Eryk Goczal finally a Challenger winner with Aragon victory

After a irritating ten months, Eryk Goczał is lastly atop a Challenger podium after dominating the Baja España Aragón in Spain.

Goczał set the quickest time among the many fifty-seven Challenger entries throughout the Prologue and each timed levels, good for fourth total in FIA World Baja Cup behind a trio of Final vehicles. This sweep got here regardless of a number of the most stacked competitors he’s confronted thus far that included 2023 FIA European Baja Cup class vice champion Ghislain de Mévius and the nice Nasser Al-Attiyah, the latter working his maiden Challenger race and the thrice defending Baja Aragón outright winner.

The 2023 Dakar Rally SSV winner, Goczał graduated to Challenger forward of the 2024 version, successful a stage in his class début on the Rallye du Maroc earlier than retiring with a mechanical failure the following day and being reprimanded for violating Moroccan regulation concerning beginning a fireplace for assist. He then dominated the primary half of the 2024 Dakar earlier than being disqualified halfway for a noncompliant clutch. That was his final race thus far earlier than Aragón.

“In Baja Aragon I needed to race in opposition to one of the best – particularly the one finest… and we did it,” wrote Goczał. “We defeated Nasser Al-Attiyah and I’m happy with it. These outcomes present that step-by-step we’re doing higher and higher and we’re getting nearer to fulfilling our dream, i.e. to the highest class – T1. We nonetheless have a whole lot of work to do, we all know the place to enhance, so we’re already beginning preparations for the following begins.”

Whereas he got here up brief, de Mévius’ brother Guillaume de Mévius received the race within the FIA World Baja Cup forward of Rokas Baciuška. It was Guillaume’s first Aragón win however the sixth for his new navigator Mathieu Baumel, who received his first 5 with Al-Attiyah. Baciuška, the World Rally-Raid Championship’s Challenger factors chief, was working his third Baja in Final with plans of shifting as much as the class full time in 2025.

João Ferreira beat Nani Roma for third in FIA; Roma was racing a Ford Ranger for Previous-Racing in aid responsibility of the injured Daniel Alonso, and his fourth was good to win the Spanish Cross-Nation Rally Championship points-paying facet. Yazeed Al-Rajhi in all probability might have accomplished a Toyota Hilux podium sweep with de Mévius and Baciuška if not for a damaged bolt within the decrease A-arm throughout the first leg.

The weekend started on a somewhat inauspicious be aware for a lot of Challenger and SSV drivers, who acquired €500 fines stemming from homologation violations throughout pre-race scrutineering in Teruel. Florent Tafani and Victor Verdú didn’t have FIA Technical Passport stickers on their vehicles, which had been rebuilt previous to the occasion and the group forgot to re-add them, whereas 2024 Dakar SSV runner-up Jérôme de Sadeleer didn’t current his roll cage homologation certificates. Pau Navarro‘s Yamaha arrived at inspections late although the FIA permitted a waiver.

Yasir Seaidan, a last-minute addition to the grid in his first Challenger begin, and co-driver Omar Allahim had been collectively docked €1,000 when Allahim by chance pressed the change to ask for medical help when their automotive suffered a flat tyre throughout SS1. Claude Fournier was penalised fifteen minutes the identical stage after ignoring an overtake request from Andrea Succi, which Fournier and Serge Gounon defined was as a consequence of misunderstanding the info given on their Stella machine. Whereas Fournier’s penalty was formally for impeding Succi, the latter was disqualified anyway after receiving help from an unknown particular person.

Even de Mévius was not secure from the FIA’s wrath, being fined €8,000 (half suspended barring no repeeats) as a result of two of his rims had been under the mandated weight of twelve kilograms by .022 kg.

T3.U, a brand new subcategory of Challenger for electrical and hybrid vehicles, made its début with Apache Automotive‘s trio of rally drivers Pierre-Louis Loubet, Charles Munster, and Julien Saunier. Munster, a newcomer to cross-country rally, completed one of the best of the trio with a twenty-ninth in Challenger. Loubet withdrew earlier than the final stage in an effort to make the journey to Finland for the World Rally Championship-2’s Rally Finland.

Baumel was not the one repeat winner in Aragón as Tosha Schareina notched his third in a row on a motorbike amongst FIM Bajas World Cup entrants. Edgar Canet and Lorenzo Santolino rounded out the order, with Neels Theric narrowly lacking out on scoring Kove Moto’s first FIM Bajas podium in fourth. Dakar Rally2 winner Harith Noah suffered a technical drawback on the Prologue whereas his GPS malfunctioned on the final leg, however he fought his option to a seventh.

Schareina’s FIM E-xplorer World Cup team-mate Aishwarya Pissay completed second within the Girls Trophy battle.

The brand new Path class was a duel of Aprilia Tuareg 660s within the marque’s first time at Baja Aragón. Jacopo Cerruti, winner of the Africa Eco Race in January, overcame a crash on the second day to win forward of Francesco Montanari. Though not grouped with the 450cc classes, Cerruti’s time would have ranked him eleventh total.

“The rally was extraordinarily bodily regardless of being brief, and it was additionally difficult as a result of the vehicles went forward of us on each Saturday and Sunday, making the terrain really troublesome,” commented Cerruti. “I’m extraordinarily glad and happy with the best way the bike carried out.”

Journey bikes and people over the normal FIM 450cc additionally starred on the Spanish Open facet within the Path and MaxiTrail courses. Joan Pedrero‘s Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 topped MaxiTrail forward of Jordi Quer Molgó‘s KTM 890 Journey R, whereas Cristian España Muñoz received Path on a 500cc Sherco SEF Manufacturing unit over the KTM 690 Enduro R of Sergi Sangra Lluch. Pedrero additionally claimed the Open Veteran Trophy for these over forty-five.

Different bikes in Path included the KTM 500 EXC-F and Husqvarna FE 501. MaxiTrail additionally featured a 1290cc KTM Tremendous Journey R (fifth with Ignacio Sanchis Utrabo and eighth with Daniel Albero Puig), a Yamaha XT660Z Ténéré (Alberto Yañez García, sixth), and a BMW F 850 GS (Fernando Paz Salinas, seventh).

“Congratulations to Joan and your complete group for this unbelievable achievement,” mentioned Kolja Rebstock, the regional vp of Europe, Center East, and Africa for Harley-Davidson. “The fortieth version of the distinguished Baja Aragón marks a historic milestone and permits us to as soon as once more show that the Pan America delivers unmatched outcomes each on- and off-road.”

General outcomes

FIA

Final

Challenger

SSV

Truck

FIM

450cc

Quad

Path

Nationwide class winners

CET Raid TT

CERTT