– CS Santosh gains good ground, moves to 34th in overall rankings
For the bikes, Stage 11 was the first leg of the Marathon stage as they covered a liaison of 205 kms and a special stage of 280 km to camp overnight in the Fiambala Mountains.
Oriol Mena continued with his great form today as well to finish the first leg of the Marathon at 9th position. This result allowed him to break into the overall top 10 position at the 10th spot.
After having a forgetful day yesterday, CS Santosh played it steady today to gain as much ground as he could in the last few remaining stages. He did really well to reach the Fiambala bivouac today to finish the stage at 33rd place which now takes him to the overall ranking of 34 at the end of stage 11.
Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally left the riders without the assistance crew for the second time in the rally. Today they will be left to their own devices to tend to themselves as well as their bikes. The stage, challenged the riders with lots of lose sand and some bit of soil.
Moving on tomorrow, the Stage 12 will take the competitors to San Juan and one more day closer to the finish line at Cordoba but not before their physical strength and endurance is put to test with many twists and turns and stony sections. With only 3 stages remaining now, the rally will look to get into the 6th gear with all competitors pushing hard to maximize their positions.
Oriol Mena (Comp #61): « Today was another important first leg of the Super Fiambala Marathon stage. The starting order for today was mixed with trucks and cars so it was really confusing in the beginning. The navigation as well was quite tough and the soft sand made it quite physically exhausting, making the stage look longer than it was. But everything went very well, the bike was working great. I am happy to make it to the bivouac and to have another good finish today. »
C.S Santosh (Comp #49): « Today I was still very tired still from yesterday so my mission was to make it to the marathon bivouac today. I am happy to be here as I got another tough day in the bag today. Now I just need to get some rest and renew my energy and focus for the second leg of the marathon stage tomorrow. »
Provisional Stage 11 Classifications
1. Toby Price, RedBull KTM Racing, KTM, 04h 01m 33s
2. Kevin Benavides, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, +01m 38s
3. Antoine Meo, RedBull KTM Racing, KTM, +06m 31s
9. Oriol Mena, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +27m 00s
33. C.S. Santosh, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +01h 25m 08s
Overall Provisional Classifications after Stage 11
1. Matthias Walkner, RedBull KTM Racing, KTM, 36h 33m 37s
2. Kevin Benavides, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, +32m 00s
3. Toby Price, RedBull KTM Racing, KTM, +39m 17s
10. Oriol Mena, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +02h 13m 07s
33. C.S. Santosh, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +10h 20m 09s
Press Release,