Joan Barreda and Paulo Goncalves enjoyed a one-two victory at the opening stage of the Oil Lybia Morocco Rally. Barreda, who makes his debut at Team Husqvarna Monster Energy speedbrain, claimed an early lead on the 297 kilometers of special test and never looked back. The Spaniard arrived at the chequered flag 2:49 minutes ahead of his team mate Goncalves. Recently crowned Rally World champ Helder Rodrigues was already over seven minutes behind.

Veteran Dakar racer David Frétigné is not competing due to injury. But the Frenchman has helped to develop the latest generation of the team bike, the Husqvarna TE 449 RR by speedbrain.

The second stage over 266 kilometers leads through the Moroccon dunes. It will be a challenging day for Barreda and Goncalves, as they´ll have to lay the trail for the competition.

The Oil Lybia Morocco Rally is considered to be a perfect test and preparation field for the upcoming Dakar Rallye 2012, the team´s next big goal.

Results Stage 1
1. Joan Barreda (SPA) Husqvarna 3:53:15 hrs 2. Paulo Goncalves (POR) Husqvarna 2:49 Min behind 3. David Casteu (FRA) Yamaha 3:15 4. Helder Rodrigues (POR) Yamaha 7:10 5. Olivier Pain (FRA) Yamaha 7:10 6. Frans Verhoeven (NEL) Sherco 9:19 7. Jakub Przygonski (POL) KTM 12:08 8. Pal-Anders Ullevalsetter (NOR) KTM 17:58