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Category: Dakar Rally
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Dakar Rally: The heavyweights step into the ring; Santosh, Aravind raring to go
An image after the Dakar Rally Press conference photo shoot in Lima, Peru on Jan 4. Image by Gianna Velarde Lima, 6 Jan 2019: As the Dakar Rally begins, here are some key points for the fans ➢ and enthusiasts as the rally this year is confined to one country, Peru.
➢ Sherco TVS Rally Factory team is back to take on the world’s toughest rally, Dakar for the 5th time. This year, the rally will cover the harshest terrain known to man across Peru, starting on Sunday.
➢ CS Santosh will represent Hero MotoSports Team Rally. The Indian rider is taking part in Dakar for the fifth time and is the only Indian who finished Dakar. Santosh came 35th last year.
➢ Aravind KP from Sherco TVS is the other Indian rider in the Dakar Rally. Taking part for the third time, Aravind, the Bengaluru boy will be looking to complete the Dakar this time. He crashed out in 2017 and 2018.
➢ 541 competitors and 334 vehicles including 137 motorbikes, 26 quads, 130 cars (including 30 SxS) and 41 trucks were cleared to start the 41st edition of the Dakar at the end of the technical and administrative scrutineering.
➢ Before the start of the race, the drivers, riders and crews will get a big send-off from the fans during the podium ceremony in Lima. The celebration will take place on Magdalena beach, where over 100,000 visitors flocked to enjoy a wide range of activities in the Feria Dakar over the last three days.
➢ The first round comes Monday with a sand-packed 84-km course in the Pisco region. Let the dune festival begin! Contenders for the Dakar titles have spent months focusing on their objective.
However, the last few days before the race have been the ideal time to sit back and relax… or even go on holiday! Stéphane Peterhansel, for example, took the opportunity to go on a romantic break in Machu Picchu with his wife, Andrea, who will be racing in a Side by Side (SxS) in her Dakar comeback.
Nasser Al-Attiyah, on the other hand, embarked on a gastronomic adventure and even learned to make ceviche with one of the famous chefs in Lima. Sébastien Loeb, always looking for a shot of adrenaline, capped his training with a challenge at the wheel of his Peugeot 3008… going head-to-head with an aeroplane.
Yet the time has come for everyone to get down to business. The anticipated duel between Mini and Toyota, with the nine-time world rally champion and his Peugeot trying to fish in troubled waters, was the talk of the town on Las Palmas Air Base.
For now, the protagonists are content to reject the pressure that comes with being favourite. “In terms of reliability, we could have done with more time to fine-tune some little pieces. We’re talking details here, but it could have an impact”, says “Peter” about his buggy, while Nasser Al-Attiyah, widely acclaimed as the best dune surfer in the world, tries to play down expectations by stressing that “we need to be really focused and not lose any time with the navigation”.
The favourites to win the motorbike race are also hedging their bets. Especially Toby Price, who still feels “a little bit of pain” after breaking his right scaphoid while training a few weeks ago. The Australian winner of the 2016 race is far from the only card KTM has to play in its effort to extend its dominance in the rally, with Sam Sunderland and Matthias Walkner feeling as strong as when they claimed the last two editions.
However, they are acutely aware of the threat from Yamaha’s blue motorbikes, whose leader Adrien Van Beveren is widely seen as KTM’s main rival. “I see it as something positive”, says the French rider. “This is what I’ve been working for, to try and win. If people think I have what it takes, it means I’m right where I want to be.” His impeccable logic brings hope to the Yamaha clan, which is also fielding riders such as Xavier de Soultrait and Franco Caimi. The duel starts Monday.
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Sebastien Loeb surprise return to Dakar Rally; Frenchman eyes maiden win
Sebastien Loeb…..all set for another Dakar challenge. Photo: WRC. Paris, 31 October 2018: Sébastien Loeb has revealed that he will return for another shot at a maiden Dakar Rally win next January as a Red Bull privateer.
Here is all you need to know:
Loeb has driven the World’s most gruelling rally raid race three times before in a factory car. His second place behind team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel in 2017 was his best result for Team Peugeot Total.
After retiring in 2018 due to an injury to co-driver Daniel Elena in the Peruvian sand dunes, it looked like the motorsport legend would never race it again.
Nevertheless Loeb, emboldened by his 79th FIA World Rally Championship victory in Spain last weekend, has decided to give it another shot.
The privateer car that he will pilot alongside navigator Elena will be a Peugeot 3008DKR similar to the one that he finished runner-up in at the 2017 edition.
His car will be run by independent French team PH Sport with Loeb looking to become the first privateer to win the race since Jean-Louis Schlesser in 2000.
The 41st Dakar Rally in Peru takes place solely in one country for the first time from January 6-17 with around 5,000 kilometres over 10 stages awaiting the world’s best off-roaders leaving Loeb little time for testing.
The 44-year-old, who also has Silk Way Rally and Rallye du Maroc experience with Peugeot, said: “Throughout my career I’ve always been considered to be a favourite. While I’m obviously motivated by winning, having fun is important too, so taking part in the 2019 Dakar with Daniel, as private outsiders, is a fantastic challenge. I’m ready to give it a go: a little bit like my three WRC appearances this year, where success was far from being guaranteed.”
The Haguenau native will test the PH car privately in December before the rally start in Lima where he will be up against the likes of familiar foes Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Cyril Despres and Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Loeb added: “I think all these guys will be strong rivals. I couldn’t go with the wider 3008DKR Maxi from this year due to the latest regulations, so we go with the 2.20m wide car from the year before, maybe with a few small evolutions on the engine similar to this year.”
Peruvian sand dunes undid Loeb this year with next year’s edition seeing a whopping 70% of the route made up of them, something that he is not afraid of.
He explained: “I like the dunes, but the key thing will be not to get stuck. This is what I will work on during my test and there will also be some work for Daniel too, as navigation in the dunes is really tricky. I only made the decision to go to Dakar again at the last minute, but I’m still hungry for the win. We’re probably lacking some preparation compared to the others: equally I didn’t forget everything I learned over the last three years. It’s an adventure that I’m looking forward to experiencing again.”
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Abdul Tanveer, Harith Noah to join Sherco TVS Team for Morocco Rally
Morocco, 29 Sept. 2018: Successful Indian riders Abdul Wahid Tanveer and Harith Noah will join the four-rider Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team for the Rally of Morocco 2018, the final round of FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship, to be held here from October 3 to 9.
Harith Noah, Photo: INDIAinF1 /TVS Adrien Metge from France and Lorenzo Santolino from Spain will continue to spearhead the Team’s challenge. B Selvaraj, TVS Racing team manager said: “We are delighted to launch two Indian racers in to the International arena. Tanveer is in great form and has prior experience in the Sahara Desert. Harith is talented and all of us are eager to see him perform in his first International stint. Lorenzo also had good performances through the year and Adrien has recovered.” The rally covers 1937 kilometers, spread over 5 stages, in 6 days.
Tanveer said: “This is my first time in the Rally of Morocco and I am excited to be a part of this Rally. I am confident after successfully completing the recent PanAfrica Rally and topping the Enduro class. I hope to better my performance and will give it my best shot.”
Noah said: “I am grateful to Sherco TVS Racing for placing faith in me and providing me with this huge opportunity to participate in my first International Rally. I have trained rigorously in France over the past month and look forward to do my best.”The Rally of Morocco 2018, which includes bikes, quads, trucks, cars and SSV categories, will traverse through the dunes and tricky trails of Moroccan desert across different stages and routes around Erfoud and Fez.
About TVS Racing
Since the past 36 years, TVS Racing has been actively participating on and off-road racing events such as road racing, Super-cross and Motocross, Dirt Tracks, Rally etc. TVS Racing is the only factory team in India to have any woman racer as a part of their team. In early 2015, TVS Racing became the first Indian factory team to take part in the Dakar Rally, which is the longest and toughest Rally in the world. TVS Racing won 15 championships across all forms of two-wheeler motorsport events Supercross, Rallies and Road racing last year.
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CS Santosh finishes 34th for a best Dakar record; Hero MotoSports Team on a high
Cordoba (Argentina), 20 Jan 2018: It was a glorious triumph for Hero MotoSports Team Rally as the only Indian, CS Santosh, who delivered his best Dakar ever after an energy-sapping, marathon 14-day gruelling journey in three countries. Hero was particularly proud with Oriol Mena finishing in the top-10 in a dream debut. Santosh, the only survivor of the two Indians, achieved his best Dakar in three finishes. Aravind KP of Sherco TVS team crashed out in the early stages.
The Dakar Rally 2018 came to a grand end after as the competitors crossed the finishing line, the emotions rolled high amidst the cheer from the teams and the crowd alike. For Hero MotoSports Team Rally, it was a particularly special day as they delivered their best ever Dakar performance, which is even more commendable given that it is only their second Dakar.
Indian MotoSports superstar CS Santosh became the first and the only Indian rider to have finished the Dakar thrice, an honour that is going to make him and all the Indian fans very proud. Not only did he finish it, but he did it in style by delivering his best Dakar performance ever, finishing at 34th position this year.
His performance was particularly commendable given the higher competition level and the stages being toughest this year. This performance of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally has again proved that with right focus and team, one can deliver top class performance.
Oriol Mena impressed one and all to deliver an excellent 7th position finish in his debut Dakar. Delivering consistent top 10 stages towards the end of the rally while everyone was getting tired, shows the kind of skills and stamina he had and also his ability to learn the game fast. He was also adjudged as the best rookie rider of the rally for his special performance.
Hero MotoSports Team Rally is fast gaining a reputation for bringing in top class debutants in the rally with every year. If it was the 12th place finish of Joaquim Rodrigues last year, this year it was Oriol Mena’s turn to even better the results of last year for the team.
It can be surely said that the team has transformed itself from being rookies of the last year to the Heroes of 2018. Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager: “Finishing this Dakar at Cordoba is really the toughest experience in our Dakar years so far. Starting with the accident of Joaquim Rodrigues, getting into the tough stages at Peru, seeing all our guys overcoming difficulties with bravery, Mena improving with every stage and learning the Dakar mode fast, seeing CS and Mena making their way through the finish, is just a privilege. Santosh getting his best-ever result in which was the toughest Dakar is an achievement we are really proud of.
“For Oriol Mena, it was a big accomplishment to finish in the top 10. He kept going up the rankings while maintaining his position in top 10 in the last few stages gives a lot of confidence for the team’s future. My compliments to the team who worked really hard not allowing any technical issues. We send our best regards to JRod for a fast recovery. We missed him very much in the team and we are counting on him to come back racing soon. Finally our thanks and regards to everyone back in India, and our fans. It’s just a fantastic feeling at the moment.”
Oriol Mena (Comp No: 61): “I am really happy with my results. I enjoyed the last stage a lot and it felt as if these 120 kms were longer than my life. I am at the finish line and also won in the rookie class so it’s a real good result and what can I say, dreams do come true.”
C.S Santosh (Comp No: 49): “It was as 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, then some lows as well. I think it was everything that you would envision a Dakar to be. Lot of stages we offpiste but much difficult from before. I am happy to make it to the finish line of another Dakar. My best Dakar so far so I am really happy to be going home with that.”
Provisional Stage 14 Classifications: 1. Kevin Benavides Monster Energy Honda Honda 01hr 26m 41s 2. Toby Price Redbull KTM Racing KTM +54s 3. Antoine Meo RedBull KTM Racing KTM +02m 49s 6. Oriol Mena Hero MotoSports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +05m 01s 32. C.S. Santosh Hero MotoSports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +18m 40s.
Overall Provisional Classifications after Stage 14: 1. Matthias Walkner Redbull KTM Racing KTM 43h 06m 01s 2. Kevin Benavides Monster Energy Honda Honda +16m 53s 3. Toby Price Redbull KTM Racing KTM +23m 01s 7. Oriol Mena Hero MotoSports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +02h 22m 52s 34. C.S. Santosh Hero MotoSports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +11h 29m 31s.
eom/Hero MotoSports press release
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Toby Price wins Stage 13; CS Santosh 33rd, Walkner still in overall lead: Penultimate stage Dakar 2018
Dakar Rally 2018 – Stage 13 Toby Price has won the penultimate stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally. His victory ensures he maintains his third-place position in the provisional overall standings, just over five minutes behind the runner-up. Third on today’s stage, Antoine Meo moves up to fourth overall. Matthias Walkner, who rode to a safe fourth place today, retains his lead in the overall rankings. The lone Indian campaign spearheaded by Chunchunguppe S Santosh (CS Santosh) continued to flourish for Hero MotoSports Rally team as he finished the penultimate stage in a well-fought 33rd position. The other Indian of Sherco TVS team has pulled out after a nasty fall in the earlier stages. J Pedrero Garcia of Sherco TVS has taken a commendable fifth place in the stage while the other Indian team member of Hero O Mena gatecrashed into the top ten with an admirable performance finishing the stage successfully in 8th position.
Adil Darukhanawala, Automotive author & historian, Editor-in-Chief for Fast Bikes India & editor-at-large Evo India, commented about O Mena on twitter: “What a fine run from
@hero_motosports Oriol Mena! He is now ranked 10th overall n could have been higher still but for stopping to help Honda’s Kevin Benavides. With 4 more days to go he could climb even higher up the leaderboard!” But after Stage 13, Mena is in overall 8th position with a total time of 43H 57′ 11”. Juan Pedrero Garcia of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team is in 11th overall position with a time of 44H 14′ 25″.The longest of the rally, stage 13 proved a real test for the competitors. Comprising 483km of liaison with a two-part 424km timed special, the day required supreme endurance from the riders in order to get to the finish both quickly and safely. With the route including a difficult mixture of terrain, riders had to decide whether to push or play it safe.One rider who had little choice but to push was Toby Price. After losing time on stage 10 through a navigation error, Price had to take every opportunity he could to make up time on the leaders. With today’s win, Price closes in on second-placed Kevin Benavides, but still trails his team-mate and leader of the rally Matthias Walkner by over 27 minutes with one stage remaining. Toby Price: “That was a great stage, I was leading from the front and it was really good fun. The tracks were fast, and rough in places so I pushed on as much as I could in those sections. Navigation wasn’t too difficult today, I made a couple of mistakes along the way but nothing huge. There were a lot of speed zones so you had to be careful not to overdo it there, but I did what I set out to do and won the stage. It would have been nice to take a little bit more time off Kevin (Benavides) in front, but there’s still one day left. If you’d told me six weeks ago I’d be here fighting for the podium I would have laughed at you. I’m really happy with how things have gone so far and I’ll see what I can do tomorrow.”
After leading the stage early on, Antoine Meo was in a close battle for the runner-up position for the rest of the stage. Finally crossing the line in third place, Meo was pleased with his result. The Frenchman now moves up to fourth in the provisional standings, 50 minutes down on the leader.
Antoine Meo: “Today’s stage was good fun. I tried everything I could to catch Toby, but he was on the gas today. The last part of the stage was really fast and I eased off a little because a mistake there could have been very scary. I’m happy with how the day went, the result moves me up to fourth in the standings and that is what I was aiming for today. Now we just have one more day to ride so I’ll do my best and hopefully get a good, safe finish.”
Matthias Walkner continues to ride in the style that has placed him in a commanding lead at the top of the standings – fast, consistent and with the minimum of mistakes. Walkner’s performance throughout the rally has been superb. Taking his time and concentrating on navigation, his fourth-place result from today sees the Austrian go into tomorrow’s final stage with a 22-minute lead over second placed Benavides. The former MX3 World Champion is now within sight of his first Dakar win.
Matthias Walkner: “That was a really long day today. The guys at the front are pushing really hard and I’m feeling a little nervous so my aim is just to take things steady and get to the line safely. It was a really fast stage and just a small mistake could cause a big crash. I have got a 20-minute gap over the guys behind but even that amount of time can disappear easily if you get lost or have a problem with the bike. Tomorrow we still have 120km to race and anything can happen. I’ll start thinking about the win when I eventually cross the finish line tomorrow.”
Setting off 18th this morning, Laia Sanz immediately fought her way up to 13th place at the first waypoint. Laia carried that position right to the end of the 424km special and by doing so also improved her ranking in the overall to 12th. With just one stage left to ride, Laia is head and shoulders above the rest of the female competitors and will be trying her best to claim a top-10 position overall.
Laia Sanz: “I had a good day today. The start of the stage was really tough, the sand was extremely soft and there were a lot of whoops – I found that really hard on my body, especially after having a couple of crashes recently. The second half of the day was a lot better, it was very fast but easier to push so I kept to a good safe pace and made it to the finish without any mistakes. Tomorrow I will try to stay safe and hopefully enjoy the final stage of the rally.”
Tomorrow’s stage 14 marks the end of the 2018 Dakar Rally. Although short at only 286km in total, the stage will still prove difficult for competitors. With a technical timed special crossing approximately 30 rivers on route, the stage could still turn in a few surprises for the top runners. Riders will have to focus right till the finish line if they are to successfully complete this 40th edition of the rally.
Provisional Results Stage 13 – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 4:48:33
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 4:50:36 +2:03
3. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 4:51:17 +2:44
4. Matthias Walkner (AUT), 5:00:05 +11:32
5. Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP), Sherco, 5:03:45 +15:12
Other KTM
7. Armand Monleon (ESP), KTM, 5:10:04 +21:31
10. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 5:12:07 +23:34
13. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 5:16:12 +27:39Provisional Standings after Stage 13 – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 41:33:42
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 41:56:13 +22:31
3. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 42:01:27 +27:45
4. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 42:23:59 +50:17
5. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 42:35:01 +1:01:19
Other KTM
9. Daniel Oliveras Carreras (ESP), KTM, 44:13:15 +2:39:33
12. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 44:24:19 +2:50:37 -
Walkner maintains his 2018 Dakar lead: A KTM view
Walkner in action in Stage 12. A Redbull image Dakar Rally 2018 – Stage 12
After a cancelled stage 12, Matthias Walkner maintains his 2018 Dakar Rally lead with an advantage of more than 30-minutes over his nearest competitor. Team-mates Toby Price and Antoine Meo are hot on his heels in third and fifth respectively. KTM Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz is holding onto a very strong 13th in the provisional rankings. The 12th stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally was canceled due to safety concerns raised by the riders at the end of stage 11. In a similar situation to the canceled stage nine, motorcycle and quad riders made their way untimed from Fiambalá to San Juan. The stage was scheduled to have the bikes follow the cars and trucks into the timed special. This, combined with the terrain and how it would be affected by the vehicles in front, was deemed too dangerous and the organisers heeded to the riders’ wishes and canceled the stage.With one day less to ride, Matthias Walkner took a step closer to claiming his first ever overall Dakar victory. The Austrian, fit and ready for the stages ahead is feeling confident with only two more days to go. Sitting at the top of the leaderboard, 32-minutes up on his nearest rival Kevin Benavides, Walkner still needs to perform well on the remaining two stages to secure a winning result. Matthias Walkner: “My feeling going into the final couple of stages of the rally is quite good. Tomorrow will be tough and very long, there is a lot of off-piste at the beginning of the stage and then some really fast tracks towards the end. My start position is good so I’m hoping for a solid day tomorrow, I’ll do my best and see where that gets me.
“It was good fun yesterday riding with the cars. I tried to catch Peterhansel as soon as I could and managed to see him at about 70km into the stage. I succeeded to get in front but then he passed me again so we ended up traveling together for most of the stage. It helped me a lot because navigation on the stage was tough and I wanted to really minimise any mistakes so following a car was sensible. It was an honour to ride with ‘Mr Dakar’ himself, too.”
Toby Price won the previous day’s stage 11, the opening leg of the second marathon stage. Price put in a dominating performance to take the win by a minute-and-a-half over the runner-up and gain over 10-minutes on his team-mate and standings leader, Walkner.
Toby Price: “Yesterday’s stage went really well, it’s nice to get my first win at this year’s event. It helps a little for the time lost the previous day, too. We started off behind some cars and trucks, which adds a little excitement. It was a 280km special and I tried to push for the whole way – it paid off because I was fastest to every waypoint. I’m sitting third, which doesn’t sound too bad, but I’m still down quite a lot of time on Matthias. With the cancellation of today’s stage, it means even less of a chance to try and catch up. Tomorrow, stage 13 is the longest of the event though and anything can happen on this rally as we have already seen. All I can do is keep pushing and aim for a good finish on Saturday.”
Also enjoying stage 11, right up to a large crash 10km from the finish, Antoine Meo still managed to move further up the overall rankings to fifth. Like Price, Meo is running out of time if he wants to improve that position further, but there are well over 500km of special stages left to race and Meo will be trying to make the most of every one.
Antoine Meo: “Yesterday went really well for me, I pushed hard right from the beginning and was making up good time. Unfortunately, I crashed a little way from the finish. It was quite a big crash but luckily I came out of it in one piece and the bike was not too badly damaged. I am a little disappointed that today’s stage was cancelled, it makes it harder for me to make up time on the guys in front. At the same time, it was looking quite dangerous out there and I think the organisers made the right decision. I’ll go into tomorrow’s stage 13 looking to push as hard as I can and hopefully get another good result.”
Laia Sanz suffered her second big crash of the rally yesterday. Picking herself up, the Spaniard made it to the finish in a commendable 18th place. Her performance moved he further up the standings – the multiple world champion now sits in an excellent 13th overall.
Laia Sanz: “It was a really hard day for me yesterday. I started in the second group behind cars and truck and personally I think it was too dangerous. I was stuck in the dust of a truck in front and it was too difficult to overtake it safely. Towards the end of the stage I was so exhausted and ended up having another crash. Luckily, I wasn’t injured and made it to the bivouac ok, but today I am feeling a little sore. I am glad the stage today was cancelled, it has given me a chance to rest and prepare myself for the last two days.”
Jordi Viladoms – KTM Rally Sport Manager: “The plan today was to initially ride the stage after the cars and trucks, which is a little bit dangerous for the riders. The organisers listened to the concerns raised and made the right decision to cancel the special. The terrain of stage 12 would have proved difficult anyway, but after the larger vehicles had gone through it would have been too treacherous for the bikes. We are glad that rider safety was put above everything else. With two more stages to race, we are very happy with how things are going – obviously Matthias is in a very good position, but both Toby and Antoine can still catch the guys in front of them so we’ll see what happens over the next couple of days.”
Tomorrow’s stage 13 of the 2018 Dakar Rally from San Juan to the city of Córdoba is the longest of the event. A 483km liaison combined with a 424km timed special will really test the endurance of the riders. Starting in the sand dunes surrounding San Juan, the route will take competitors through an area of fesh-fesh and conclude on the fast WRC-style tracks on the way into Córdoba. Navigation will again be important, but overall physical fitness in the Argentinian heat will be key.
Provisional Standings after cancelled Stage 12 – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 36:33:37
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 37:05:37 +32:00
3. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 37:12:54 +39:17
4. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 37:22:54 +49:17
5. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 37:32:42 +59:05
Other KTM
13. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 39:08:07 +2:34:30eom/A KTM release
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Matthias Walkner tops drama-filled Stage-10; Santosh 44th: Dakar Rally 2018
Dakar Rally 2018 – Stage 10 Matthias Walkner has won a drama-filled stage 10 of the 2018 Dakar Rally. Toby Price and Antoine Meo both started well, but then lost time during the latter half of the stage to eventually finish 19th and 26th respectively. The lone Indian left in the fray, CS Santosh of Hero MotoSports Rally team, is placed at 44th place overall, after he went down and recovered dramatically.
KTM Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz put in another good ride to finish 11th, but unfortunately her team-mate Luciano Benavides was forced to retire from the rally after crashing.
Following a cancelled stage nine, the first day of racing in Argentina was a difficult one for all competitors. A 424km liaison brought riders to the beginning of today’s timed special – a 373km long route that twisted its way through the dunes and riverbeds of the Catamarca region before finding its destination at the city of Belén.As it happened, it wasn’t the intense heat that proved most difficult for the competitors but the navigation. Matthias Walkner was running third at the start of the second leg of the timed special, six-minutes behind the leader. Taking extreme care to find each waypoint, Walkner navigated his way successfully to the finish and was surprised to find himself the first rider home. The Austrian now leads the provisional overall standings by a sizable 39 minutes and 42 seconds. Matthias Walkner: “What a day. That was such a tough stage, not only because of the heat but because of the navigation, too. I knew today how important it would be to bide my time and concentrate on finding each waypoint successfully. Better to spend a few seconds getting things right than pushing on, wasting a lot more time after getting lost. When the tracks from the guys in front disappeared, I got a little worried that I had made a mistake, but I carried on and trusted myself. It was a big relief when I saw the waypoint validated and I reached the finish. It’s always good to take a stage win, but never nice when one of your opponents crashes out. I hope Adrien (Van Beveren) is ok. We have a hard stage tomorrow so I’ll go about it in the same way and try not to make any mistakes.”
Toby Price and Antoine Meo, were in the leading group of three at the mid-way service. Unfortunately, as is often the case when following other riders, navigation becomes more difficult and mistakes are easier to make. Forced to turn around and retrace their steps, Price and Meo eventually re-joined the correct route and made it to the finish.
Antoine Meo: “The first part of the stage went really well for me today, I was opening the road but my pace was good and I was happy with how things were going. After refuelling I was following Benavides and riding in his dust. We ended up making a mistake with one of the final waypoints and ended up way off course. The helicopter guided us back to the route, but we lost so much time. It’s disappointing, but we got to the finish in one piece which is the most important thing. I’ll keep on pushing for the remaining stages because anything can happen at the Dakar as we have seen today.”
Toby Price: “I’m so disappointed with the result today. It was hot out there and I didn’t have much fluid so that made things even harder. We were running really well right up until the end but obviously made a mistake with the navigation on the final waypoint. It seems a lot of the other riders made a very similar mistake, but I guess that’s the way it goes. I lost a huge amount of time and that is going to be hard to get back, but I’ll keep pushing on and see what the next few stages bring us.”
An early crash slowed Laia Sanz’ pace at the beginning of today’s stage. Despite her navigation equipment being damaged, she rode on, taking more care to make each waypoint successfully and minimise the risk of any further mistakes. Her diligence paid off and Laia completed the final part of the timed special without incident, finishing in a very strong 11th place.
Laia Sanz: “My day started off pretty bad – I had a crash early on and damaged my trip computer. From then on it was very difficult to navigate and find the waypoints. I had to really ease off on my pace in order to not have an accident. On the second leg of the stage my navigation was really good and so in the end it wasn’t such a bad day after all. I placed 11th at the finish which puts me in a really good start position for tomorrow.”
Laia’s KTM Factory Racing team-mate, Luciano Benavides was forced to retire from the rally today after a crash on the first part of the timed stage. The Argentinian, injuring his back in the incident, was airlifted to hospital for further checks.
Tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) Stage 11 of the 2018 Dakar Rally is the infamous Super Fiambalá – often regarded as the toughest and most exhausting of the event. It is not overly long, the timed special only measures 280km, but the temperature in the dunes around the town of Fiambalá makes the stage extremely tough on mind and body. That, combined with the extra-soft sand of the area, provides a real challenge for the competitors.
Provisional Results Stage 10 – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 4:52:26
2. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL), Husqvarna, 5:04:01 +11:35
3. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 5:08:47 +16:21
4. Oriel Mena (ESP), Hero, 5:13:11 +20:45
5. José Ignacio Cornejo (CHL), Honda, 5:15:40 +23:14
Other KTM
8. Daniel Oliveras Carreras (ESP), KTM, 5:17:51 +25:25
11. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 5:29:01 +36:35
19. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 5:41:43 +49:17
26. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 5:52:39 +1:00:13Provisional Standings after Stage 10 – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 32:21:03
2. Joan Barreda (ESP), Honda, 33:00:45 +39:42
3. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 33:02:26 +41:23
4. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 33:08:49 +47:46
5. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 33:11:21 +50:18
Other KTM
6. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 33:24:38 +1:03:35
8. Stefan Svitko (SVK), KTM, 33:46:12 +1:25:09
15. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 34:22:29 +2:01:26eom/KTM press release
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Santosh falls twice, but holds on after a tough marathon run at 42nd overall position
CS Santosh during Dakar 2018 Stage 8 of Leg2 on Jan 14, 2018. A Hero MotoSports Image Bolivia, 14 Jan 2018: CS Santosh, the only Indian remaining in the Dakar Rally this year, continued his exploits and made a steady progress overcoming a challenging marathon run to end the first stage of Leg 2, Stage 8 in 38th position, which places him at an overall 42nd position. The other Indian KP Aravind ended his campaign after a nasty fall.
Having spent a night at Uyuni without assistance, the competitors started the leg 2 of the Marathon stage from Uyuni to Tupiza on Sunday, the 14th morning for the longest stage of the Dakar Rally.
Santosh of Hero MotoSports Team Rally, too has been gaining good ground lately and continued his steady run today as well. His teammater, Oriol Mena has been consistently delivering under top 20 performances for the past few stages and today was no different as finished today’s special at 12th position. Today’s performance helped Mena in defending his top 20 ranking and grabbing up the 18th spot overall.
The riders had to make a total run of 498 km on Sunday’s special stage followed by an 87-km liaison section. This stage offers the challenge of a tough high altitude riding in the mountain sand dunes at 3500 m above sea level.
Stage 9 of the Dakar Rally has been cancelled due to excessive rains the region has witnessed over the last few days. Overflowing rivers are expected to pose grave dangers to the competitors and hence the organizers decided to call off the stage.
However the riders and the rally will still need to cross the borders to move into Argentina on to their next bivouac at Salta, while covering the longest liaison section of the Dakar.
C.S Santosh, who rides with a competition Number 49, said: “I think this Marathon stage was the hardest I have ever done. It was incredibly difficult as we did 80 km off-piste and the camel grass. I was physically drained with the high altitude riding and also crashed a couple of times. By the time I reached the marathon bivouac I had nothing left in me. This morning we had the longest stage of the Dakar which was tough again. Happy to be back here with the team, I missed these guys. Now we got a lucky break tomorrow and then we go racing all the way to Cordoba”
Provisional Stage 8 Classifications: 1. Antoine Meo, RedBull KTM Racing, KTM, 5h 24m 01s 2. Ricky Brabec, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, +01m 08s 3. Toby Price, RedBull KTM Racing, KTM, +02m 45s 12. Oriol Mena, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +16m 57s 38. C.S. Santosh, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +06h 31m 43s
Overall Provisional Classifications after Stage 8: 1. Adrien Van Beveren, Yamaha Factory Racing,Yamaha,27h 22m 03s 2. Kevin Benavides, Honda Factory Racing, Honda, +00m 22s 3. Mathias Walkner, Redbull KTM Racing, KTM, +06m 34s 18. Oriol Mena, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +01h 42m 57s 42. C.S. Santosh, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +07h 19m 21s.
eom/Hero MotoSports press release
