Dakar 2018 Stage 11 Results

Published January 18, 2018
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Hero’s Oriol Mena breaks into overall top 10 rankings, while Juan Pedrero of Sherco TVS completes stage 11 in 8th position.

Stage 11 was the first leg of the Marathon stage for bikes in the 2018 Dakar Rally. The bikers covered a liaison of 205km and a special stage of 280km in this stage, after which they camped overnight in the Fiambala Mountains. And what a day it has been for both the Indian teams. Juan Pedrero of Sherco TVS finished stage 11 in 8th position, which allowed him to break into the top 15, landing in 14th place overall. Orion Mena from team Hero wasn’t far behind as he continued to put his best foot forward. Breaking into the overall top 10 rankings, he finished the first leg of the Marathon in an impressive 9th position.

After giving his best time ever, Oriol Mena commented, “Today was another important first leg of the Super Fiambala Marathon stage. The starting order for today was mixed with trucks and cars so it was really confusing in the beginning. The navigation as well was quite tough and the soft sand made the stage physically quite exhausting, making the stage look longer than it was. But everything went well, the bike was working great. I am happy to make it to the bivouac and to have another good finish today.”

After going through the toughest stage of Dakar yesterday, CS Santosh played it steady today, gaining as much ground as possible. Having successfully reached the Fiambala bivouac without any falls today, CS Santosh finished the stage in 33rd place, which now takes him to the overall ranking of 34. Commenting on the successful completion of Stage 11, CS Santosh said, “Today I was still very tired from yesterday so my mission was to make it to the marathon bivouac today. I am happy to be here as I got another tough day in the bag today. Now I just need to get some rest and renew my energy and focus on the second leg of the marathon stage tomorrow.”

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Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally left the riders without their assistance crews for the second time in the rally, challenging them with lots of loose sand and some bit of soil. Moving on to tomorrow, stage 12 will take the competitors to San Juan and one day closer to the finish line at Cordoba. But before this, their physical strength and endurance will be put to the test with many twists and turns and stony sections yet to come. With only 3 stages remaining now, the riders will have to shift up and ride harder to maximize their positions.