INDIA in F1

Tag: Aravind KP

  • The feeling of finishing Dakar is yet to sink in: Aravind KP

    The feeling of finishing Dakar is yet to sink in: Aravind KP

    A proud Aravind with Indian flag as his team celebrates. A TVS Racing image

    Bengaluru 18 Jan 2019: Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team’s Aravind KP has successfully completed the 2019 edition of Dakar making him the only Indian to finish the gruesome rally at 37th position. This is KP’s third appearance at Dakar and this successful attempt to finish the rally has brought glory to the team and the country. This edition of Dakar has been touted as one of the toughest in the history of the rally and only 55% of the bikes completed the gruesome rally this year. The 11-day rally saw riders battle with fesh fesh, sand dunes, beach and rocks with complex navigation at every stage.

    After a steady start in the early stages, Aravind KP picked up his pace in the second half of the rally and climbed up the rankings. Despite a few crashes during the intermediate stages, he fought hard and got to the finish line. KP faced a tricky situation in the penultimate stage of Dakar, when his bike broke down in the sand dunes. He sought help from some spectators and reached the finish line defying all odds.

    Commenting on his achievement, Aravind KP says, “The feeling of finishing Dakar is yet to sink in fully as I have been dreaming and waiting for this moment for 3 years now. It’s difficult to express my feelings at the moment but I am overjoyed to be at the finish line. With multiple injuries in the run up to Dakar, I always knew I had to push myself beyond the comfort zone to finish the rally. The route this year was extremely challenging but I was ready to fight it out and finish one stage at a time. I would like to thank my team especially my mechanic Prakasham for ensuring my motorcycle was in the best shape at the beginning of every stage. I am also grateful to my mentors at TVS Racing & Sherco for believing in my dream and supporting me all along. Dreams do come true if you truly believe in them. I hope my achievement inspires young Indian riders to chase their Dakar dreams and work hard to put India on the world motorsport map.“

    KP’s teammates – Michael Metge and Adrien Metge finished the rally at the 25th and 22nd positions respectively. Michael had a good start at the rally but had a setback on the second day due to fuel outage. He picked up pace in the next stages and broke into top 15 in the third stage. His grit became intense with each passing stage and he won the ninth stage against all lead riders. Adrien Metge strived hard and picked up pace in the first two stages but an unfortunate fall in third stage left him with a sore wrist. His bike fell in the seventh stage and the navigation system got damaged but he continued his journey to finish the rally. Lorenzo Santolino, rookie at Dakar was the fastest rider of the team this year and broke into top 10 in the third stage. Unfortunately, he had to exit the rally in the sixth stage due to a heavy crash.

    Selvaraj, Team Manager, TVS Racing said, “I would like to congratulate all the racers and the team for their outstanding performance at the rally this year. With each passing day at the rally, the level of difficulty shot up manifold and so did our determination. Aravind KP is a talented rider and has a razor sharp focus on his goal and that’s precisely the reason why we chose him to represent us at Dakar. At TVS Racing, we spend a lot of time with the racers to identify their potential and strive to give them every opportunity to prove their mettle. We believe success doesn’t come to anyone overnight, it is an ongoing journey and one might have to overcome many obstacles before achieving glory. It is a red letter day in the history of TVS Racing and we are honoured to be a part of this success story.”

     

  • Sherco TVS team’s Aravind KP conquers Dakar, becomes only Indian to finish Dakar 2019

    Sherco TVS team’s Aravind KP conquers Dakar, becomes only Indian to finish Dakar 2019

    Lima, 17 Jan 2019: Aravind KP had done it. The Indian conquered the Dakar 2019! “The will to win, the desire to succeed! The urge to reach your full potential, these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal EXCELLENCE,” the powerful words of Chinese Social reformer Confucius come to mind, at this historic moment for India and for TVS Racing, as Aravind became the only Indian to finish the Dakar Rally this year.

    In a short period of cross-country rallying, the Indian giant, who had been promoting two-wheeler racing in India for decades, partnered with the French outfit and took part as Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team in Dakar Rally 2019 and Aravind KP became the second Indian to complete Dakar Rally. CS Santosh, who bowed out in Stage 5 this year, is the first Indian to complete Dakar in 2015.

    On Thursday, Aravind Prabhakar, as listed in the Dakar timings, rode his number 48 bike across the finish line of Stage 10, the last stage to reach another milestone in his life, perhaps the biggest, completing Dakar in his third attempt. In the first year in 2017, he had a wrist injury and failed to finish the second time too in 2018.

    Aravind did consistently, as he was keen not to allow any obstacle to stop him this year, and in the second half, he stepped up the game and negotiated the tough terrain with admirable regularity to steadily progress to the front, hitting the top-50 before reaching the top-40. After finishing the 359-km Stage 10 in 1hr, 48:16 to be placed in 42nd position. Finishing in 37th position overall, the TVS rider took 49 hours, 48 minutes and 43 seconds for the 10 stages of Dakar, all held in the single country, Peru this year.

    Joaquim Rodriques of Hero MotoSports Team Rally finished stage 10 in 12th position, closely followed by Adrien Metge of Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team in 13th, while Hero’s Oriol Mena was 17th and Adrien’s brother Michael struggled but managed to finish last as 75 of the 78 bikes completed the Moto section of the last stage of Dakar. Michael Metge was the hero for India team yesterday as he won the penultimate Stage 9 with brilliant riding.

    Overall, Hero MotoSports Oriol Mena had a top-10 finishe with 9th position while his teammate Joaquim Rodriques finished 17th. Younger of the Metge brothers Adrien finished three places ahead of Michael in 22nd position. And Aravind KP did a creditable job managing at top-40 place in 37th overall. All the results are provisional.

    “I was overjoyed. I was overwhelmed. It was the shortest stage, but it was the longest for me because I was hoping to get to the finish line and have been counting every kilometre. I came in with a lot of setbacks but I put in a lot of hardwork and with a positive attitude, I turned everything around me.

  • Big day for Sherco TVS Factory team as Michael Metge wins Stage9; Aravind 39th overall

    Big day for Sherco TVS Factory team as Michael Metge wins Stage9; Aravind 39th overall

    Michael Metge with the Sherco TVS Factory team after winning Stage 9 on January 16. A TVS Racing image

    Pisco, 16 Jan 2019: The lone Indian left in the Dakar Rally 2019, Aravind KP of Sherco TVS Racing Factory Team successfully completed the penultimate stage on Wednesday and is all set to complete the Dakar with only one day left.

    Arvind (Prabhakar) did a wonderful job in all the sections except in wp4, WayPoint4, where he lost time, to gain positions in the 409-km Stage 9. He crossed the finish line gaining valuable positions in a time of 6hr, 25 minutes and 22 seconds. The Indian was 55th in the stage for an overall 39th position with only one stage to go to complete Dakar 2019.

    Aravind KP negotiates the Stage 9 dunes. A TVS Racing image

    However, his Sherco TVS Rally Factory teammate Michael Metge is the real hero of the day winning the stage in 3:46:38. It was quite a memorable day for the TVS Team as their top rider Michael Metge won the penultimate stage of Dakar 2019. Michael dominated the stage today ahead of all the top 10 riders as he pushed himself right from the start. The team dedicates this stage win to teammate Lorenzo Santolino, who had to retire due to a crash in Stage 6. Michael’s overall ranking is now at 22nd and he intends to finish Dakar with another dominating performance. The stage saw a mass start in waves of 10 like the first marathon stage. The riders had to ride through another loop in Pisco, full of tricky sand dunes, the ones that had resulted in many key riders to quit the rally in Stage 2.

    The loop around Pisco explored the Ica desert from an entirely new perspective. It started with an 80 km dune sector, followed by a series of coastal dunes separated by the Subida de los Burrosascent and, to cap it all, another sequence of dunes with three fearsome massifs in the final 100 kilometres —more than enough to throw sand in the gears of the top riders and drivers, as Adrien van Beveren, Stéphane Peterhansel and Sébastien Loeb came to know.

    Stage nine of the rally saw another motocross style mass-start with riders setting off in waves of 10, determined by their finishing positions from the previous day’s stage. Heading into the dunes for the 313-kilometre timed special, the first group of riders stuck together for the majority of the stage.

    Aravind’s teammate and Michael’s younger brother Adrien Metge was more cautious in his approach due to physical strain and he finished at 20th position. He is right behind Michael in the overall rankings at 23rd. India’s Aravind KP got off to a blazing start taking the lead for the first 190 kilometres. KP faced bike issues in the middle of the stage but thanks to some help, he was able to complete the stage. His overall ranking stays at 39th position.

    Commenting on the stage win, Michael Metge says, “It’s an unbelievable feeling to win a stage at Dakar. The stage was challenging as there was lots of dunes and fesh-fesh. I started in the second line at the wave start and I pushed all the way through the stage. Soon I caught up with the first riders and I went past the leader quite quickly. Full credit to the team mechanics for preparing my bike, which has been performing beautifully in the sand dunes. I dedicate this win to my wife and 2 children, who are my pillars of support.”

    Aravind KP says, “It was a mixed day for me but that’s what Dakar is about. I started really well taking the lead in the mass start. But things changed halfway, when my bike had some issues. These were tense moments as I wanted to complete the stage at any cost. Thank god for the local help who assisted me in restarting the bike and finish the stage. This is the spirit of Dakar and I am lucky to have experienced it.”

    The team will ride back from Pisco to Lima in Stage 10, which will be a 358 kilometres journey.

    Provisional Results Stage Nine – 2019 Dakar Rally

    1. Michael Metge (FRA), Sherco, 3:46:38
    2. Daniel Nosiglia (BOL), Honda, 3:48:38 +2:00
    3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL), Husqvarna, 3:50:06 +3:28

  • TVS Racing’s Aravind KP 39th after 575-km Stage 8: Lone Indian left in Dakar Rally 2019

    TVS Racing’s Aravind KP 39th after 575-km Stage 8: Lone Indian left in Dakar Rally 2019

    WALKNER Matthias (Aut); KTM Factory Team during the Dakar 2019 Stage 8. Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI

    Pisco, 15 Jan 2019: In what has been a very successful day for the Sherco TVS Rally Factory team, all the three remaining riders finished another demanding stage with the lone Indian rider Aravind KP improving his overall position with a creditable 39th position overcoming the 575-km section from San Juan de Marcona to Pisco with a cool head and challenging navigation in the Moto section of the Dakar Rally 2019 on Tuesday. Aravind continues to impress with his consistency and finished the stage without any hiccups. He battled with low visibility initially but was able to ride smoothly post the refuelling point into the dunes.

    He clocked 5 hours, 30 minutes and 10 seconds and is in 39th position after Stage 8 as Dakar Rally comes to the closing stages with only two stages remaining. The other two Sherco TVS riders, the Metge brothers, had one more successful day finishing in 11th and 16th places.

     

    Aravind KP (Stage 7) of Sherco TVS team. Image courtesy Twitter @TVS_Racing

    While elder brother Michael timed 4:13.36 for his 11th Adrien clocked 4:27.52 for 16th as they finished the tough 575 km stage dubbed as `Super Ica’. At 360 kilometres, the timed special was the longest of the event and took competitors over fast, open pistes for the first half, before once again challenging them with the mountainous sand dunes of the Ica desert. In the overall standings, Michael is 24th and Adrien is 26th.

    Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team conquered Stage 8 with a strong performance by all riders despite multiple challenges. The team had to find their way through dense fog at the start point wherein the visibility dropped to as low as 5 metres. This was just the beginning of an eventful day for the team as after the fog, they had to battle against the dust left behind by the cars and trucks. The cars and trucks had opened the race ahead of the bikes in Stage 8. This was the longest special stage of 360 km in this edition of Dakar.

    Michael Metge was at his best despite difficult weather conditions and finished the stage in the 10th position. Michael picked up his pace once he hit the sand dunes and his overall ranking is now at 24th. Adrien finished Stage 8 in 14th position despite a minor wrist injury. His strong show has taken him to the 26th position (overall).

    Aravind KP says, “The low visibility at the start was a concern for me and I didn’t take any chances. I really enjoyed my ride once I hit the dunes and managed to improve my rankings. It was a very long stage and I am happy to have completed it.”

    The team will ride through a loop in Pisco in the next stage, which is also the penultimate stage for Dakar 2019.

    Oriol Mena and Joacquim Rodriques of Hero MotoSports Team Rally finished in 12th and 13th positions respectively after Stage 8. Mena took 4hrs 20.03 while Rodriques came home in 4:21.49. Indian rider CS Santosh crashed out in Stage 6 and made his exit from Dakar Rally 2019 leaving Aravind of TVS Racing the lone Indian in the field. In the overall standings, Mena is 11th while Rodriques is 18th.

    Matthias Walkner of KTM Factory Racing has claimed his second stage win of the 2019 Dakar Rally. Pablo Quintanilla of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team was second with third fastest going to Toby Price, also of KTM,who now sits at the top of the provisional overall standings with two stages left to contest.

    On the return journey to Pisco, the riders and drivers were served up a cocktail of sand for 360 km, before they get the chance to savour a flavoursome Pisco Sour! The day started with fesh-fesh and was followed by an intermittence of beaches for almost 80 kilometres. Before encountering the genuine chains of dunes to be crossed to reach the finishing line of the special, care had to be taken to avoid stalling in the formidable “subida de los burros”. The dunes of Ica, already partially visited during stage two, were more comprehensively explored, with the aim of submitting the participants to the most demanding of ascensions and descents, for example at the 300-kilometre mark on the special. To finish the route, a final portion of off-track racing required maximum awareness from the co-pilots.

    Provisional results after Stage 8:

    1. Mathias Walkner, KTM Factory Racing, 3 hours, 55 minutes, 25 seconds;
    2. Pablo Quintanilla, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory, 3:56:10;
    3. Toby Price, KTM Factory Racing, 3:56:38; 11.Michael Metge, Sherco TVS Rally Factory team, 4:13:36;

    12.Oriol Mena, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, 4:20:03;

    1. Joaquim Rodriques, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, 4:21:49;16. Adrien Metge, Sherco TVS Rally Factory team, 4:27:52;

    39.Aravind Prabhakar, Sherco TVS Rally Factory team, 5:30:10.

     

  • Aravind KP completes Stage 7 with 47th overall: Dakar Rally

    Aravind KP completes Stage 7 with 47th overall: Dakar Rally

    Aravind KP image courtesy @TVS_Racing twitter handle

    San Juan de Marcona, 15 Jan 2019: Visitors to San Juan de Marcona are usually looking for the best plan to discover the Nazca Lines. Stage 7 of the Dakar was completely different, with an assortment of difficulties to fray the nerves of all types of competitors. To add to this, the lone Indian survivor Aravind KP, had navigational issues. But he managed to overcome all the hurdles and accelerated his progress to the top-50 with a brilliant run as the fast men were in their element in the fast off-road sectors of the first 100 kilometres, only to suffer in the fesh-fesh and on the rough tracks on a plateau halfway through the stage.

    For the next 50 kilometres, the focus of Aravind, the Sherco TVS Rally Facotory team rider, switched to the dune surfers, with the Duna Grande and Duna Argentina sectors, later to transition to faster stretches near the end of the stage… all while dodging the navigational pitfalls in the vicinity of San Juan. He did a tremendous job to stay on course even as his teammates, the Metge brothers had a top-15 finish.

    Aravind, once again was in his elements and he put in a steady effort to end the day 46th. The Indian is now in 47th in the main standings after the 387 km of Stage 7. He was 46th in the Stage Classification.

  • Arvind KP rides brilliantly to finish Stage 6: Dakar Rally

    Arvind KP rides brilliantly to finish Stage 6: Dakar Rally

    Lorenzo Santolino is airlifted for treatment. A Dakar Rally image

    San Juan de Marcona, 14 Jan 2019: After a long wait of about 20 minutes, at 2.20am (IST) Arvind Prabhakar’s time was up on the Dakar site after the previous rider finished the WayPoint 7 and it was only a matter of time that Aravind KP finished the tough and challenging Stage 6 838 km with an impressive time. The Sherco TVS Rally Factory team rider was doing extremely well before losing time in the fag end. Nevertheless, he finished overall 48th, his bike number after a brilliant 44th in the stage classification.

    Meanwhile, his teammate, the top-flying rookie rider Lorenzo Santolino bowed out of the Dakar 2019, 33km into the stage as he was air-lifted for medical attention. The Sherco-TVS rider was one of the breakout stars of the Dakar so far, with his best-ever finish to the day coming just two days prior on Stage 5. He had to be airlifted to Lima where further assessment of his injuries will take place.

    The team had a day to forget with just a glimmer of hope coming from KP Aravind who rode extremely well to finish the day 44th, climbing up quite a few spots in the overall rankings. He is currently 48th and should aim to climb a few more spots. Michael was the better of the two Metge brothers finishing the day in 31st. That did bump him down a number of positions in the overall standings, to 36th in fact, but not as much as his brother Adrien who had a miserable day at the office. Adrien ended the day at 77th spot, which has seen him plummet down the overall standings to 33rd.

    Hero MotoSports had no casualties to report but their standings too were slightly hampered in the overall stage progression. Since Lorenzo’s crash, Oriol Mena has taken over as the top rider from an Indian team. He was 20th over the course of the day which has seen him slide down a spot in the overall rankings, to 13th. The day started off strongly for his teammate Joaquim Rodrigues but he stopped to help Oriol out as the latter ran his fuel tank dry. He had to rebuild the aux tank and thus finished the day in 30th. He is 25th in the overall tally now. Hero hopes both its riders will challenge for better results in the days to come.

     

  • Sherco TVS Rally team in stunning 3rd place, Aravind 53rd, Santosh crashes out: Dakar Stage 5

    Sherco TVS Rally team in stunning 3rd place, Aravind 53rd, Santosh crashes out: Dakar Stage 5

    Sam Sunderland tops Moto section after Stage 5. A Red Bull KTM image

    Arequipa, 11 Jan 2019: Aravind Prabhakar of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team just crossed the line finishing the Stage 5 with a splendid job to finish in 53rd place overall, after he broke into the top-50 for the first time in fifth stage. But top Indian rider CS Santosh crashed out in the tough fifth stage.

    Lorenzo Santolino is in 3rd place. In the Moto Section of the Dakar Rally 2019, Sherco TVS Rally Factory team member Lorenzo hit the highest spot in the most difficult section of 776-stage Fifth Stage to put the Indian team on a high pedestal.

    He clocked 4 hours 15.48sec and just 4 minutes away from the leader on the top spot. Other Indian team riders Oriol Mena and Joaquim Rodriques are in 16th and 18th places, riding for Hero MotoSports Team Rally.

    Adrien Metge and Michael Metge are in 24th and 29th places, respectively. The two Sherco TVS riders have displayed tremendous show to bein the top-30 on a stage which is one of the toughest in the Dakar 2019.

    The riders and drivers of the Dakar will have fully deserved their rest day, on completion of the 5th stage, which was made up of the longest and most varied timed sections on the rally.

    The start took place for everyone in Tacna, which is the furthest point from Lima that the riders and drivers have reached this year. They started the journey back to the Peruvian capital by crossing a long zone of fesh-fesh before tackling the first tracks of the day, winding through sumptuous canyons, much to the delight of photographers and skid enthusiasts.

    The long first portion came to a close in the dunes of Ilo, where the bikes and quads experienced a double dose of sand. In the meantime, the cars, SxS and trucks got to grips with a second part of the special, made up of 137 extra kilometres, with the formidable fesh-fesh already visited the day before on the menu, a terrain for the brave!

    After a discrete start to the rally, Sam Sunderland reminded everyone of the reasons why he won the Dakar in 2017. The official KTM rider managed to extricate himself from a closely fought battle at the forefront of the stage to pick up his first victory of the year and close in to less than one minute from Ricky Brabec in the general standings. Sébastien Loeb also performed masterfully in the car race to take his second stage victory since the start in Lima, finishing more than 10 minutes ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah who reinforced his leadership of the general standings. Stéphane Peterhansel now trails the Qatari by 24 minutes. In the quad category, NicolásCavigliasso continues to ride a dream Dakar with another incontestable triumph, pushing his lead in the general standings on to almost 50 minutes and allowing him to approach the second half of the rally in peace of mind. However, it is a much closer affair in the truck race following another victory for Eduard Nikolaev who is still within reach for his team-mates Dmitry Sotnikov and AndreyKarginov in the general standings.

    Saturday January 12 is a rest day for all 2019 Dakar Rally competitors. Riders will relax in Arequipa for the day before heading out to the bivouac on Saturday evening to prepare for Sunday’s stage six that will take them back to San Juan de Marcona.

    Provisional Results Stage Five – 2019 Dakar Rally

    1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 4:11:48
    2. Xavier de Soultrait (FRA), Yamaha, 4:15:11 +3:23
    3. Lorenzo Santolino (ESP), Sherco, 4:15:48 +4:00
    4. Adrien van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 4:16:14 +4:26
    5. Andrew Short (USA), Husqvarna, 4:16:24 +4:36

  • CS Santosh in 41st position, Aravind KP in 78th after 511-km of Stage 4

    Moquegua (Peru), 11 Jan 2019: Sherco TVS Rally Team is vying with Hero MotoSports Team Rally and the battle between the Indian teams seem to have tilted, only if it is for a short tiem, in favour of TVS, as TVS’ Lorenzo Santolino beat Oriol Mena to take the top-10 spot pushing the Hero to 11th spot which can be taken again anytime.

    After the 511-KM Stage 4, the riders are leaving San Juan de Marcona to fight more dunes and sandy terrain to Moquegua for the Stage 5.

    Micheal Metge is in 17th place after the Stage 4 while his brother Adrien Metge is in 21st place. So all the three Sherco TVS bikes are on target and the Indian rider KP Aravind is on 78th place.

    CS Santosh of Hero MotoSports Team Rally is in 51st position after Sage 4.

  • Both Indian riders CS Santosh and Aravind KP safely complete the challenging Stage 3: Dakar Rally 2019

    Both Indian riders CS Santosh and Aravind KP safely complete the challenging Stage 3: Dakar Rally 2019

    Oriol Mena rides into top-10 after Stage3. Photo by Antonin Vincent

    San Juan de Marcona (Peru), 10 Jan 2019: On a highly-challenging Stage 3 of the 2019 Dakar Rally, Hero MotoSports Team Rally rider Oriol Mena has ridden an excellent 8th place, moving himself to the top-10 in the provisional overall standings on Wednesday after the end of the 798-km tough terrain run.

    Lorenzo Santolino of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team who also went into top-10 in the day, finally finished the Stage 3 in 11th place. Teammates Michael Metge was in 13 and his brother Adrien Metge was 18th.

    Joaquim Rodriques of Hero MotoSports finished the day and Stage 3 in 46th place while the top Indian rider Santosh CS, also riding for Hero, was place 64th after the tough and challenging stage three. “Today’s day started really good for me and I rode with really good feeling up until km 70 after which I had problems with my clutch. I lost a ton of time but I’m happy to have made it back to the team. I finally got 37th for the day,” said Santosh about the Day 2 performance in his social media post.

    Day 2 action of Aravind KP image courtesy Twitter @TVS_Racing

    The other Indian and the fourth Sherco TVS rider, Aravind KP, focussed on navigation with a keen intent to finish the stage, ended up 81 after Stage 3 even as 124 riders completed the stage.

    The rally will now move to the Marathon stage, where no assistance is allowed overnight and the competitors will be left to their own devices and faculties to manage their bikes and themselves.

    Recapping the day, Santosh said, ”It was an extremely difficult stage, throwing a fair share of challenges. I had the wrong lens on for today’s stage and it set me up for the struggle for most of the first part. So, I decided to ride without my goggles, which was really difficult to do. Had a few crashes, lost my way around a waypoint, so in all a very tough day. I am glad to have seen the back of it and still be in the race. ”

     

  • Aravind KP 60th after Second Stage while Santosh slips to 37th: Dakar Rally 2019

    Aravind KP 60th after Second Stage while Santosh slips to 37th: Dakar Rally 2019

    Aravind KP during the first stage to Pisco on Monday. A Sherco TVS image

    Pisco (Peru), 8 Jan 2019: Aravind KP of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team did a commendable job in the 553-km Second Stage of the Moto section of the Dakar Rally 2019 as he nudged ahead with a steady ride to occupy 60th position on Tuesday. After the first stage he was in 71st position.

    Meanwhile, CS Santosh of Hero Motosports Team Rally had a tough second stage but managed to stay on course as he slipped to 37th place with a time of 4 hours, 06 minutes and 20 seconds.

    Both the Indian teams saw their riders in the top-20 with Sherco TVS team’s Lorenzo Santolino and Adrien Metge in 14th and 15th positions respectively while Oriol Mena of Hero Motosports Team followed them in 16th place. Santolino did 3:43.34 while Adrien clocked 3:45.33. Oriol Mena timed 3:46.51.

    Joaquim Rodriques of Hero Motosports is in 34th place (4:03.04). Michael Metgi of Sherco TVS slipped to 69th clocking 5:05.29.

    Here is a tweet by senior motorsports editor Sirish Chandran