Dakar 2019 stage 2: CS Santosh drops to 33rd position overall

While Hero MotoSports’ CS Santosh had a good run on the first day with his 20^th place finish, the second day saw him drop to 37^th position in Dakar Rally 2019. All was well for the first 70km of the stage. But a clutch problem in his 450RR saw him lose precious time. However, he made it back to the bivouac to get the problem sorted. He is in 33^rd place overall. His teammates Oriol Mena and Joaquim Rodrigues (JRod) finished the second stage in 16^th and 34^th position respectively. Overall, Oriol Mena maintained his 14^th position while JRod is in 32^nd place. JRod faced fuel issues in his bike due to which he dropped down the ladder.

In Sherco TVS camp, Aravind KP jumped to 60^th position in the second stage and in overall standings, he sits in 61^st position, which is a good improvement from his 71^st position on day 1. His teammates Lorenzo and Adrien finished the stage in 14^th and 15^th position. In overall standings, Lorenzo and Adrien jumped to 15^th and 17^th position respectively.  Michael suffered a fuel outage 7km away from the CP and found himself at the halfway point with a delay of one and a half hours. However, he still managed to finish the stage. As a result, Michael finished the day in 69^th place and sits in 62^nd position overall, down from 12^th position in day 1.

This was the first full stage of Dakar 2019, which saw the participants traverse to San Juan De Marcona over a total distance of 552km, including a 342km long special. The cars started the stage today followed by the bikes.

On his second stage experience, CS Santosh said: “Day 2 for me started really well and I had a good rhythm going for the first 80-90 kms. Then on I started sensing some trouble with my clutch, and decided to ease off to make it to the finish line safely. Had a good stage today and now we fix the glitch and go racing again tomorrow.”

On maintaining his 14^th place overall, Oriol Mena said: “Today was a really good stage for me. The stage had a mix of hard piste, dunes and some seaside as well, so it was interesting to ride. It was a crazy fast stage but I felt good today and the bike performed perfectly. So another day in the bag and that’s what matters for me.”

On facing technical glitches in second stage, JRod said: “I started the stage well but soon I developed a fuel issue. I had to stop to fix that and somehow make it to the refuelling point. I lost a lot of time in the process. After making it to the refuelling point, I pushed hard, got into a good rhythm and made up some time as well. Overall I am happy to finish the stage today and look forward to tomorrow.”

Sherco TVS rider Lorenzo Santolino said, “I stayed consistent throughout the stage trying to push a little when I could, I felt good in the dunes and I was careful in the fech fech. Everything is going well with the motorcycle and the team. ”

Adrien Metge said: “It was a nice day for me and  I had a good time on my bike, which worked very well, we followed the tracks of the cars, but tomorrow we go first so we’ll have to concentrate on navigation”.  Teammate Mickaël Metge said: “It was a challenging stage for me. I lost a lot of time but it’s the Dakar and there are still a lot of kilometers to go. I will give it my best shot.”

Aravind KP said: “I feel better on the bike. The stage was difficult with lot of dunes and different grounds. I do my best to keep myself and the bike safe until the end of this Dakar.”

Tomorrow, for stage 3, the rally will move to Arequipa for an even longer stage of 799km, including a 331km long special section, subjecting the competitors to more challenging dunes. Stay tuned for more updates.

Here are the overall results:

Check out our day 1 report here.