The last two days of Rally Albania have been hellishly tough for the participants. The riders had to cover several hundred kilometers of the most difficult roads and off-road terrain, the days were even more difficult with all the natural elements at once. The heat was replaced by heavy rain and the clear skies by dark clouds. On the fifth day of the rally, however, the participants could breathe a little easier.
"After the last two days we finally have some time to recover. Today we finished a little after noon and only took about an hour and a half on the speed section. We really have a lot of nice time to prepare, to look through the technique again and to recover ourselves. The last two days, when we spent thirteen or fifteen hours on the track, were really tough," said CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team's quad racer Antanas Kanopkinas.
He also said that if he had had to ride for a few more days in the same mode as the last two, he does not know where he would have found the extra strength. About Thursday's speed section A. Kanopkinas said that the track was quite easy and fun, and he managed to finish first in the quad classification and fifth between motorcycles.
Adomas Gančierius, who had to start from almost the very back of the grid today due to a incident on the track yesterday, also said that the day was fun and everything went well: "I had to overtake the bikes many times in the middle of the track. I overtook maybe twenty bikes in total, and some of the overtaking was quite difficult, as the rising dust made it hard to see. I continued without any navigational errors, it was a fast speed section, so it was fun to ride. The equipment is in good shape after the night, so we'll move on."
Both team members were very grateful to their mechanics who spent the night fixing and preparing the quads for the days ahead. The mechanics only went to bed at 7am, the athletes said, because after a very difficult day yesterday, they had to check through all the bits and pieces of the quad bikes, which were under extreme stress.
With only two days of rally left and the entire caravan already nearing the finish line, the participants can't really relax yet. On Friday, they will have to tackle the longest stage of the rally, which will cover 450 kilometers. Starting in Berat, the riders will cross mountains and plains to Tirana, the capital of Albania, where they will have to ride the final stage on Saturday.
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