A HARD RAID AHEAD!
Hero MotoSports Team Rally’s fifth Dakar venture reaped rich fruits for JRod and Buhler, though C S Santosh’s medical issues have left us all on edge
HERO MOTOSPORTS Team Rally closed the 2021 Dakar with Joaquim Rodrigues and Sebastian Buhler at P11 and P14 respectively, in the overall rankings. This result is both extremely commendable, as well as intensely emotional, considering teammate C S Santosh’s crash and ensuing medical issues.
From the top
Last year was a roller-coaster for Hero MotoSports Team Rally. Paulo ‘Speedy’ Goncalves’ death during the 2020 Dakar, prompted the team to call off the campaign. This was followed by the global lockdown. It was not until the 2020 Andalucia Rally that things started looking up: Buhler bagged the overall 18th spot, while Santosh and JRod snatched P20 and P27, respectively. Buhler then aced the Baja Do Pinhal and Baja Portalegre, in the process winning the 2020 FIM Cross-Country Bajas World Cup, with JRod in P2.
Suffice to say the brand entered the 43rd edition of the Dakar with high expectations and a competent team in the form of twotime Dakar entrant Buhler, three-time Dakar finisher Santosh and JRod, a fivetime Dakar finisher and winner of the 2019 Africa Eco Race. And, all three would be on the new-for-2021 Hero 450 Rally bike.
The kick-off
Buhler, Rodrigues and Santosh finished P5, P10 and P35 respectively in the Prologue, locking in the starting order for Stage 1. The dusty terrain of the 622km stage running from Jeddah to Bisha made navigation difficult, so despite starting well, a navigation error led to Buhler finishing P29. JRod, too, lost his way, ending at P22, while Santosh finished P43.
Stage 2 saw the team delivering on their promise of improvement with JRod finishing the stage in P12, Buhler in P14 and Santosh in P36, an impressive feat on a predominantly sandy surface. Stage 3
saw the momentum mostly conserved, as though JRod dropped to P19 and Buhler to P24, Santosh made up a bunch of places, closing the stage in P34.
The next stage saw JRod put in an incredibly strong performance, closing the stage in P6 to get to an overall P16, while Buhler’s P24 finish meant he stayed put in the general rankings. Meanwhile, a crash derailed Santosh’s Dakar campaign. Visibly shaken and yet moving past the accident, JRod and Buhler performed well on the dusty, rocky Stage 5, finishing within the overall top 20 (JRod was P19, followed by Buhler at P20) for the first time.
Second wind
After a day’s rest (read: prepping for the rigours of the two-day marathon) JRod climbed a spot to P16 in Stage 7, while Buhler was able to hold onto the P21 spot despite taking it easy in the tricky, rockriddled initial sectors. Man and machine were still in good enough nick for the team to follow it up with its third top-20 finish in Stage 8, despite JRod hitting a rock and dropping his stage ranking down to 25, though finishing safely enough to ride another day. Nevertheless, he achieved vindication in the very next stage, climbing back up to a P12 overall ranking, with Buhler now at P16.
The date of Stage 9 (January 12) marked exactly one year from the death of Paulo Goncalves, hence the day started on an emotional note. Dedicating his Dakar endeavours to Paulo’s memory, JRod rallied his efforts into maintaining his overall rankings. Meanwhile, despite losing time to a navigation error, Buhler moved up to a P16 overall spot.
On a high
The final three stages were where the pieces seemed to fall into place. JRod rode like a man possessed in the rocky and technical Stage 10, bagging his first top-10 finish, while Buhler too brought home a P21 stage finish, climbing to the P16 spot overall. The penultimate stage boasted the longest special yet, despite which both riders come through without incident, cracking the top 15 rankings to boot (P12 for JRod, P15 for Buhler). This set the tone for the final, where the duo closed the stage putting Hero MotoSport Team Rally at P8 (JRod) and P10 (Buhler) as the only contrasting moniker in a top-ten list of Hondas and KTMs, a thoroughly historic feat for the Indian brand. ⌧
THE FINAL THREE STAGES WERE WHERE THE PIECES TRULY FELL INTO PLACE