Santosh in creditable 20th after 331km of Stage 1; Aravind 71st: Dakar Rally

David Bodapati January 8, 2019

935 1 minute read

Adrien Metge of Sherco TVS rally team during Stage 1 Lima to Pisco on 7 Jan 2019. Photo by Antonin Vincent

Lima, 7 Jan 2019: Michael Metge of Sherco TVS Rally team is placed in 12th while Oriol Mena of Hero Motosports Team Rally is in 14th place at the end of Stage 1 after covering a distance of 331km in the Moto section of the Dakar Rally 2019 which began in Peru on Sunday.

Santosh CS, is standing a creditable 20th after the first leg, and is doing better than his Hero Motosports teammate Joaquim Rodriques who is three places behind him in 23rd place after the first leg.

Right behind him in 24th and 25th places are the other Indian team members of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team. Adrien Metge is in 24th place while Lorenzo Santolino is in 25th place. The second Indian in the field, Aravind KP, also of Sherco TVS Rally team is going steady in 71st place with the sole aim of finishing the Dakar in his third attempt.

Santosh took a time of 1 hours 6 minutes and 49 seconds, a difference of 9:13 minutes to the first to cover the 331-km first stage while Aravind took 1hr 24.23 to be classified in 71st place out of a total of 135 participants who were classified after Stage 1.

Meanwhile, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing have completed a successful stage one of the 2019 Dakar Rally with Sam Sunderland, Toby Price and Matthias Walkner all finishing well inside the top 10. Luciano Benavides put in a solid performance to claim the 15th fastest time of the day with KTM Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz and Mario Patrao placing 31st and 36th respectively.

Provisional results after Stage 1: Joan Barreda Bort, Monster Energy Honda Team 2019, 57 minutes, 36 seconds; 2. Pablo Quintanilla, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 59:10; 3. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team 2019, 1:00.28; 12. Michael Metge, Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team, 1:04.25; 14. Oriol Mena, Hero Motosports Team Rally, 1:04.43; 20. Santosh CS, Hero Motosports Team Rally, 1:06.49; 23. Joaquim Rodriques, Hero Motosports Team Rally, 1: 07.50; 24. Adrien Metge, Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team, 1:07.52; 25. Lorenzo Santolino, Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team, 1:08.29; 71. Aravind Prabhakar, Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team, 1: 24.23.

edited 8jan19 at 1pm