- This stage involved the longest timed section
- Hero and TVS riders retain similar rankings
- Honda’s Ricky Brabec jumps from seventh to first position
Among all the days of the ten-stage Dakar Rally 2019, yesterday was the most treacherous. Firstly, it involved the longest timed section of 405km. And secondly, it was the marathon stage which meant the riders didn’t meet technicians at the end of the day and had to get back the bike properly rolling themselves.
While the stage was the toughest, Honda’s Ricky Brabec tackled the hurdles efficiently to grab the first position, up from seventh in the previous stage. He pushed down the stage 3 leader Pablo (Husqvarna) to second spot. KTM’s Sam Sunderland dipped one rank down to fourth while his team mate Toby Price appeared third on the chart.
Hero MotoSports and Sherco TVS riders raced skillfully and made it to the finish line of stage 4 with their ranks seeing no major change. Hero’s Oriol Mena and TVS’ Lorenzo Santolino retained their 12th and 13th positions, respectively. Hero’s Joaquim Rodrigues and CS Santosh too didn’t show much transition in ranking with the former ending at 31st and the latter at 44th spot. A similar show was put up by TVS’ Metge brothers with Adrien grabbing the 16th and Michael 26th rank. Indian lad Aravind KP finished the daunting stage 4 by fetching the 64th position.
The riders will be setting off for the stage 5 today on the route charted from Moquegua to Arequipa. At the end of the 431km stage, they will again meet their respective crew members.
