| 2010
UEM European Baja Championship
Round 2 - Baja Saxonia
Hohenmölsen, Italy
May 13-15, 2010
|
|
UEM European Baja Championship
- Round 2 - ATV Race Report
Martin Plechatý Seizes
the Overall Win & Rafael Acurcio De Sousa
Leads Points
| 2010
UEM European Baja
Championship -
Links
|
| |
|
Hohenmölsen,
Italy - Sand, one minute white,
the next minute black, shingle, mud, stretches of
grassland mixed with beautiful birch woods: if it
wasn’t for the bitter cold and rain, you would
have thought we were in Dakar; but no, we are just
a few kilometers from Leipzig, for the third annual
2010 Baja Saxonia where the Baja’s fastest
riders are always willing to try out new formulas
and exhilarating courses, were lined up with the
others on the starting line.
| |
|
The Baja Saxonia
facility that played host for Round 2
was a picturesque backdrop for the ATV
racing action that was about to begin
|
A total of 328 motorcycle, quad, car and truck
teams of from 15 different countries lined-up
for the start. 23 of those entered in the European
Baja Championship, first and foremost the true
Dakar champion, Josef Machacek, who seized a clear
victory in round one at the Italian Baja in Pordenone.
His fellow countryman Plechatý, on Yamaha
Raptor, and Portugal’s very young hopeful,
Rafael Alexandre De Sousa “Acurcio”,
on a Paoletti 450 accompanied him on the royal
box.
 |
Lukasz Laskaiec
from Poland ran his KTM 505SX ATV in the
Baja Saxonia
|
Spain’s Juanluis Marco Gonzales and Italian
Giuseppe Cuffaro were on the same vehicle as Acurcio.
Toffolatti and Scandola rode their inseparable,
powerful Can-Am Renegade 800s, the Poles Lukasz
Laskaiec and Klaudiusz Rostowski Jr turned out on
KTM, 505 SX and 525 2K respectively, while Czechs
Kubiena and Tosenowsky competed on Suzuki SV and
E-ATV Enduro. The competition comprised a
prologue and two special stages, giving a total
of around 500 km, 370 km of which were specials.
It was held over a vast mining area comprising
dirt tracks, lakes, quarries and woods around
the towns of Hohenmölsen and Profen.
 |
Josef Machecek
dominated the prologue stage on his Yamaha
Raptor
|
The 6 km prologue was disputed on Friday afternoon.
Needless to say, Machacek (Yamaha Raptor) seized
first place in 11’:42”, followed by
Acurcio (12’:05”) and countryman Plechatý
(12’:29”).
Then came Scandola in fighting form, Kubiena,
Toffolatti and Tosenovsky. Gonzales never really
got going and suffered a delay of 7 minutes.
 |
Acurcio De
Sousa Rafael wasn't immune to the bad
conditions as he found himself stuck in
the mud
|
Seven o’clock in the morning: the only real
concern for the entrants was the weather, which
over the previous days had made many parts the track
slippery and treacherous. Fortunately, rain held
off for the whole morning yet the gloomy overcast
sky remained hostile. The special stage was run
in five laps on a 41 km ring.The roadbook requirement
and six time checks left the Baja regulars extremely
confused, accustomed as they are to high speeds
and balises. Machacek snatched the best time
(2h:43’:05”), followed by Acurcio
10’:24” behind, and Gonzales 15’:43”.
|
