– CS Santosh loses over an hour in the stage, slips in the ranking
The third stage of the Dakar Rally moved from Pisco to a very windy and dusty San Juan De Marcona. It was a very good stage for Hero MotoSports Team Rally’s Spanish debutant rider Oriol Mena, who overcame tough navigation to clock-in a fast time today and finish the stage at 13th place.
During the stage, he also stopped for a few minutes to help a fellow competitor who crashed in front of him. This may result in a time refund, which will further improve his rankings. By finishing the stage at 13th place, Mena also broke into the top 20 in overall rankings at the 20th position, pending the time refund decision.
On the other hand, C S Santosh lost a lot of time as he ran out of fuel, 30 km short of finish, due to a loose fuel cap. As a result, he slipped down in the rankings, closing the Stage 3 at 101st position and overall at 57th. With 9 more stages pending, he will aim to make up for as much lost time as possible.
The stage, which was described as “for the hardened off-roadies