Drivers face the feared Jalapão Desert

Sertões International Rally is in its sixth day and riders face in the 330 km special the dreaded Jalapão Desert, from Palmas (TO) to São Felix de Tocantins (TO). Additionally, this Monday, competitors cannot touch the vehicles until tomorrow morning. It's the marathon stage.

Zé Hélio said that the day will be tricky. "The next stages should be the most decisive in the race. We will cross the center of Jalapão, in the heart of this extremely difficult region. It will be very important to be physically well and be very cautious with the equipment, to avoid any problem as we cannot rely on mechanical support", warned the five-time champion, who rides a BMW bike SpeedBrain G450 RR.

In addition to the difficulties in coming days, Zé Helio is still having problems for not having completed the third stage on the 13th. "I performed the 11th time yesterday (14), but I could not leave in this position because I have to stay behind all the riders who are competing in the World Championship. Today was the most technical stage of the rally, a full day and very difficult. Unfortunately I am still unable to race as much as I could due to the dust, I was 100% of the time inside a real cloud of dust", reported the rider.

The dispute - Yesterday (15th), the Spanish Marc Coma won the bikes category. The second was the Enduro FIM champion Felipe Zanol. "This duel is interesting, even especially because Zanol is new in the race. He is proving that he has the ability and will certainly be a good rally driver, concluded Zé Hélio.