Dakar 2017 Day 4: J-Rod Ups The Ante, Santosh Regains His Stride

The fourth stage of Dakar 2017 witnessed both Joaquim Rodrigues and CS Santosh improve on their previous standings. Braving the 415 km of the competitive leg between San Salvador Jujuy to Tupiza in Bolivia, J-Rod was able to finish at an exemplary 12th position (overall 12th), while Santosh improved massively by finishing 64th (overall 77th). It was a great show by CS Santosh to climb up 40 spots to finish 64th, right behind TVS Sherco’s Juan Pedrero Garcia (63rd), who struggled in the fourth stage. TVS Sherco’s other rider, Adrien Metge, surprised with his run, finishing in 39th position, his best so far in the Dakar 2017.

As for the timings, J-Rod clocked 5 hours 22 minutes and 42 seconds, whereas his compatriot, Santosh, registered 6 hours 41 minutes 43 seconds. Interestingly, the Portuguese rider showed tremendous sportsmanship by stopping and calling for the helicopter two times for two crashed riders. This obviously affected his final timing and position. He explained, “Today’s stage was complicated beginning with a sand section with dunes. I had a hard time passing the section because the sand was very soft. So, I struggled, got stuck and lost a lot of time in there. Then when I got on my way again, unfortunately, I had to stop twice because of two accidents right in front of me, and I had to call the helicopter. I am happy to arrive at the finish injury free and I am ready for tomorrow.”

Santosh, speaking on his performance, said, “In the first bit there was a lot of navigation and dunes. And as I came up to this point, it was incredibly hard. I also got lost, and it took a while to find the track but I made sure that I collected all the waypoints today, unlike yesterday. I also crashed a few times, and it took a lot of effort to pick up the bike because I was going out of breath at this height. After that once I was on the piste, it was really nice and fast and flowing. The kind of track that I like. I am happy with my ride today and hope to continue with the good job tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, defending champion Toby Price, who also struggled in the third stage with the navigation, had to retire from Dakar 2017 after a terrible crash. The crash was so bad that Price sustained a broken left thigh bone. The Australian was airlifted immediately by paramedics to the nearest hospital, where he was diagnosed with the fracture.

Speaking of the race leader, Matthias Walkner won the stage with the best time of 4 hours 57 minutes and 22 seconds, followed by Yamaha rider Xavier De Soultrait on second and Stefan Svitko on third. 

The course, as J-Rod has quoted, was composed of soft sandy dunes at the start and then a high cruising altitude of 3,500 metres. The riding became extremely technical with plenty of direction changes on the navigation part and steep climbs being common.

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We now look forward to the fifth stage, which will start from Tupiza and end in Oruro with 520km of competition stage. The participants will ride through the Bolivian Altiplano, which includes steep ascends and descends with altitudes hovering in a 3,500 to 4,400 metre window.

Watch out for our Stage 5 report!