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team
“Not a great day but I’m thankful to have reached the end of the stage in one piece. I had a small crash early on while reading my roadbook in a rocky section, but then, later on, I made a big mistake crossing a river and the bike was completely under water. I was able to get the bike going again but I lost a lot of time. It was obviously frustrating but besides that, I’m happy to still be in the race as it could easily have been over for me today.”
Ross Branch – Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team
“It’s really disappointing to end the rally like this. I really enjoyed everything about the Silk Way Rally, the terrain, the landscapes, everything. The first two stages were so much fun and to be leading the rally was an awesome feeling. There were so many fans too, which was great to see and the vibe was just really good here. I felt really awesome on the bike and even today I was the fastest rider early on, so I know I have the pace. But this time it just wasn’t to be for me. I’m happy to leave here healthy and I hope that my teammates can finish the rally strong.”
Silk Way Rally 2021
Stage 3 Provisional Classification
- Matthias Walkner (KTM) 1:32:21
- Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 1:34:24 + 0:02:03
- Franco Caimi (Hero) 1:35:36 + 0:03:15
- Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 1:38:24 + 0:06:03
- Sebastian Buhler (Hero) 1:38:48 + 0:06:27
- Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 1:39:14 + 0:06:53
…
- Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 1:40:09 + 0:07:48
- Andrew Short (Yamaha) 2:11:15 + 0:38:54
Silk Way Rally 2021
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 3)
- Matthias Walkner (KTM) 3:49:24
- Franco Caimi (Hero) 3:51:47 + 0:02:23
- Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 3:54:33 + 0:05:09
- Sebastian Buhler (Hero) 3:57:36 + 0:08:12
- Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 3:58:51 + 0:09:27
- Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 3:59:27 + 0:10:03
…
- Andrew Short (Yamaha) 4:31:46 + 0:42:22
