Hero's Heroes Ready For Dakar 2019

You have to be a crazy nut to voluntarily do this but the Dakar continues to be the biggest and the most toughest rally in the world. Hero has been at it for the past two years. So far, they have managed to earn a top 15 result in their maiden attempt and a top 10 finish in 2018 has only paid off all the hard work that has gone into making this venture possible. Piloting the Hero MotoSport bikes are the same trio of Joaquim Rodrigues, Oriol Mena and C S Santosh.

The preparations for the upcoming Dakar have been going quite well for Hero, with promising results garnered in the rallies in Morocco and Spain. However, the Dakar is a different ball game altogether, with the 2019 edition already earning itself a reputation of being the toughest yet. Hero and it's riders are ready as they have worked hard on evolving and developing the Hero 450RR for Peru. The biggest change on the bike is in the handling department as Santosh himself said that this bike feels more intuitive to his inputs. This will be a big boon in the sand dunes of Peru.

Another good indication for Hero is the return of Rodrigues from a career threatening injury that he sustained at the 2018 Dakar. While he claims he isn't 100 per cent fit, J-Rod (as he is more fondly known in the paddock) will be aiming to get to the finish line and then think about positions.

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Oriol was the rookie of the year at last year's Dakar, clinching 7th position in the final standings. While the aim is to improve, Oriol is optimistic that the team will have a great run at this year's rally.

This will be Santosh's fifth attempt at the Dakar and the Fast Indian will hope that this turns out to be his best one yet. Despite navigational errors, he was able to finish 35th in 2018. This year, he aims to finish among the top 25 riders or better.

With ten days of hardcore rallying in store, the 2019 Dakar will start on January 6. With over 3000km of racing over 10 days, the riders will need to look out for any obstacles that the Dakar throws at them, something that the rally is notoriously famous for.