RACE SUMMARY

Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters - Hero MotoCorp, completed the 10th Stage of Dakar 2024 with their Rally GP Class pilot Ross Branch crossing the finish line in the 6th fastest time of the day.

Hero’s sole pilot left in the race - Ross Branch - continues on the 2nd overall position – a spot he has been holding intact for the last 8 consecutive days. As the rally entered its final leg, the fight for the podium has become extremely intense among the top competitors.

Set amidst the monumental rocks of the centuries-old AlUla, Stage 10 was considered to a long, yet easier Stage to tackle than the previous ones. However, even though the start of the Stage had a lot of fast tracks, it soon started puzzling the competitors with tough navigational challenges. The 371 km special was mostly sandy tracks and off-piste, lined with tough rocky sections. Completing the loop, competitors have arrived back at the bivouac in AlUla.

For Ross Branch, who started the day at the 5th position, the early kilometers were fast, and he maintained a lead position for quite some kilometers as well. Later on, he caught up with a few fellow competitors and they spent most of the Stage together. A slight navigational mistake towards the latter part of the day cost the Botswanan rider some dear time, eventually leading to his 6th place finish today in the Rally GP Class. In the overall rankings, his gap has widened a bit further to over 10 minutes from the current leader of the race. The competition from the 3rd and 4th spots is also closing in heavy on him. However, the ‘Kalahari Ferrari’ is confident of delivering his best performance in the 11th long Stage of Dakar 2024, which most likely is expected to seal the final rankings of this edition.