Dakar 2018, Stage 1: CS Santosh Leads Finishing 13th; Aravind KP At 30th

One of the world's most grueling rallies, the 2018 edition of the Dakar Rally has commenced in South America and will be testing the grit of man and machine over the next two weeks. Part of the rally are two Indian teams - Hero MotoSports and TVS-Sherco that back two Indian riders CS Santosh and Aravind KP respectively. The opening stage of the Dakar Rally ended earlier today with Santosh leading the Indian contingent with a finish in the 13th place, while KTM's Sam Sunderland leads the motorcycle category. Aravind KP, meanwhile finished 30th.

The first stage of the 2018 Dakar remained the same for all categories including cars, bikes, quads and trucks. The stage started from the Peruvian capital of Lima going south towards Pisco, with 242 km of liaison followed by a 31 km of timed section.

(Hero's Joaquim Rodrigues suffered injuries to his face after crashing on the dunes)

In his fourth Dakar outing, Santosh completed Stage 1 as the 13th quickest with a time of 24m11s, and was 3m16s down over the rally leader Sunderland. The Hero rider managed to secure a better position than his teammates as well with the newly joined Oriol Mena ending in the 22nd position with a gap of 58 seconds. Meanwhile, Joaquim Rodrigues had a horrible crash in the first 10 km of the timed section. JRod, as he is called, had to be airlifted to the hospital from the rally after suffering a blow to his face from his bike's handlebar. Initial scans showed no signs of any major injuries and the rider is currently recuperating. Hero MotoSports will be continuing the rally with Santosh and Mena.

(Hero's newest rider Oriol Mena finished 22nd, 58 seconds behind Santosh)

Speaking at the end of Stage 1, CS Santosh said, "What a day to kick-off the Dakar 2018. It was an anxious start for me being in the Peruvian desert as the short stages are always tricky. There were many way point controls but I am really happy to come back safely and achieve my best ever stage finish at Dakar. Now we work towards the next stages and take a moment to wish for a speedy recovery for our mate JRod."

(Aravind KP had a decent run in Stage 1 and aims to complete the rally this season)

Meanwhile, at the Sherco-TVS camp, Adrien Metge led between the three riders and finished Stage 1 in 24th place with a time of 25m10s. Metge tackled with average visibility, while navigation was also an issue in the dunes. Joining right behind Metge was teammate Joan Pedrero at 25th, finishing 16 seconds behind.

Aravind KP finished 30th in his second Dakar outing completing the timed section in 26m10s, 5m15s behind leader Sunderland. The Indian had a fairly good day in the opening stage and looks promising in the following days as well.

Speaking about Aravind's performance, Team Manager, David Casteu said, "He had a very good stage, he surprises me. He is very relaxed and focused on his racing."

(Adrien Metge led the Sherco TVS contingent finishing 24th at the end of Stage 1)

He further added, "The plan for today was to gauge and assess the competition. And the report is there: it is going to be a very fast race! We will have to be present. Tomorrow is a special with navigation, it's good to go far but the riders will have to maintain a good pace. Our bivouac is located in a very windy area, the rally conditions are here. We are in the heart of the race, there is on doubt, the Dakar has indeed started."

The 2018 Dakar Rally will see participants traverse across 8500 km of challenging terrains. Stage 2 will see the riders travel a total of 279 km in Pisco, with 12 km as Liason and 267 km of the special stage. We will be bringing you all the updates of our Indian riders from Dakar, so make sure to keep watching this space.