CS Santosh, the lone Indian participant at the Dakar 2016, is having a tough time with the weather as well as with the motorcycle. TVS Sherco, the TVS group-backed rally team, has delivered an astounding performance with two riders in the top 10 at the end of stage two.
CS Santosh slipped from 78th position overall to 97 at the end of stage two as the Suzuki struggled to cope up to the challenge. The 450cc race-built motorcycle struggled for both reliability and speed with Santosh being able to hit a top whack of only 134kmph, much slower than the competition. The motorcycle also suffered breakdowns that had to be repaired on the fly by the rider himself. The Indian ace had to endure incessant rains and deep slushy terrain as the stormy weather continued to wreak havoc.
Etienne Lavigne, Director of the Dakar, said that heavy rains and low clouds have compromised the competitiveness as well as the security of the participants. A decision was taken to shorten the second stage by 100kms and the route was modified for the racers to reach their destination at Villa Carlos Paz. Organisers as well as competitors are praying for the conditions to improve over the rest of the rally for a better competition.
Alain Duclos, the French rider astride a TVS Sherco, came up with a stellar performance to finish fourth overall. He was less than two minutes off the race leader, Tobey Price from Australia, riding a factory KTM 450 Dakar bike. TVS Sherco’s other rider, the Spaniard Pedrero Garcia, managed to climb to the tenth spot after a strong performance.
Nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb is also participating in Dakar 2016 and has managed to climb to the top of the table at the end of stage two. He was surprised to clock the best times while competing with the four-wheel-drive cars in his rear-wheel-drive Peugeot.
Keep following BikeWale as we bring to you the latest updates of the Indian challenge at the Dakar 2016.
