Hero MotoSports Reveals 2019 Dakar Team

Hero MotoSports has announced its team that will take on Dakar 2019. Like last year, Hero MotoSports will have CS Santosh, Joaquim Rodrigues and Oriol Mena toughing it out at Dakar. This will be the fifth Dakar outing for CS Santosh and the third with Hero MotoSports. The next rider, Joaquim Rodrigues, had a career-ending crash on the first day of last year's Dakar but has come back strong after a lengthy lay-off and rehabilitation. The last member of the team will be Oriol Mena, who was the 'Rookie of Dakar 2018'. 2019 will be Hero MotoSports' third year participating in Dakar Rally. The team earned a Top-15 finish in 2017 with Rodrigues securing the 10th position and Mena getting 7th position overall in his very first Dakar outing last year. All three riders will ride on the Hero 450RR rally bike.

(Oriol Mena was the "Rookie of Dakar 2018" after securing a 7th place finish in his first Dakar outing)

Dr. Markus Braunsperger, Chief Technology Officer, Hero MotoCorp and Head of Hero MotoSports said, "We are enthusiastic and absolutely ready for Dakar 2019. Looking at this high-octane event, which is expected to be even tougher than last year, our focus remains on finishing the Rally. This year has been very good for the Team in terms of preparations and training as it has participated in events across the globe and delivered strong finishes. We aim to ride that momentum in the upcoming Dakar Rally in January."

(This will be the 5th Dakar for CS Santosh and his third with Hero MotoSports)

The 2019 Dakar is the 41st edition of the rally-raid, which started off as the Paris-Dakar rally and then moved to South America in 2009. This time, the Dakar will be held only in the country of Peru and will cover a distance of 5,000 kilometres. The rally-raid will start in Lima, from January 6 and end in Lima as well on January 17. There will be a total of 3,000 kilometres of racing divided between 10 special stages, where almost 70 per cent of the terrain will be covered in sand.