RACE SUMMARY

Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters - Hero MotoCorp, added another podium finish to their tally in this edition of the Dakar Rally.

Presented to the riders as the biggest technical challenge of the season, Stage 11 was a “true Dakar stage” in the words of Joaquim Rodrigues. The penultimate stage was a key battle for all competitors as it was one of their final runs to improve their rankings.

Joaquim aced the stage and finished in the third position, adding to his stage win in Stage 3.

After an emotionally challenging Stage 10, JRod bounced back with extreme focus in Stage 11 and earned a fantastic result for himself and the team. With the latest podium, he moves up another position to the 13th place in the overall RallyGP class standings.

Aaron Maré however had a difficult stage especially early on in the stage. A small navigation error cost him some time, and a landing mistake caused a slight sprain on his back and on his ankle. Yet, his otherwise consistent performance throughout the rally helped him maintain the 15th position in the overall rankings in the RallyGP class.

Stage 11 which featured some of the most difficult navigational challenges so far, was a 500 km long loop around Bisha, with a timed special of 345 km. The stage which started with sandy tracks inside wadis and winding canyons quickly made navigation difficult due to the innumerable tracks and crossings within plateaus. Soft dunes, dunettes, and invisible tracks followed, ending with fast sandy tracks.