Solid day’s work for Indian contingent at Dakar

After spending six days in the Bolivian Altiplano, the Dakar Rally commenced its return to Argentina with stage eight taking the rider from Uyuni to Salta. Like the previous few stages, this stage was once again modified as an overflowing river was deemed dangerous and hence the stage was split into two and shortened by 68 km on the whole.

Sherco-TVS rider Juan Pedrero put in a scintillating performance; posting the fifth fastest time of the stage, which elevated him to 20^th overall. Teammate Adrian Metge also continued his recovery run, posting 25^th fastest time and classified 38^th overall after stage eight.

In the Hero Motorsport camp, Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodrigues continued to showcase his superb speed and meteoritic consistency, posting 16^th fastest time of the stage which allowed him to break into the top 10 on his debut Dakar attempt. His teammate CS Santosh was 47^th quickest, allowing him to climb up to 63^rd overall in his recovery drive after a one hour penalty on day three sent him to the back of the pack.

RESULTS

Indian participation in MOTO category:

Position               Rider                                                     Team

10                           Joaquim Rodrigues                       Hero Speedbrain
20                           Juan Pedrero Garcia                      Sherco-TVS
38                           Adrien Metge                                   Sherco-TVS
63                           CS Santosh                                      Hero Speedbrain