Stage 2 started today with a promise to be another great day of riding for the competitors at the Pan Africa Rally, however, some organizational challenges at the Refuelling point, forced the organizers to cancel the second part of the stage.
Even the shortened 145km stage could not contain the sheer brilliance of Joaquim Rodrigues, who blazed through the first half of the stage to bring in another stage win for Hero MotoSports Team Rally. With today’s win, he is now leading the rally in the overall rankings at the end of the stage 2.
His team mate C S Santosh also continued with his solid run in this race by bringing in another stage home for the team. He finished the stage 2 in 11th place, enabling him to maintain his Top 10 spot in the overall rankings.
The stage 3 of the Pan Africa Rally will challenge the competitors with the longest test of 450 kms to be done under the clock, and its results will have a definitive influence on the final standings of the competitors.
Joaquim Rodrigues, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally said, « A very good day for me today. I started pushing ahead right from the beginning and tried to catch the guys in front of me. But by then the dust was really terrible, making it difficult to see anything. I kept my cool and managed to pass two of the riders in front of me and arrived at the refuelling point in the 2nd place. Too bad that they had to cancel the second part because of some technical problems, but for me it means that I get a good win for my team, so I am very happy. »
C.S. Santosh, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally said, « Yesterday when we were working on the road books, it looked like a long and fast stage. It started that way but was shortened to 145 kms by the organizers. I made a few mistakes in the beginning and after that just concentrated on following the road book right to the end. So overall not a bad day as I got my bike to the finish line and will build it from here over the next couple of stages. »
Provisional Results of the Stage 2
1. Joaquim Rodrigues, Hero MotoSports, 01h 43m 48s
2. Adrien Metge, TVS Sherco Factory Team, +01m 54s
3. Lorenzo Santolino, TVS Sherco Factory Team, +04m 00s
4. Sebastian Buhler, Team Buhler, +04m 40s…
11. C.S. Santosh, Hero MotoSports, +16m 05s…
Provisional Overall Results at the end of Stage 2
1. Joaquim Rodrigues, Hero MotoSports, 05h 57m 46s
2. Lorenzo Santolino, TVS Sherco Factory Team, +01m 17s
3. Adrien Metge, TVS Sherco Factory Team, +01m 58s
4. Michael Metge, TVS Sherco Factory Team, +05m 37s…
10. C.S. Santosh, Hero MotoSports, +32m 42s…
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