PABLO QUINTANILLA RUNNER-UP AT MOROCCO RALLY’S PENULTIMATE STAGE

Playing host to the second and last part of the two-day Marathon stage, Monday’s stage four brought competitors back to their teams and assistance crews. Despite feeling the effects of a cold he picked up during the rally, Pablo Quintanilla kept his head down and went on to put in the second best time for the day. Looking ahead to tomorrow’s final stage, the Chilean will look to secure yet another strong stage result on Tuesday.

Andrew Short completed the day’s timed special less than 20 minutes behind Pablo. Securing yet another top-10 stage result, the American was ninth for the day. Currently 10th in the provisional overall standings, Andrew wants to put a positive end to his adventure in Morocco on tomorrow’s final stage.

Tuesday’s closing stage includes two timed specials of 128 and 70km each. Taking competitors back to the city of Fes, the stage features a total distance of 457km.

Pablo Quintanilla: “This Marathon stage was tough for me. I have been struggling with a cold these last few days and yesterday I felt the effects on my body. I did my best despite this set-back and I am happy I finished this Marathons stage without any problems. Today I pushed more and managed to put in a great time in the special test. Some parts of the special were tricky and confusing but I tried to retain a good pace and make up for the time lost on stage one. I’m now fourth in the overall and we have one more stage to go. I’ll try to get some rest this evening and the goal is to get back stronger tomorrow and continue pushing until the last kilometre.”

Andrew Short: “I felt strong today. The stage today was a little bit similar to the previous ones but it was nice to go through the big Merzouga dunes. I’m also happy I reached the finish of the two-day Marathon stage today. For me the Marathon stage is really cool in rally racing because you get to interact with other riders. It feels like a real adventure and you need the most of the resources available to prepare yourself and your bike for the following stage. Overall, I feel good on my bike and I am looking forward to ending this event with a good result tomorrow.”

2018 Morocco Rally – Stage 4 Provisional Classification
1. Toby Price (KTM) 03:43:41
2. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 03:50:41
3. Sam Sunderland (KTM) 03:51:28
4. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 03:54:24
5. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 03:57:02
6. Paulo Goncalves (Honda) 03:57:38
…
9. Andrew Short (Husqvarna) 04:09:33

2018 Morocco Rally – Provisional Overall Classification [After Stage 4]
1. Toby Price (KTM) 13:36:29
2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 13:43:56
3. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 13:63:16
4. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 14:04:20
5. Paulo Goncalves (Honda) 14:23:55
6. Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 14:49:11
7. Andrew Short (Husqvarna) 14:52:40