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.

History Unfolds in Peru! Our very own Aravind KP becomes the only Indian 🇮🇳 to conquer #Dakar2019. Hear from the man himself. #TVSRacing #MeasureOfMettle. pic.twitter.com/lDJ3oxhrFO

— TVS Racing (@TVS_Racing) January 17, 2019