Mena, Santosh finish Stage 1
Hero MotoSports Team Rally started their first international rally of the year, the Merzouga Rally 2018 in Morocco, on a positive note with both riders delivering a steady first stage on Monday.
Oriol Mena, the first to start the stage, tackled the tricky navigation to finish 11th in the stage as well as overall rankings.
Team mate C. S. Santosh also made a cautious start to his campaign and brought the bike home safely in 20th place.
“First stage was a bit difficult for me as the two loops were same for bikes and the side- by- side vehicles. I started behind the SSVs so I had to be careful with the navigation as there were a lot of tracks everywhere,” Santosh said.
“In the second loop again I started behind the SSVs and lost some time in trying to pass them. Overall a good learning and I think the next few days are going to be as tricky as this one.”
The first stage comprised of just over 200 kms of two loops. The first part of the stage tested the riders with relatively complicated navigation leading onto the second loop that offered dunes, sand and water zones.
“First part of the stage had really difficult navigation. I started the stage in third place with no tracks to follow, so I had to put all my focus in navigating. At one point, I lost a few minutes in finding the correct way but I managed to collect all the waypoints.
“The second part of the stage was relatively easy except for one point in the river where it was difficult to find the way. It’s just the first day and I am feeling good, the bike is performing well, so let’s see how it goes in the coming days,” Mena said
The second stage on Wednesday will make a run of 175 kms in the region of Erg Chhabbi with the difficulty levels being turned up a notch.
Hero MotoSports Team Rally’s C. S. Santosh made a cautious start to his campaign and brought the bike home safely in 20th place