Santosh ends career-best 35th, Sainz wins car section at Dakar
The struggle in dust and dunes is over and it’s time to fete the Dakar Rally 2018 champions. After the 14th stage in the Argentine city, a few old names did justice to their reputations while some newcomers surprised all.
In the car section, Team Peugeot Total’s Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz maintained their position and won the title. “We have put a lot of effort into this car, I think I deserved this victory,” Sainz said. “I had ups and downs, but I always tried my best. Especially this rally, it has been so, so hard.”
MENA ENDS SEVENTH
India’s CS Santosh, representing Hero MotoSports, finished 35th overall – his best-ever result in four Dakar’s so far. He finished 36th in 2015. Santosh’s teammate Oriol Mena, a debutant, finished seventh. He also won the ‘Best Rookie Rider’ title.
Santosh, who at one point was among the top 20 in the initial stages, survived a crash and a loose fuel cap to finish the Dakar for the third time. “It was a tough Dakar this year for sure, every day you had to bow down to the stages. I had lots of ups and downs, some high points in the beginning, and then some lows as well,” he said.
Winner in the bike section was Red Bull KTM Factory’s Matthias Walkner.
In the truck section, Team Kamaz-Master’s Eduard Nikolaev, Evgeny Yakovlev and Vladimir Rybakov won the title. In quads Ignacio Casale clinched the category. In SxS category, Brazilian’s Reinaldo and Gustavo Gugelmin were the winners.
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