The first full stage of the Dakar kicked off today from Pisco, taking the Rally all the way to San Juan De Marcona over a total distance of 552 km, including a 342 km long special. . The cars started the stage today followed by the Bikes.
It was a challenging yet positive day Hero MotoSports Team Rally as all three of its riders successfully completed the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2019.
Oriol Mena continued his good run was the first one to head out and brought home a solid 17th place finish. In overall standings he is now placed at 16th position as the end of stage 2. In a fast stage that offered a mix of hard piste, dunes and some seaside riding as well, Mena tackled all of it with ease.
Joaquim Rodrigues and C S Santosh met with some difficulties during the stage, with both having to deal with technical glitches en route. JRod was forced to stop and attend to a fuel issue, in the process losing some time while Santosh had to ride with caution in the second part of the stage sensing some trouble with his clutch. JRod and Santosh finished the stage 2 in 34th and 37th position respectively. In the overall standings, JRod finds a place on the 32nd spot while Santosh sits at 33rd position.
Overall, a very well tackled stage by Hero MotoSports riders, even with the technical glitches troubling them, to ensure 100% arrival of the team across the finish line today.
Tomorrow, in stage 3, the rally will move to Arequipa for an even longer stage of 799 km, including a 331 km long special section, subjecting the competitors to more challenging dunes.
C.S Santosh (Comp No: 50): « Day 2 for me started really well and I had a good rhythm going for the first 80-90 kms. Then on I started sensing some trouble with my clutch, and decided to ease off to make it to the finish line safely. Had a good stage today and now we fix the glitch and go racing again tomorrow. »
Oriol Mena (Comp No: 7): « Today was a really good stage for me. The stage had a mix of hard piste, dunes and some seaside as well, so it was interesting to ride. It was a crazy fast stage but I felt good today and the bike performed perfectly. So another day in the bag and that’s what matters for me. »
Joaquim Rodrigues (Comp No: 27): « I started the stage well but soon I developed a fuel issue. I had to stop to fix that and somehow make it to the refuelling point. I lost a lot of time in the process. After making it to the refuelling point, I pushed hard, got into a good rhythm and made up some time as well. Overall I am happy to finish the stage today and look forward to tomorrow. »
Provisional Stage 1 Results
1. Matthias Walkner, KTM Factory Racing, KTM, 03h 23m 57s
2. Ricky Brabec, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, +22s
3. Joan Barreda Bort, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, +01m 41s…
17. Oriol Mena, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +22m 54s…
34. Joaquim Rodrigues, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +39m 07s…
37. C S Santosh, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +42m 23s…
Provisional Overall Results
1. Joan Barreda Bort, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, 04h 23m 14s
2. Matthias Walkner, KTM Factory Racing, KTM, +01m 31s
3. Ricky Brabec, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, +01m 33s…
16. Oriol Mena, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +28m 20s…
32. Joaquim Rodrigues, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +47m 40s
33. C S Santosh, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +49m 55s…
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