Postponed due to the devastating wildfires that swept across Spain in July, the Baja Aragon finally took place this weekend, with Lorenzo Santolino claiming victory.
Warm and sunny conditions greeted the riders in the Aragón region for this fourth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup. The action got underway on Friday afternoon with a 6.5 km Prologue, where Lorenzo secured P2.
Saturday featured a packed schedule, with two special stages of 180 km and 151 km, respectively. Baja is a demanding discipline, requiring long hours of concentration, consistency and the ability to read the terrain. Lorenzo delivered a strong performance to win the day.
Sunday featured just one special stage – the 151 km Argente-Concud run. Santolino secured victory in both the FIM 450cc category and the Baja Aragón overall. He finished 11 min 29 sec ahead of the runner-up and 24 min 06 sec ahead of the third-placed rider.
Lorenzo Santolino:
“I’m very happy with the weekend. It wasn’t easy, but we won the race and that was the goal. It was important for me, for the team and for all our sponsors.
 
I wasn’t at 100% physically before the start. I got sick just before the race and on Thursday I really wasn’t feeling well. Despite that, I managed to push through and stay focused on our objective.
 
The prologue went well with a second-place finish, and then I had a very strong first special stage on Saturday, building a lead of more than one minute. The end of the day was more difficult physically, but we still managed to head into Sunday with a 1’37 advantage.
 
On Sunday, I was already feeling much better. I had a really good feeling with the bike, I really enjoyed the riding, and when we heard that our main rival had crashed, I was able to ease off the pace a little and secure the victory.
 
I’m really happy with this result. I found a really good feeling again with the rally bike, and it’s a great way to prepare for the next part of the season. The conditions in Morocco will obviously be very different from those of a Baja, but this victory is a very good result and, above all, excellent preparation for our main goal: the Dakar.”