Frenchman Xavier de Soultrait finished in first position on day 1 of the Dakar Rally, but intentionally committed a speeding violation during a transport stage so that he didn’t have to start the second day first. This meant that Juan Pedrero took honours for the first day, Soultrait’s one-minute penalty dropping him to tenth place overall.
Stage 2, Day 2: a total of 803km and 275km of timed racing had 2016 Dakar winner Toby Price taking the stage win and the overall lead from 17th position on Day 1. The Provincia del Chaco is known for dusty roads that can turn mucky in a hurry if it rains. The course threw up quite a few of these puddles, and there were a few bovine surprises as well. TVS Sherco’s Juan Pedrero, the previous day’s leader, finished ninth overall.
Speaking of TVS, Aravind KP finished the day 61st, two positions up from his previous day’s position. However, it might have turned out quite differently if it hadn’t been for a crash thanks to a slower competitor – Aravind emerged from a dust cloud only to find another competitor in front of him, and took a tumble over the ‘bars. That fall gave him a couple of fractures in his wrist, but he is determined to finish his first Dakar and will ride on. The last update from the Dakar website pegged Aravind KP at 127th.
CS Santosh is the other Indian rider in the rally, riding for Hero Speedbrain. He chipped away at the riders in front of him, moving up from 47th to 41st on Day 2.
Day 3 will see the participants start from San Miguel de Tucuman and ride a total of 780km to San Salvador de Jujuy. Of this, 364km will be a special stage where they will climb to an altitude of almost 4000m (13,000 feet) and the liaison will be the remaining 416km.
Day 2 results:
- Toby Price
- Matthias Walkner +3:22
- Paulo Goncalves +3:51
- Xavier de Soultrait +4:06
- Sam Sunderland +4:19
Overall results after Day 2:
- Toby Price
- Matthias Walkner +2:39
- Paulo Goncalves +2:54
- Sam Sunderland +3:23
- Xavier de Soultrait +3:41
