Dakar 2019: KTM rider Matthias Walkner progresses to second position

- Joan Barreda (Honda) maintains the lead

- KTM rider Matthias Walkner advances to the second spot

- Hero rider Oriel Mena maintains ranking with CS Santosh and J Rod slipping down 

The second stage of the Dakar Rally 2019 took the riders from Pisco to San Juan de Marcona, covering a distance of 552kms including 342km of special (timed) section. The day ended with a shuffle in positions as compared to stage 1 except for the top spot which was still held by Honda rider Joan Barreda. KTM rider Matthias Walkner pushed much harder to jump from seventh position in stage 1 to a commendable second now while the third spot was retained by Ricky Brabec from Honda. 

From the KTM team, Toby Price and Sam Sunderland swapped their positions this time to finish at fifth and sixth positions, respectively. Pablo Quintanilla, riding the Husqvarna, came down two positions to the fourth spot, which was held by Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) in stage 1 who slipped down to seventh rank this time. 

Now, coming to the Indian teams, Hero MotoSports second-time competitor Oriel Mena maintained his pace and retained the 14th spot. Meanwhile, CS Santosh, after a good stage 1 with 20th rank, descended to 33th position on day two. This was due to a clutch issue which forced him to ride at controlled speeds. His team mate Joaquim Rodrigues also faced a fuel-related glitch in his bike which he had to stop and fix. This degraded his timing as well as ranking from 23rd to 32nd. 

As for the TVS Sherco riders, Lorenzo Santolino went a remarkable ten positions up settling at the 15th spot at the end of day two. A similar progress was showcased by Aravind KP who ascended from 71st to 61st rank. On the other hand, Micheal Metge faced disappointment after finishing 62nd, down from 12th in stage 1. His brother Adrien Metge kept up his good performance and clinched the 17th rank.

Now that the riders head on to stage 3, they will be fighting the daunting sand dunes along their 799km long journey to Arequipa which consists of 331km of timed chunk.