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Gill to drive WRC2 for Skoda in 2018: A well-deserved break for the King of Indian Motorsports
Gauvrav Gill in Whangerai, New Zealand. A 2016 file Photo by Anand Philar Bangalore, 20 Jan 2018: Gaurav Gill, the king of Indian Motorsports, finally gets a chance to make his WRC debut. The World Rally Championship has been his dream and the Speed Maestro has done everything to prove himself. “I have been aggressive and have never slowed down in my entire career. But I have matured. I have to support and win things for my sponsors, my supporters. So I will be fastest, but I will try to win something for them. Then I will be winning it for myself too,” the Magic Driver, who weaves his speed around whatever he lays his hands on, said at the K1000 mandatory press conference on Saturday.
Gaurav Gill will be driving WRC2 seven rounds in 2018 for Skoda. The Indian is on a strict regimen to reduce his weight and get fit and “is on the lookout for funding”. I will be announcing the launch and the sponsor at an official event soon, said Gill on the sidelines of K1000 press conference at Century Club in Bangalore today.
“The God’s gift to India as far as speed is concerned. He is a madman. He is no joke. Win or loss does not matter, pedal-to-the-metal is the only mantra,” said a vociferous fan about the Diva of motorsports.
The Delhi based, three-time Asia Pacific Rally Champion is the only Indian at the FIA awards function last year. Having won the APRC title for the third time, Gill was invited for the FIA awards gala. When this correspondent contacted him, Gill modestly replied that he would not be back before Dec 12, where he would be attending a press conference for Skoda. Little did I realise that this is the beginning of the long-dream of World Rally Championship. Last year too it fizzled out despite promising beginnings and talks at Pune.
In 2017 ŠKODA teams not only won the FIA World Rally Championship’s WRC 2 titles but also 14 national plus a number of regional championships. WRC 2 Champion Pontus Tidemand (27), Ole Christian Veiby (21), Juuso Nordgren (21)
and Kalle Rovanperä (17) will be driving the factory team’s ŠKODA FABIA R5 in 2018.When former colleagues, who lost to him are shining, can we keep the giant idle for long, for want of sponsorship?
More than 170 ŠKODA FABIA R5 sold to ŠKODA importers and private teams worldwide.
eom/edited and deleted jumbled matter on 22jan2018/by DB
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K1000 preview: KMSC all-set to conduct 43rd edition; INRC final round on Sunday
K1000 KMSC logo. Courtesy KMSC facebook account Standings courtesy promoters RRPM, Kolkota (twitter) David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 20 Jan 2018: King of Indian Motorsports, Gaurav Gill of Team Mahindra Adventure and his co-driver Musa Sherif will once again be the favourites to win the Indian National Rally championship final leg, the popular K1000 (Karnataka 1000) which began its 43rd edition with the recce on Saturday morning at a terrain about 70kms from here.
The K1000 rally, a regular part of the Indian National Rally Championship is being organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) one of the oldest active clubs in India. Except for a year or two, K1000 was continuously held for over forty years. It is also a founder member of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci). The INRC is being promoted by Kolkota-based Ramakrishna Race Performance Managment (RRPM) headed by a veteran rally ace, who was on of the winners of K1000 in its early years. Along with Amittrajit Ghosh, they are the only father-son who have taken part in INRC rallies.
The number of entries for the popular K1000 this year is a luke-warm 28 which is one of the lowest in the recent years.
Fresh from their victory in the fifth round at Arunachal Pradesh, the top duo who are leading the INRC class will be followed by young gun Dean Mascarenhas and Shruptha Padival of Mangalore and another seeded pair of Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, who finished in that order in the overall standings of Rally of Arunachal. However, Dean and Shruptha are leading their class INRC3.
Experienced stalwarts Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat who won the INRC2 class will be gunning for a closing bang to win the championship but their job will not be easy with stiff competition coming from the likes of Younus Ilyas and Karna Kadur. The strong pair of talented Kadur and Nikhil Pai had an unfortunate DNF (did not finish) in Arunachal Pradesh, but the youngster will also be a strong favourite to win his class INRC2 besides the leading pair. Kadur slipped on the table standings after that DNF.
In the INRC overall rankings for the season, Delhi’s Gaurav Gill is leading with 75 points with Dean Mascarenhas on 63 in second and Rahul Kantharaj on 47. Karna Kadur is only four points behind at 43 while Amittrajit Ghosh slipped to 5th place with 40 points. Musa Sherif and Shruptha Padival lead the co-driver rankings with 85 and 63 points respectively. Mahindra Adventure tops with 125 points in the team championship with ARKA motorsports in second place at 90.
In the INRC2, Rahul Kantharaj (79), Younus Ilyas (58) and Karna Kadur (50) are leading the table in the Drivers’ championship with Vivek Bhat topping the co-drivers’ with 79 points over Harish KN (58) and Nikhil V Pai (50) in that order. ARKA is leading team standings in this class over Snap Racing.
In the INRC3, Dean Mascarenhas with a century is leading the Driver’s Championship and has already clinched the title in the class but is found wanting in terms of sponsors to show his talent on a better platform. Darius N Shroff, Punyabrata Barma are on 51 and 46 respectively to fight for second and third positions. Likewise, Dean’s navigator Shruptha won the co-drivers title in this class. Nitin Jacob and Mrinmoy Saha will fight for the second position.
Chettinad Sporting had won the team title in this class beating the only other team entry Snap Racing. They garnered 117 points.
Stage Distance
The total distance of the Rally will be 97.26 km. The Special Stage distance will be 69.15 km while the liaison distance will be 28.11km. The two stages Alpha and Beta will be run thrice. Alpha is 14.95 km long while Beta covers a distance of only 8.10km. The first car starts at Alpha 1 at 9 am on Sunday. The one-day rally will not have a spectator-friendly Super Special Stage this year.
“It has been another exciting season of Indian rallying. I want to thank MRF Tyres, Mahindra Adventure, CARTAir, Isuzu, Arunachal Tourism, York, Arya and Century Club for their support” Arindam Ghosh, RRPM’s Director, the promoters of the MRF FMSCI INRC, said on the eve of the rally. “Gill has dominated despite missing out on one round. He has won the other three rounds but he must bring it to the finish here to win the championship”, he added.
Supplementary Regulations on INRCindia site
The MRF 43rd K1000 Rally is round 6 of the MRF FMSCI INDIAN NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP (INRC) 2017 will run in compliance with the International Sporting Code of the FIA (and its appendices), the General Prescriptions of The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the relevant Regulations concerning IRC championship or cup, the Supplementary Regulations and bulletins issued by the FMSCI can be found at www.inrcindia.com,
The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) is the ASN of FIA in India. This rally is inscribed on the FIA Calendar under Asia Zone. Asia Zone competitors may take part in this rally and accrue points.
There will be two Mahindra XUVs in fray with Gill and Ghosh behind the wheels of the Team Mahindra Adventure factory team. There will be six Mitsubishi Cedias competing for the honours in different classes but all of them will be privateers. The Kodagu team of Gagan Karumbaiah and co-driver Amrith Thimmaiah will be the lone entry in the fmsci 4w Cup in a Maruti Gypsy.
eom/David Bodapati
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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 -
US Motorsport legend Dan Gurney passes away
Dan Gurney, one of racing’s most well-respected stars, has sadly passed away aged 86. The American driver was renowned not only for his numerous successes behind the wheel in a variety of disciplines but also as an innovator who had a great influence on the development of motorsport for many years.
Gurney was a winner of four Formula One Grands Prix and drove for almost all of the sport’s most iconic teams including Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, Brabham and Lotus. Perhaps the most impressive triumph, however, came in a car of his own construction – the stunning Eagle-Weslake – at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix.
He also drove to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans that same year and, during the podium celebrations, spontaneously sprayed champagne – an action that would lead to one of motor sport’s most recognisable traditions and ensure an eternal legacy that plays out after every race all around the world.
As well as competing at the very highest levels in Formula One and Sports Cars, Gurney drove to many successes in both NASCAR and IndyCar, as well as many other series in the United States.
Gurney will also be long remembered for the technical innovations he brought to the sport, including most famously the ‘Gurney flap’ which increases downforce without great cost to aerodynamic drag.
FIA President Jean Todt said: “I would like to pay tribute to Dan Gurney, he was a great driver who truly inspired my love of motor sport, and I was very fortunate that he became a good friend. We owe a lot to his character and his innovations, and I know that motor sport would not be what it is today without him. My thoughts, and those of the whole FIA family, are with his loved ones at this difficult time.”
eom/FIA 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
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Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist wins again: Formula E Marrakesh e-prix
Felix Rosenqvist has won for the second time in the first three races of the 2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship with victory in a closely-fought Marrakesh E-Prix. The Mahindra driver started the race from third but eventually overcame pole-man Sebastien Buemi in the closing stages to secure the win and take the lead in the championship standings for the first time in his Formula E career.
Buemi made a strong getaway in his Renault e.dams machine, leading second-placed starter Sam Bird in the DS Virgin Racing car with Rosenqvist third. The top trio was undoubtedly the class of the field, pulling out a healthy margin to the chasing pack, although Bird was struggling with a car issue in the first half of the race and was passed by the Mahindra on lap 16.
Reigning champion Lucas di Grassi was also having technical difficulties and endured a difficult day despite showing strong pace. After getting into the super-pole shootout, he began experiencing issues with his Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler car which meant that, despite starting the race well, he would eventually be forced to retire with the issues from qualifying appearing to recur.
As the top three broke away and Di Grassi dropped out of the running, Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Nelson Piquet Jr had another strong showing to finish fourth for the second time this year. He had dropped behind Lopez in the early laps but got past during the mid-race car swaps and stayed there for the remainder of the laps
With the front three having broken away there was intense racing further back from fifth to tenth place. The TECHEETAH of Jean-Eric Vergne would take the chequered flag in fifth to continue his consistent run of strong scores, while Lopez ended up an impressive sixth on his Dragon debut.
The battle for seventh was perhaps the most heated of all, with several drivers clashing in the latter stages in a bid to make a pass stick. Ultimately a robust defence from winner Rosenqvist’s team-mate Heidfeld netted him the position, while the two Venturi cars made contact with each other and then the Mahindra, resulting in Edoardo Mortara dropping back with damage and Maro Engel receiving a penalty for causing the collision that put him down to 12th.
This late drama meant that Tom Blomqvist was able to impress on his Formula E debut for Andretti in eighth, while Alex Lynn and Daniel Abt completed the top ten for DS Virgin Racing and Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler respectively.
This third round of the 2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship has left an intriguing championship order, with Rosenqvist leading Bird by four points ahead of Vergne, Piquet Jr and Mortara. The next round takes place for the first time in Santiago de Chile on 3 February.
Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, said: “At one point of the day I was going to be settling somewhere in the middle of the mid-field after free practice as we were struggling a lot. We then made some analysis and in qualifying we found out how to work the tyres properly, so that was a really good comeback before the race. Before the race, Spark told me I had to change my battery thirty-minutes before jumping in the car before the grid, so I was praying that my second car would be ready. Big thanks to the Mahindra guys. I think I was a little bit lucky with Lucas dropping out of the race quite early on, and obviously Sam had a problem with his car on the main straight as well. I tried to keep calm and look at my energy, because this race wasn’t really about the temperature but more about energy, and when the moment was right I went for it – super happy!”
Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, said: “I had an issue with the water pump and it wouldn’t start so we had to switch cars, so the car I started with was supposed to be the second one. Because of this we didn’t get FANBOOST sorted properly, so I think Felix had a bit more pace in the second stint, not much, but then I was overtaken at the end and I thought I would leave it to the last minute to use FANBOOST, but it didn’t work. I was annoyed, I didn’t properly move over to the inside and he managed to pass me, otherwise I would’ve closed the door a bit better, so I don’t know what happened. He had a little more pace and he deserved the win, so I don’t really think second is bad, but a big disappointment when you lead for most of the race.”
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, said: “We’ve had an issue since Hong Kong which you wouldn’t have noticed from the outside. We had tried to address it but it came back, and it came back big time in the race. We actually noticed it a lot in FP2, during a 200kW lap attempt – I noticed some difficulties with the rear of the car and I came in early from my run. We thought ‘do we change it, do we not’, and anyway we said no, let’s not change the component and unfortunately it’s come to bite us a little bit in the race. But still, third place is strong points and it’s a third place with a big issue! I didn’t think I was going to finish the race in the first car, I thought I was going to be pulling over and retiring so actually we were quite relieved with the full course yellow came and saved my bacon a little bit.”
2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship Round 3 – Marrakesh
1 – Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, 48:04.751s (25)
2 – Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, +0.945s (21)
3 – Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +5.762s (15)
4 – Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +6.554s (13)
5 – Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, +12.238s (10)
6 – Jose Maria Lopez, DRAGON, +16.491s (8)
7 – Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +28.381s (6)
8 – Tom Blomqvist, Andretti Formula E, +32.380s (4)
9 – Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing, +33.520s (2)
10 – Daniel Abt, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, +40.951s (1)
11 – Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +46.278s
12 – Maro Engel, Venturi Formula E Team, +46.915s
13 – Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, +53.099s
14 – Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti Formula E, +1:01.116s
15 – Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON, +1:13.805s
16 – Luca Filippi, NIO Formula E Team, +1 Lap
17 – Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E Team, +3 LapsDNF – Oliver Turvey, NIO Formula E Team, 17 Laps
DNF – Andre Lotterer, TECHEETAH, 14 Laps
DNF – Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, 7 LapsDriver standings
Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing – 54
Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing – 50
Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH – 43
Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 25
Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E – 24Team standings
Mahindra Racing – 75
DS Virgin Racing – 58
TECHEETAH – 43
Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 40
Venturi Formula E Team – 30
Renault e.dams – 28
Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler – 12
Andretti Formula E – 12
NIO Formula E Team – 9
DRAGON – 8eom/FIA press release
Felix Rosenqvist celebrates after winning the e-prix on Saturday, 13 Jan 2018. An FIA image -
Aravind KP’s ankle injury halts his Dakar 2018
By David Bodapati
Arequipa, 11 January 2018: Aravind KP’s dream of finishing The Dakar Rally ended with an ankle injury in the fifth stage of the Dakar 2018 here on Thursday.
Talking to INDIAinF1.com, Aravind said that he is overwhelmed by the love and support shown by the fans in India. He said he though he was disappointed with his premature end to the second season’s campaign, he felt good and encouraged by the huge demonstration of support from India. “After yesterday’s crash, I am feeling better now after getting medical attention. I would like to thank all my fans and well-wishers for their love and support all through Dakar. The doctors in Lima have informed me that I will require surgery once back in India…,” qupped the only rider among the two Indians who have ever competed in the Dakar Rally along with Santosh CS of Hero MotoSports. When it comes to injuries in workplace one can opt for legal experts for workers comp and occupational diseases in Florida.
“So I am focused on staying positive and recovering quickly so that I can get back on the bike quickly,” he concluded and also thanked TVS Racing in a 2-part tweet, who were there brain behind promoting
Arvind KP posts a picture of his ankle in bandage on twitter on Thursday. Image by Aravind KP an Indian champion to a World Stage for the second year running. He also thanked other TVS partners, who supported in his campaign. The auto accidents attorneys are the ones you can contact to get legal help. Unlike Gaurav Gill, the kind of Indian Motorsports, who is languishing for lack of a sponsor, Aravind feels grateful to the company, that has been a constant and consistent encouragement and backbone for his racing activities. The personal injury lawyers from Woburn area is whom you can consult in case there is need for legal aid.
The Sherco TVS Factory Rally team traversed across a challenging trail between San Juan De Marcona and the city of Arequipa in Peru with lead rider Joan Pedrero taking a solid 18th position. The 764-km stage featured a 268-km ‘special’ where the riders had to ride through a difficult terrain of sand and dust. When it comes to injuries In Riverside area based auto accident lawyers can help providing proper legal aid.
Aravind KP had an crash and injured his ankle to bring his second sojourn in the Dakar Rally to a premature end. He is undergoing medical treatment in Lima, Peru.
Pedrero said: “I am happy to have arrived and to have been able to keep my bike intact. It was a very difficult stage as the dunes are very tough and the course was very difficult to negotiate.”
Team Manager David Casteu said: “It is a very difficult Dakar. The whole team is thinking about Aravind KP and wishes him speedy recovery.”
The sixth stage of Dakar 2018, will witness extreme climatic conditions as the riders move from the confines of the deserts of Peru to the pristine landscape of Bolivia. The riders expected to go past the shorelines of salt-water lakes before taking on the Bolivian Altiplano where mountain ranges cover altitudes of over 2500 kms.
eom/TVS Sherco press release
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Sam Sunderland wins tough Stage 3: A KTM view of the Dakar Rally 2018
Sunderland wins tough Stage 3. A KTM image Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland has successfully completed the long stage three of the 2018 Dakar Rally in first position. Demonstrating the speed that gave him the overall win at the 2017 event, the Brit excelled today on the 296km timed special. Antoine Meo also rode well in the dunes to place seventh for the day. The longest stage of the event so far, comprising a 296km special followed by a 208km liaison, proved difficult for many of the competitors today. Good navigation was paramount as well as overall speed, and as such many of the top riders lost valuable time after missing a waypoint. Using his experience, KTM 450 RALLY mounted Sam Sunderland moved up through the order as the day went on. Riding consistently, Sunderland posted a fastest time of just over three hours and 20 minutes.With today’s stage win, 2017 Dakar champion Sunderland also moves to the top of the overall standings, over four minutes ahead of the next placed rider. Sam Sunderland: “That was a tough day – there was a lot of off-piste riding and some of the dunes were really difficult to navigate and even climb. It made the whole day that little bit more physical, too. I’m happy to get another win, but it’s still early days yet and we have a long way to go. The bike felt really good today, even in the soft sand it was still pulling really well. I made a couple of mistakes in the middle of the stage, but thankfully they didn’t cost me too much time.”
2016 Dakar champion Toby Price was flying straight from the start of today’s timed special. The Australian placed second at the first waypoint, just nine seconds behind team-mate Sunderland. A crash three quarters of the way into the stage cost him a few minutes, but Price continued, eventually posting the third fastest time. Unfortunately, a five-minute penalty relegated Toby to 10th position at the end of the day.
Toby Price: “Everything felt really good today, I was really comfortable on the bike. I knew my pace was good and so I kept on pushing. I did come off the bike after a big drop-off from one of the dunes around the 140km mark. Luckily, I didn’t damage myself or the bike too much, the road-book got filled with sand though so for the rest of the stage I had to just ease my pace a little. One of the worst things was that I lost the end to my camelback in the crash and wasn’t able to keep hydrated towards the finish. Apart from that everything was good, you can see on days like today how important it is to stay focused and not make any mistakes. Hopefully I can keep up the same performance for the rest of the rally.”
Continuing to find his form, Antoine Meo placed seventh at the end of today’s stage. The former enduro world champion made a slight error halfway through the day but luckily didn’t lose much time.
Antoine Meo: “It’s been a mixed day for me today – half really good and half not so good. I made a big mistake at the 83km point when after riding alone for the beginning of the stage, I caught a rider in front. Instead of staying to the line I tried to get past him by taking a small detour but it ended up costing me some time. Other than that, I am really pleased with my pace, and the bike is performing perfectly. I’ll try to make up some time tomorrow.”
After placing third on day two, Matthias Walker was one of the first bikes to enter today’s stage. The Austrian had a tough day in the soft dunes and completed the day 12th overall, nine minutes down on his team-mate Sunderland. Although disappointed with today’s result, Walkner is still upbeat about the rest of the rally.
Matthias Walkner: “That was quite a rough day for me today. I started off third but obviously dropped some places as the stage went on. Luckily, I haven’t actually lost too much time on the guys in front and some of the other riders fared a lot worse by making mistakes with their navigation. There are still 11 days to go so I’ll just keep on pushing and see where we are after that.”
‘Queen of the Desert’ Laia Sanz showed today why she is by far the leading female rider at the Dakar. The Spaniard put in a sensational performance throughout the day to finish in 16th overall. Navigating perfectly through the difficult stage Laia now sits 18th in the provisional overall standings.
Laia Sanz: “That was a good stage, I felt confident and was able to push – the whole day went really well. After the halfway point there was quite a lot of dust but I was able to navigate well and didn’t make any mistakes. It was a lot nicer to ride than yesterday’s stage too as we weren’t following the cars or crossing their tracks. I’m looking forward to tomorrow now and hope for another good day.”
Luciano Benavides also had a good stage. Showing a good, solid pace throughout the day, the KTM Factory rider placed an impressive 20th, the second fastest newcomer on the day. Today’s performance moves Benavides up to 17th in the overall standings – fastest of the rookies.
Luciano Benavides: “Overall, today went really well for me. It was a long stage with some big dunes and I did lose a couple of minutes when I got stuck on one of the climbs. Apart from that, I’m enjoying myself and learning all the time about strategy, navigation and how to handle stages in terrain like this. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Tuesday’s stage four of the Dakar Rally 2018 will see riders begin their day with a sprint along the beach at San Juan de Marcona. The riders will then head back into the dunes for one of the most difficult sand sections of the rally. The total distance covered will be 444km, 330km of which is timed special.
Revision: results, standings and text changed due to Toby Price receiving five-minute penalty.
Provisional Results Stage Three – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 3:20:43
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 3:23:46 +3:03
3. Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, 3:24:38 +3:55
4. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI), Husqvarna, 3:25:03 +4:20
5. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 3:25:51 +5:08
Other KTM
7. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 3:27:06 +6:23
10. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 3:29:11 +8:28 (5min penalty)
11. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 3:29:47 +9:04
15. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 3:32:43 +12:00
19. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 3:35:48 +15:05Provisional Standings after Stage Three – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 6:44:23
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 6:49:01 +4:38
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI), Husqvarna, 6:49:23 +5:00
4. Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, 6:52:23 +8:00
5. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 6:53:13 +8:50
Other KTM
7. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 6:55:17 +10:54
8. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 6:56:51 +12:28 (5min penalty)
16. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 7:12:26 +28:03
17. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 7:14:51 +30:28
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Santosh survives Day 1 with a 29th place after Stage 1; J-Rod crashes out
© RallyZone – Edoardo Bauer Pisco (Peru), 8 January 2018: Hero MotoSports Team Rally regained the momentum to make a solid show on the 2nd Day of the Dakar Rally 2018, shrugging off the unfortunate events of the Day 1 where their main rider, J-Rod Rodriques, dropped out of contention after an accident where he fractured his wrist and was airlifted to a hospital.
Stage 2 was the first full-length stage of the Dakar with a short 12-km liaison section followed by a 267-km loop of Pisco. It is a challenging stage with tricky canyons in the first 40 km of the stage which make it only tougher by the series of dunes that follow.
With a tough stage on the cards, both the Hero riders decided to be cautious and steady. Oriol Mena finished the stage at 27th place and Santosh at 29th.
The third stage of the Rally will commence on January 8, when it moves to the next location of San Juan De Marcona, where the competitors can expect to encounter a Chott (dry/marshy saline lake), a number of canyons and almost 60% sand during the course of the 504 kms of riding.
C.S Santosh (Comp No: 49) said: “The Dakar really kicked off today with a difficult stage. The sand was really soft and some of the dunes were really massive. I started really slow but then gained a good rhythm. I had fun today and really happy to make it to the end of day 2.”
Oriol Mena (Comp No: 61) said: “It was a really hard day today but I covered the 1st half at really good speed and caught up with three riders in front of me. Before the re-fuelling station I had slight problem and lost a few minutes there but happy that I finished today and now have one day less to arrive at Cordoba.”
Joaquim Rodrigues (Comp No: 26) said: “Thanks to all the friends and my team for the support and wishes. I am doing ok now and will be flying back home soon to complete my recovery. Sorry, my Dakar was short this year, hard luck but I will come back stronger. All the best to CS and Mena to make it to the finish line at Cordoba safely”
Provisional Stage 2 Classifications: 1. Joan Bort Barreda, Honda Racing, Honda, 02h56m44s; 2. Adrian Van Beveren, Yamaha Official Rally Team, Yamaha, +2m 54s; 3.Matthias Walkner, redBull KTM Factory Racing, KTM, +4m 24s; 27. Oriol Mena Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +24m 55s; 29. C.S. Santosh, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +26m 07s.
Overall Provisional Classifications after Stage 2
- Joan Bort Barreda, Honda Racing, Honda, 03h18m36s; 2. Adrian Van Beveren, Yamaha Official Team, Yamaha, +2m 30s; 3. Matthias Walkner, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, KTM +4m 50s; 27. Oriol Mena, Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +28m 12s; 28. C.S. Santosh Hero Motosports Team Rally, Hero MotoSports, +28m 26s.
You can follow Hero MotoSports Team Rally at www.heromotosports.com
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Nicholas Latifi joins Sahara Force India as reserve and test driver for 2018
Nicholas Latifi, the new test driver for 2018. Photo by Sahara Force India Sahara Force India is pleased to welcome Nicholas Latifi as the team’s reserve and test driver for the 2018 season. The 22-year-old Canadian, a race winner and nine-time F2 podium finisher in 2017, will take part in young driver test sessions and participate in a number of Friday practice sessions at Grand Prix events.
Nicholas Latifi: “I’m really excited about the opportunity. Sahara Force India is a team that has shown constant improvement for the last few years and I’m proud to become a part of one of the success stories of Formula One. I am eager to show the team what I can do and help them as they continue to close the gap to the front of the grid.”
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director of Sahara Force India: “Nicholas joins us off the back of a strong season in F2 and strengthens our driver development programme. He will support our simulator programme and work with the team during a number of Friday practice sessions next year. We have a long track record of bringing on young talented drivers and Nicholas will learn a huge amount as he gets embedded in the team, and looks forward to a career in Formula One.”
