Impressive starts for Santosh, J-Rod
Stage Two of the Afriquia Merzouga Rally saw Hero MotoSports Team Rally’s Joaquim Rodrigues and C.S. Santosh deliver a steady performance in Erfoud, Morocco, on Monday.
The day was marked by a special stage of 188 km for the riders to race in the Erg Chebbi region of Merzouga. Altogether 241 km had to be covered including the 53km liaison section.
The stage tested riders with big dunes, dry riverbed crossings and a tough navigation sections. J-Rod started strong but lost time in finding a tricky waypoint in the dunes. He made up some time in the second half of the stage but with a lot of dust making visibility a challenge, he decided to be more cautious to bring the bike home safely.
Rodrigues finished the day in ninth position as per the provisional rankings.
Santosh, who finished the first stage in 16th place, rode solid through the second stage and gained a position to finish in the top 15.
Said J-Rod, “Today the start was good and I was aggressive in the dunes to gain time, but around the 50 km mark I lost some time finding the secret waypoint.
“After the first checkpoint there was a lot of dust and it was hard to attack, so I preferred to keep it safe and bring the bike back home,” he added.
“First real stage of Merzouga, and I was a bit nervous to start with. My focus was to navigate well and not get lost because today’s stage was quite complex with a lot of navigation. I am happy that I was able to achieve that and gave myself a lot of confidence. All in all a very good day and I am looking forward to the upcoming stages,” Santhosh said.
My focus was to navigate well and not get lost because today’s stage was quite complex with a lot of navigation C.S. SANTOSH RIDER