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

David Bodapati January 16, 2019

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

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.

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.

Our riders made gains for the third stage in a row, despite suffering multiple crashes and injuries earlier in the rally. On stage 8, Oriol Mena finished in 12th and JRod in 13th, despite hurting his back by hitting an expected ditch. Two more days to go! #RaceTheLimits pic.twitter.com/k4EHxjJ1ow

— Hero MotoSports (@hero_motosports) January 15, 2019

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:

Mathias Walkner, KTM Factory Racing, 3 hours, 55 minutes, 25 seconds;
Pablo Quintanilla, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory, 3:56:10;
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;