Joan Barreda wins the Baja Aragon Rally
By TMX Archives on 23rd Jul 17
Monster Energy Honda Team rider Joan Barreda has secured his fourth victory in the Baja Aragon with team-mate Michael Metge making it onto the podium, repeating third place.
The Baja Aragon concluded in Teruel with the victory of Joan Barreda and a podium place for Michael Metge. It is the fourth win in the Spanish race for the Castellon rider, who outclassed the opposition in each of the stages.
In the final stage of the 154-kilometre race, the Monster Energy Honda Team rider once again established the fastest time to become the victor of this 34th edition of the legendary Baja Aragón.
Metge finished in third place overall after a controversial five-minute penalty following a GPS error. It is the second consecutive podium for the French rider in Teruel.
For Monster Energy Honda Team the race marks the commencement of the racing season that will ultimately culminate with the 2018 Dakar. The next event will be the Atacama Rally in Chile with Paulo Gonçalves and Kevin Benavides, while Joan Barreda, Michael Metge and Ricky Brabec participate in the Vegas to Reno, in the United States.
"It is not easy to win the Baja Aragon and I am very happy to have won four times here," said a delighted Brareda. Although I have had some minor mishaps, I feel satisfied to have been able to overcome the circumstances when things weren't going right. I put in a good performance and so I'm happy about it.
We were looking for pace in this rally and I think we showed greater rhythm than the rest of the participants. Throughout the weekend we have attacked and it went well."
