[killjoy]

Santosh climbs to 50th position!! The two TVS bikes are in 12th and 25th position. Go Santosh!

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

Sir, the bikers will cover the longest route on Stage 12 on 16th January. They will start from Termas Rio Hondo and end at Rosario. The total distance is 1024 kms out of which 726 kms is the road section and 298 kms is the Selective Section.

Hi, My bad... I should have included the word 'competitive'. Sorry about that. And it is very good that he had climbed to the 50th position which is a fantastic improvement from the 85th. He is sure to climb up further...

[RenuKumar]

@arulpeem... yes sir.. if only the ss is considered, it was the longest stage yesterday.

In a fantastic ride, Santosh climbs the ladder very quickly by taking the 50th spot on stage two which had the longest SS section. Santosh was just 1 hour and 30 mins slower to the leader. He has demonstrated his great skills along with accuracy required for a rally like Dakar. It also means that he has not given any chance for penalty points. This also pushes him to the overall 50th position with an overall 1 hour and 51 mins difference to the leader. Considering the demanding terrains of Dakar, 2 hours difference is nothing as long as he continues to climb the ladder. Santosh had brought us joys with his participation in the event. Now, with his promising performance he has made us proud and I only hope he will set a new benchmark in the Indian Motorsports scene.



On the other hand, Alain Duclos of Sherco TVS finished in an impressive 13th position which takes him to overall 12th position. Fabien Planet takes the 25th position in stage to which takes him to an overall 25th position too.

Honda riders does an impressive job taking the 1st and 2nd places in stage as well as overall rating. Joan Barreda Bort leads the rally closely followed by his team mate Paulo Goncalves. KTM rider Marc Coma slips to 8th place on the second stage which puts him to an overall 6th.

Juan Pedrero Garcia on his Yamaha makes it to top ten in stage two enabling him a 10th spot on the overall ranking. Another Yamaha Rider Oliver Pain did not do anything better on the 2nd stage who completed in 19th spot moving to overall 17th place.

The feat of Yamaha continues in the quad category who conquered the first 4 positions in stage as well as overall rankings. Kudos to Yamaha for their splendid performance in quad category.

Moving to Stage 3, the riders will start from San Juan and end at Chilecito who will be riding a total of 437 kms connection stage and 220 kms special stage.

Once again, kudos to Santosh for the strong fight. Looking forward for a great finish today.

[naveenroy]

Awesome stuff. No, I won't pretend to have followed the Dakar rallies before this but I will follow it this time.

[RenuKumar]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Awesome stuff. No, I won't pretend to have followed the Dakar rallies before this but I will follow it this time.

Sir, Dakar is really an awesome event like the Isle of Man TT.... once you get addicted to it, you will follow every detail of it... No this isn't just endurance, it is not just navigation, it is not just the tough terrains, it is not just the team work.... Dakar is a mix of everything... the man, the machine, the team and Moreover it is the festival of speed.... a unique one :-)

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

Sir, Dakar is really an awesome event like the Isle of Man TT.... once you get addicted to it, you will follow every detail of it... No this isn't just endurance, it is not just navigation, it is not just the tough terrains, it is not just the team work.... Dakar is a mix of everything... the man, the machine, the team and Moreover it is the festival of speed.... a unique one :-)

I am an ardent fan of Dakar Rally since the original days when it used to take place between Paris (France) to Dakar (Senegal). That means the rally used to run from Europe to Africa, endurance at its best. Too bad dakar rally being not aired in Cricket Crazy India . CS Santosh as an Indian rider participating in this gruelling rally for the very first time is itself an achievement in itself. Let's encourage and support him. TVS Sherco is also making great strides, BUT remember this is Dakar and anything can happen. I have seen Monsieur Dakar Stephane Peterhansel climb up from below and finishing top and also keeping the lead throughout but to finish in 3rd or 4th place.

CS Santosh, "We handful of auto enthusiasts are with you, rest of them can go and watch Cricket"

P.S. I have nothing against cricket but Indian Sports Channel should also cover events like the Legendary Dakar Rally.

[RenuKumar]

The end of stage 3 brings more joy to us with Santosh finishing in 67th place. I do not think he has got much Indians out there holding the tri-colour flag to cheer him. Every day is a new challenge and he is motivating himself to ensure he has not paid any penalty in this season so far. He is an aggressive Indian who did not consider the fact that he is riding the world's toughest rally for the first time. Just 49 mins slower than the leader, Santosh is improving himself everyday and he has taken the 53rd place in the overall ranking. We only hope that he keeps his tempo high and focus even harder. He is the best so far and let us pray that god supports his hard-work.

Coming to the Sherco TVS riders, Alain Duclos rode superbly taking the 6th place which enabled him to move up in the chart to 11th place overall. His team mate Fabien Planet takes the 26th position in stage to retain his overall 25th position.

28 year old Austrian rider Matthias Walkner, aboard his KTM who has taken 3 world championships in MX1 and MX3 took the top honors in the 3rd stage followed by the legendary Dakar winner Marc Coma with just 40 seconds difference who pushed Joan Barreda Bort to 3rd place on his Honda.

Honda riders does an impressive job who retains their 1st and 2nd places in overall rating. Joan Barreda Bort leads the rally closely followed by his team mate Paulo Goncalves. Matthias Walkner with his beautiful 3rd stage finish moves to 3rd place in overall ranking.

Juan Pedrero Garcia on his Yamaha makes it to top ten in stage three enabling him retain the 10th spot on the overall ranking. Another Yamaha Rider Alessandro Botturi, an Italian rider took a smashing 14th place who was just 6 seconds behind the leader. French rider Michael Metge work harder to take the 16th place which moved him up to overall 17th. Oliver Pain again, did not do anything better on the 3rd stage who completed in 21st spot moving down to overall 19th place. Even though the performance of Yamaha is not so good at the end of 3 stages, we still have 5 riders in the top 25 places which is a great relief. We all know this is Dakar and the magic can happen anytime.

The excitement of stage 4 that starts tomorrow will be flagged off from Chilecito and will end at Copiapo. Bikers will ride 594 kms in the connection route and a grueling 315 kms in the Special Stage.

Santosh, you are the best. We are all with you and if you can read this, we are in full support for you. Please continue with your good work :-)

[r_nairtvm]

@Renukumar,

Two of my friends are following the Rally on bikes, as part of "Chase Dakar" tour group. Mathew & Farooq, both from India. They have facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/bikersbeyon...rs?pnref=story

You can connect with them if you wish.

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

Too bad dakar rally being not aired in Cricket Crazy India .

Forget even airing it, even the news papers don't carry a few lines about this with one Indian rider and an Indian team participating in the event. That is the maturity or the awareness of our sports editors. Let us hope that they will change at some time.

[killjoy]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

@Renukumar,

Two of my friends are following the Rally on bikes, as part of "Chase Dakar" tour group. Mathew & Farooq, both from India. They have facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/bikersbeyon...rs?pnref=story

You can connect with them if you wish.

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

This is great to know, hope they are carrying the Tri Color, will be a great confidence booster for Santosh.

[navin_v8]

It's good to see CS Santosh climbing up the rankings and keeping up with the Dakar pace. Also TVS Sherco is doing great. Among motorcycles I closely follow KTM and Husqvarna teams, the motorcycle riders I support are Marc Coma, Joan Barreda Bort and ofcourse our very own CS Santosh. Among cars I support Mitsubishi Motors (unparalled record of winning 12 times in total out of which 7 times in a row) and drivers namely Stephane Peterhansel (Monsieur Dakar), Nani Roma, Giniel De Villiers and this year legendary motorcycle rider turned car driver Cyril Despres, he has a killer combination with Carlos Sainz. But they are driving a Peugeot, no doubt Peugeot had a good record prior to their pulling out of the Dakar and returning this year. Peugeot has another legendary driver as mentioned above who is none other than Stephane Peterhansel. He has been climbing up the rankings steadily and has the potential to finish in the top three or even no.1. American Bad Boy Robbie Gordon is on no.40 as of now and looks like he has ditched the Hummer H1 and is now driving a custom Gordini with a Chevrolet V8 engine this year. Oops forgot the trucks I support the legendary multiple times winning truck maker from Russia named Kamaz and truck driver Vladimir Chigin (who no longer participates), apart from Kamaz I also support MAN and IVECO teams and I also closely follow Hino trucks.

It's good to see Mitsubishi in the Top 10 even though the company has officially pulled out factory support after 2007.

What a great start to this year

[srishiva]

Wow is all I can say. Feel proud of Santosh. He has already done great and hoping he would have a great future and help generate more interest.

Got to admit that the skill level and fitness has to be really tops for this sport !

[RenuKumar]

In an unfortunate event, Michal Hernik, 39 years old Polish rider was found dead on Stage 3 at Kilometer number 206.

More info here:
http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...kar-polish.../

The KTM rider had finished in 79th and 84th positions in Stage 1 and 2 respectively



In his words.... “Getting ready to Dakar took us two years. But we don't know what awaits us during this rally. It is difficult to evaluate because our references come from the rallies we competed in Morocco and Abu Dhabi. The Rally of Morocco is very similar to the Dakar in terms of terrain. The difference is that it only lasts six days, that's basically three stages of the Dakar. In terms of amateurs, our goal will be to complete the rally whatever the position. That would be our success. Our most powerful asset is our friendship and mutual support in difficult moments after heavy days. This is due to our common dream and the adventure we lived to prepare for the Dakar. Our weakest point will probably dealing with the emotions and stress of such an event.”ly. It is difficult to evaluate because our references come from the rallies we competed in Morocco and Abu Dhabi. The Rally of Morocco is very similar to the Dakar in terms of terrain. The difference is that it only lasts six days, that's basically three stages of the Dakar. In terms of amateurs, our goal will be to complete the rally whatever the position. That would be our success. Our most powerful asset is our friendship and mutual support in difficult moments after heavy days. This is due to our common dream and the adventure we lived to prepare for the Dakar. Our weakest point will probably dealing with the emotions and stress of such an event.”

May your soul Rest in Peace Michal :-(

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

Once again, kudos to Santosh for the strong fight. Looking forward for a great finish today.

Hi RK,

Can you please let us know if the pics you have put in with Post # 18 is from some agency ?

I had posted some pics fro you post with due credit to TBHP and you in a FB page where there are a lot of common friends of CSS and I was being politely reminded to give credit to the source agency. Hence, the question

Hope you are having a great time

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

[killjoy]

Dakar claims it first victim, RIP Michal. :(