Dakar 2017 Day 1: Great Start For TVS Sherco; Hero Not Far Behind

The opening stage of Dakar 2017 has concluded and TVS Sherco’s most experienced rider Joan Pedrero Garcia, who had grabbed the second position, has now been bumped up to the first position. This came about because the stage leader (Xavier De Soultrait) committed a speed limit offence, thereby receiving a minute as penalty. TVS Sherco’s remaining two riders also did a decent job considering it was their debut rally. Aravind K.P. registering 63rd finish, which is quite commendable as it's his first appearance in Dakar, while Adrien Metge ended up with 128th. On the other hand, Hero MotoSports’ blitz wasn’t far behind with debut rider Joaquim Rodriguez finishing 16th and C.S. Santosh at a satisfying 47th – the fastest Indian in the first stage of the rally.

Pedrero finished the 39km of timed stage in just 28 minutes and 22 seconds, separated only by 0.02 seconds from the former leader Xavier De Soultrait (handed a penalty). J-Rod surprised everyone with his remarkable performance, as the Portuguese started off 27th in the first timed section, but quickly climbed nine spots to finish 16th with 29 minutes and 42 seconds, ahead even of defending champion Toby Price (17th).

Commenting on his own performance, Rodrigues said, “Today’s stage was good for me, though I started with too much adrenalin. So, I first hit a bump hard and then hit some rocks twice that scared me a little. Then I started to realise that this is my first stage in my first Dakar, so I decided to slow down. After that, it got a little bit better. I am really happy with my bike. Hero MotoSports has done a great job with the bike and I am glad that I got to the end.”

Santosh wasn’t far behind from his compatriot, J-Rod, in terms of time and finished in just 32 minutes and 45 seconds, which is 3 minutes and 03 seconds behind the former. “Being the first stage of the Dakar, there were some nerves flying and I was pretty nervous at the start. In the first couple of kilometres, it took some time to understand the kind of stage it’s going to be for the next 40km. There was a lot of water and lots of puddles and a few river crossings. So, it was an interesting stage. I didn’t really push because it’s the first day at the Dakar and there is a long way to go. Towards the end, it got a little better, but overall I am pretty happy, how I did today and minimised the mistakes. I am already looking forward to tomorrow's stage,” said Santosh post his run. Notably, since the Indian refrained from taking any risks during the stage, he dropped five positions as compared to his 42nd starting spot.

Speaking of the course, riders covered a total distance of 454km between Asunción (Paraguay) to Resistencia (Argentina). However, as said before, the competition stage was only 39km long, which began from Caacupé and ended before Limpio and can be identified by the red band in the map below. The stage saw a total of 142 riders gunning to cover the timed section in the least possible time.

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The event will now head to the second stage, which is far more difficult. The second stage will demand that the participants cover an 803km run from Resistencia to San Miguel De Tucuman, and is comprised of 275km of timed section. We hope that the Indian contingent carries the same pace throughout the rally and performs even better in the remaining days.