Santosh 13th after Day 1 at Dakar Rally
PISCO, PERU: CS Santosh, competing in his fourth Dakar Rally, had a good start to the 9000 km race and finished Day 1 in the 13th position. However, the Indian rider’s team Hero Motosports got a big jolt as its senior-most member Joaquim Rodriguez was ruled out due to an accident.
The Portuguese rider had finished 12th in the 2017 edition and his departure on the opening day came as a shock for team Hero Motosports. Their third rider Oriol Mena is at the 22nd position.
Another Indian rider KP Aravind, competing for Tvsracing, is at the 30th position after stage 1. Rodriguez’s accident happened during stage 1 when he was going up a slope. He could not adjust his bike well as it jumped off to land awkwardly on the sand dune, causing Rodriguez to fall. He suffered injuries in his wrist and back. Though he is safe and injury was not major, he was deemed misfit to continue competing for the rest of the rally.
Santosh was the team’s best performer as he was able to maintain a top 15 position on Day 1. However, the 34-year-old rider, who is competing in his fourth Dakar, reminded all that it was just the start of the 9000km race.
“Today we had to do only a small stretch. Tomorrow it will be over 200 km and I need to put in as much focus as possible. I will be concentrating on understanding the roadmap well for now so that I don’t get off-route,” he said.
The 2018 Dakar will take place in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.