MERZOUGA, MOROCCO, STAGE 4

JROD RECLAIMS THE TOP SPOT.

Stage 4 provided the last opportunity for Joaquim Rodrigues to go for the win, and for CS Santosh to cement his place further in the Top 5 of the overall standings. Both the riders grabbed this opportunity by the horns and delivered gritty performances when it mattered most in this high pressure stage.

JRod, who finished just 6 seconds shy of the top spot yesterday, attacked from the beginning and kept pushing hard to take the lead back in the rally. With today’s result, he managed to gain a comfortable lead of 11m:28s over his closest competitor, which could prove to be decisive. CS Santosh too put up a strong show today to bring in the penultimate stage home as he crossed the finish line in the 7th position, cementing his place in the Top 5 overall rankings.

I GOT MY BIKE TO THE SAFETY AND ALSO MY OVERALL LEAD BACK.”
- JOAQUIM RODRIGUES

The final 70 kms of Stage 5 of the Pan Africa Rally hold much promise for Hero MotoSports Team Rally as both riders will be looking to bring the rally to a grand close with their best results of the season, including the imminent win.

I knew that I had to gain a bit of time today so I pushed hard from the beginning. I managed to catch up to the riders that started in front of me and ended up riding ahead of the pack alone for some time. In the end, I got my bike to the safety and also my overall lead back so I am very happy to go into the final stage in this position.

It’s been a couple of good days for me and I keep getting better with every day. Today, I rode well and navigated well without any major mistakes, so I am quite happy with myself. Tomorrow is the last stage of the rally and I am very excited to bring my bike and another rally home for the team.

STAGE 4 - RESULTS

POS NAME TEAM TIMING
01Jacopo CeruttiSolarys Racing Team03h 54m 44s
02Maurizio GeriniSolarys Racing Team+03m 07s
03Sebastian BuhlerTeam Buhler+05m 53s
05Joaquim RodriguesHero MotoSports +08m 09s
07CS SantoshHero MotoSports +19m 06s

STAGE 4 - OVERALL RESULTS

POS NAME TEAM TIMING
01Joaquim RodriguesHero MotoSports 15h 22m 14s
02Jacopo CeruttiSolarys Racing Team+11m 28s
03Sebastian BuhlerTeam Buhler+31m 23s
04Maurizio GeriniSolarys Racing Team+01h 15m 08s
05CS SantoshHero MotoSports +01h 20m 51s