Pablo Quintanilla has achieved a brilliant victory in the 2022 edition of the Atacama Rally after beating the brothers Luciano and Kevin Benavides. The also local and Honda rider Nacho Cornejo has been two minutes away from getting on the podium.
Paul Quintanilla has conquered for Honda the Atacama Rally 2022valid test for the FIM Bajas World Cup and one of the participating events of the ‘Road to Dakar’ initiative. The Chilean driver has shone at home to achieve victory over the Benavides brothers, with Luciano (Husqvarna) second and Kevin (KTM) third.
Quintanilla showed from the first stage that he had a great pace with the Honda and achieved his first partial victory on an opening day with 218 kilometers of travel. The good feeling of Honda confirmed on the second day of competition with the victory of Nacho Cornejo, something that did not prevent Quintanilla from continuing as leader. Pablo repeated the best time in the third stage.
Luís Diaz has won the ‘Road to Dakar’ award with his ‘Side by Side’ and now has free registration for the Dakar 2023
Honda’s Dominant Script It was confirmed in the last two days with a partial victory for Nacho Cornejo in the fourth stage. In the last one, the exercise of control by Quintanilla was total to win the rally with a total time of 17 hours, 35 minutes and 35 seconds. Lucaniano Benavides closed the test two minutes behind San Antonio, while Kevin Benavidez it stayed at 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
Despite his final efforts, Nacho Cornejo stayed at the gates of the podium, leaving Honda without a double. The also Chilean finishes 6 minutes and 25 seconds behind the leader. For its part, Daniel Nosiglia closed the ‘top 5’ of the Atacama Rally, although his pace cannot be compared to that of the four leading drivers, since at the end of the test he has lost more than an hour.
rest of winners
Although the Atacama Rally is a test associated with the motorcycle category and scoring for the FIM Baja World Cup, the Chilean appointment is also open to the ‘Side by Side’. A total of 29 light buggies took to the start, with a host of local drivers looking the ‘Road To Dakar’ awardan award given to the best rookie rider and which essentially means free registration for the next edition of the Dakar.
Hernán Garcés has scored the victory in ‘Side by Side’ together with Juan Pablo Latrach at the controls of his Can-Am, beating other pilots with great experience such as Rodrigo Cabellero or Jeremías González Fieroli. Ignacio Casale was also present at the test, but mechanical problems and a rollover took him away from the fight. With everything, the ‘Road To Dakar’ award went to Luís Diazan environmentalist who is preparing an interesting project for the Dakar 2023.
If news of Joan Barreda
The good work of Pablo Quintanilla and Nacho Cornejo in the Atacama Rally and the signing of Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren endorse HRC’s commitment to breathe new wisdom into its official team. This means, among other things, that, barring a radical turn of events, Spanish Joan Barreda is not in Honda’s plans. A movement that could bring the Castellón native closer to his retirement from the specialty, at least on two wheels.
In this sense, Joan Barreda’s file has disappeared from the project’s official website of Honda rally-raid, so it is understood that the Spaniard has left or will stop being part of the Monster Energy Honda Team, although it is also true that there has been no official communication in this regard by the Japanese brand.
Photos: Atacama Rally