HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY HAS AN IMPRESSIVE DAY AT THE DAKAR 2021

RIDERS MAKE SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN STAGE 2

All the three riders of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally today delivered an inspired run in Stage 2 of the 2021 Dakar Rally. Pushing hard, the riders posted significant gains with Joaquim Rodrigues finishing the stage in 12^th place, Sebastian Buhler in 14^th place and C S Santosh in 36^th place.

Leading the charge for the team, Joaquim Rodrigues turned a leaf to deliver a much more confident run today in the first sandy stage of the rally. As a result of today’s effort, he breached into the Top 20 in the overall rankings and is now placed 17^th.

Sebastian Buhler was also not far behind his mentor as he too found his rhythm to achieve a faster pace in today’s stage. Improving on his overnight standings, he is now placed at the 24^th position in the overall standings.

C S Santosh continued to grow in confidence and delivered a solid stage to leap up by several positions in the overall rankings to finish on the 36^th position in the overall standings.

With 82% sand and close to 13% dunes, today’s stage presented much more familiar surroundings to the competitors in contrast to Stage 1. While the extremely soft dunes offered a great challenge for the machines, the Hero 450 Rally bike was up to the challenge and delivered a flawless performance, yet again. With two riders in top 15 and solid performance by the bike, it was a stage of all-round gains for Hero MotoSports Team Rally.

In Stage 3, the rally will stay in Wadi Ad-Dawasir to do a 629 km loop that will include a timed special of 403 kms.

Joaquim Rodrigues (Competitor No. 27) said, “Today was a completely different stage from yesterday. It was much faster with really soft sands and a lot of open ground. On one dune, my bike got stuck and the sand was so soft that it got buried almost up to the handle bar. So, I lost some time there trying to get out of that but otherwise I felt a lot better today and kind of started to get into my rhythm again. I was able to finish the stage with no problems with the bike so it was definitely a much better day for me.”

C S Santosh (Competitor No. 50) said, “I started the stage with a lot of motivation today. It

was a fast stage and the new bike started feeling really good and safe, so I am really happy with that. I am slowly building my confidence and if I can continue like this for the rest of the

stages, I think I will be in a really good position by the time the rally finishes. So, today was a

good start in the right direction for me.”

Sebastian Buhler (Competitor No. 24) said, “It was a very nice stage with a little bit of everything – from soft dunes to sandy tracks, open tracks and even some rocks. Our new bike worked very well in these conditions so I was able to ring in a decent pace and rhythm today.”

Provisional Rankings – Stage 2

1. Joan Barreda Bort Monster Energy Honda Team       04h 17m 56s
2. Ricky Brabec Monster Energy Honda Team       +03m 55s
3. Pablo Quintanilla Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing         +06m 02s
4. Joaquim Rodrigues Hero MotoSports Team Rally       +18m 08s
5. Sebastian Buhler     Hero MotoSports Team Rally         +20m 47s
6. C S Santosh                 Hero MotoSports Team Rally         +44m 21s

Provisional Overall Rankings at the end of Stage 2

1. Joan Barreda Bort Monster Energy Honda Team       08h 15m 38s
2. Ricky Brabec Monster Energy Honda Team       +06m 23s
3. Ross Branch Monster Energy Yamaha Team       +06m 37s
4. Joaquim Rodrigues Hero MotoSports Team Rally       +20m 21s
5. Sebastian Buhler     Hero MotoSports Team Rally         +36m 00s
6. C S Santosh                 Hero MotoSports Team Rally         +01h 22m47s