Dakar 2019: Honda rider Joan Barreda leads in stage 1

- Honda riders grabbed first and third positions

- Pablo from Husqvarna ended second in stage one

- Sherco TVS’ Michael Metge held the 12th spot

The Dakar Rally 2019 commenced yesterday with stage 1 comprising of 84km of timed section. The opening stage concluded with Honda riders dominating the top positions. While Ricky Brabec from Honda finished third, the top spot was clinched by yet another Honda rider Joan Barreda. Pablo Quintanilla from Husqvarna finished second. 

Riders of the KTM team, which has 17-years of winning history, saw its riders Sam Sunderland, Toby Price and Matthias Walkner grab the fifth, sixth and seventh positions, respectively. Yamaha rider Adrien Van Beveren finished the stage one at fourth position while his team mate Xavier de Soultrait managed to end up tenth. 

The Indian team riders who put up a commendable show in the initial stage are Michael Metge from Sherco TVS along with Oriel Mena and CS Santosh from Hero MotoSports. The first waypoint saw CS Santosh racing among the top ten riders but was gradually outpaced by the competitors only to finish 20th. Meanwhile, his team mate Oriel Mena finished at an admirable 14th. Outperforming both of them was Michael Metge (Sherco TVS) who went speeding along the course to clinch the 12th spot. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hero MotoSports) and Adrien Metge (Sherco TVS) competed closely with the former finishing 23rd and the latter 24th. Aravind KP from Sherco TVS had a slow start in stage 1 as he was at 71st position on the chart. 

The second stage of the rally is more demanding as the riders will have to race along the course of 342kms (timed section) which will take them from Pisco to San Juan De Marcona.