Stage 2 of the Sonora Rally seemed to be an inversion of the first. The latter saw Ciaran Naran win while Mike Johnson received a massive time penalty.
On Tuesday, Johnson won the stage while Naran was penalized big.
After breezing by the “fun” and “little challenging” dunes, Naran initially beat Johnson by a comfortable 13-minute margin. After the ten minutes of penalties that Johnson incurred on Monday, it seemed as if Naran would cushion his advantage. However, Naran also knew he had gone too fast a speed-limited area.
“One of the little speed zones by the ranch caught me off guard,” Naran admitted. “It was a double note and I was too invested in that.”
Consequently, he was slapped with a 20-minute penalty that dropped him down to second for the day. He still leads Johnson in the overall by three minutes.
“The first part was pretty much just graded road, but there was some real navigation on the way back,” said Johnson.
Although Alan Mason finished sixth for bikes, he opted to retire after crashing; he was following Kyle McCoy before getting stuck in the dust, with the ensuing accident hurting his shoulder. He joins Larry Trim on the sidelines, the latter still working on his car’s cooling since it’s currently in no shape for the dunes.
Adolfo Alonso was fifth to leapfrog Ryan Nariño for the Dakar Dreams lead.
Stage 2 winners
Auto
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2WD | 207 | 207 | George LaMonte | 14:22:00 |
| 4WD | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | DNF |
| UTV Modified | 4 | 205 | Kirk Kontilis | 4:02:00 |
| UTV Stock | 1 | 202 | Jorge Cano | 3:32:08 |
| UTV Unlimited | 5 | 206 | Mike Shirley | 4:04:55 |
Moto
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro Moto | 1 | 8 | Mike Johnson | 3:38:03 |
| Rally Enduro | 4 | 14 | Matt Lube | 3:46:34 |
Overall leaders
Auto
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2WD | 7 | 207 | George Lamont | 20:30:54 |
| 4WD | DNF | N/A | No Finishers | DNF |
| UTV Modified | 6 | 205 | Kirk Kontilis | 10:08:52 |
| UTV Stock | 1 | 202 | Jorge Cano | 7:10:37 |
| UTV Unlimited | 2 | 206 | Mike Shirley | 7:39:14 |
Moto
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro Moto | 1 | 21 | Ciaran Naran | 7:12:47 |
| Rally Enduro | 6 | 12 | Alan Mason | 7:49:37 |
Featured image credit: Sonora Rally
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