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

David Bodapati January 10, 2019

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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. ”