Santosh placed 28th after Day 2 at Dakar Rally
The sand was really soft and some of the dunes were massive. I started slow but then gained good rhythm. I had fun and really happy to make it to the end of Day 2. CS SANTOSH, On his Day 2 showing
LIMA (PERU): India’s CS Santosh was placed 28th overall, just behind his Hero MotoSports Team Rally teammate Oriol Mena, after the second stage of the challenging Dakar Rally.
The Stage Two was the first full-length stage of the Dakar with a short 12-km liaison section followed by a 267 km loop of Pisco.
“The Dakar really kicked off today with a difficult stage. The sand was really soft and some of the dunes were really massive. I started really slow but then gained a good rhythm. I had fun today and really happy to make it to the end of Day 2,” Santosh said.
‘ANXIOUS START’
“It was an anxious start for me being in the Peruvian desert as the short stages are always tricky. There were many way point controls but I am really happy to come back safely,” Santosh, who is participating in his fourth Dakar Rally said.
Santosh’s teammate Mena said: “It was a really hard day today but I covered the 1st half at really good speed and caught up with three riders in front of me. Before the re-fuelling station I had slight problem and lost a few minutes there but happy that I finished today and now have one day less to arrive at Cordoba.”
TESTING TIMES
On Sunday, competitors were challenged by the tricky canyons in the first 40 km of the stage made only tougher by the series of dunes that followed.
In the third stage, the Rally moves to San Juan De Marcona, where the competitors can expect to encounter a Chott (dry/marshy saline lake), a number of canyons and almost 60% sand during the course of the 504 kms of riding.