Making short work of a demanding stage three at the 2018 Atacama Rally, Pablo Quintanilla has secured stage victory and regained the lead in the event‰Ûªs provisional overall standings.
With two stages still be to run in the Chilean desert, the reigning world champion enjoys a lead of four minutes and 56 seconds in the provisional overall.
Featuring a mixture of sandy terrain and fast dusty roads, stage three of this year‰Ûªs Atacama Rally was challenging for all competitors. Making use of his vast experience in tricky stages, Pablo rode a faultless stage and was the only rider to post an overall time below the three-hour mark. Over than three minutes faster than his rivals, the Chilean rally star has taken control of the race with two more stages to go.
‰ÛÏIt was a really good day for me. Every day that goes by I feel more and more confident to push hard on my bike," Quintanilla said. "Today I had a really good start position and took advantage of it. I tried to remain focused on my navigation and it paid off. I am happy with this stage victory. We‰Ûªre making great progress despite this being a physically demanding rally. Fortunately, the pain on my injured back is not so bad and I can ride the way I know how to. Everything has been going according to plan and I will try to keep this momentum going until the end of the event.‰Û