- KTM fetched its 18th win in the Dakar
- Husqvarna’s Pablo crashed and settled at fourth position
- Sherco TVS’ Aravind KP became the second Indian rider to finish the rally
The Dakar Rally 2019 concluded with Toby Price winning the 41st edition of the rally for KTM. This keeps the Austrian brand’s winning streak alive as it is the 18th time a KTM rider consecutively emerged victorious.
Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla was yet another promising racer who was consistently among the top five competitors (overall) since stage 1. The scuffle for the top spot was between Toby and Pablo in the eighth and ninth stage. However, the Husky rider faced a nasty crash on the final day with his stage rank tumbling down to 22nd and the overall rank settled at fourth. Notably, the overall ranking in the final stage saw the top three spots being dominated by KTM riders. Toby’s team mates Matthias Walkner and Sam Sunderland placed themselves on second and third positions, respectively.
Indian teams Hero MotoSports and Sherco TVS both put up a commendable show. While both the teams saw one of their riders exit amidst the rally, the rest managed to make it to the finish line. Hero’s Indian rider CS Santosh crashed in stage 5 but his team mate Oriol Mena broke into top 10 in stage 8. The Spanish rider finished the competition ninth overall and 17th in the stage 10. Meanwhile, Hero’s Joaquim Rodrigues, whose overall rank was 17th, was fast enough to finish at 12th spot on the final day.
Riders of Sherco TVS had one of their team mates making his way out of the competition as Lorenzo Santolino crashed in stage 6. However, the other three participants completed the grueling rally. Notably, TVS’ Aravind KP became the second Indian rider who crossed the finish line of Dakar, apart from Hero’s CS Santosh. After crashing out in his first two attempts, Aravind ended up at 37th position this year. Metge brothers Adrien and Michael saw a lot of transition in their rankings throughout with the former settling at 22nd and the latter clinching the 25th spot, overall.
