After a slow but cautious start in stage 1, Hero MotoSports Team Rally put up an impressive performance in stage 2 and moved several places up in the overall standings. Stage 2 of the Rally was from Bisha to Wadi-Ad-Dawasir which is a total of 685km, including a 457km special stage. The stage had more sand dunes which was easier on the nerves of the riders and more importantly, the bike as well.
After falling down from P5 to P29 in the opening stage, Sebastian Buhler wanted to make up for the places lost. Combining his riding skills and the flawless performance of his new bike from Hero MotoSports Team Rally, he was able to move up to P13 in the stage and P24 in the overall standings. Commenting on the stage, Sebastian Buhler said, “It was a very nice stage with a little bit of everything – from soft dunes to sandy tracks, open tracks and even some rocks. Our new bike worked very well in these conditions so I was able to ring in a decent pace and rhythm today.”
Joaquim Rodrigues started the stage in P22 and finished in P12 in the stage to move up to P17 in the overall standings. The cautious start by the rider in the opening stage meant that he had to now get more competitive and JRod did exactly that. As was the case in stage 1, he is still the Team’s front runner. After the stage, JRod said, “Today was a completely different stage from yesterday. It was much faster, with really soft sands and a lot of open ground. On one dune, my bike got stuck and the sand was so soft that it got buried almost up to the handle bar. So, I lost some time there trying to get out of that but otherwise, I felt a lot better today and kind of started to get into my rhythm again. I was able to finish the stage with no problems with the bike, so it was definitely a much better day for me."
Homeboy C S Santosh too made impressive progress in stage 2, moving up from P43 to P36 in the overall standings. After a rather tough and physical stage 1, C S Santosh seemed to have enjoyed more in stage 2. After the stage, this is what he had to say, “ I started the stage with a lot of motivation today. It was a fast stage and the new bike started feeling really good and safe, so I am really happy with that. I am slowly building my confidence and if I can continue like this for the rest of the stages, I think I will be in a really good position by the time the rally finishes. So, today was a good start in the right direction for me.”
After the strong performance in stage 2, the team hopes to keep the momentum going into stage 3. Stage 3 of the rally is a 630km, out of which 403km is the special stage. It is a loop stage which starts and ends at Wadi Ad-Dawasir and will be another day of bashing around in the sand dunes as it is a gateway to the Empty Quarter.
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