World News – AU – Dakar Rally 2021: Joaquim Rodrigues leads the pack of heroes, Harith Noah & Ashish Raorane fights in phase 1

The Rallye Hero MotoSports Team got off to a strong start in the Dakar Rally 2021 in phase 1. All three riders managed to finish the stage with Joaquim Rodrigues leading the field when he finished in P23, followed by Sebastian Bühler in P29, while Indian CS Santosh finished 43rd. Took place. Privateer Harith Noah did better when he finished P33 at the end of Day 1, followed by Ashish Raorane who finished the stage in P84. On the first stage of the Dakar Rally 2021, the participants drove 623 km from Jeddah to Bisha, 277 km of which included the special section.

Also read: Dakar Rally 2021: Indian drivers CS Santosh and Harith Noah & Ashish Raorane got off to a good start in the prologue phase

CS Santosh and Joaquim Rodrigues decided to take it easy in the first phase of the rally to avoid unjustified incidents

The terrain contained a mixture of stony stretches, while the dust was a major hurdle as visibility was limited. Bühler started first from Hero on P5, but couldn’t keep the advantage after choosing the wrong route together with another group of drivers for 20 km into the stage. This resulted in the driver losing time as he drove alone in the dust for a while and got him on the 29th at the end of the day. Saw place fall.

Rodrigues also made a strong start but decided to play it safe to avoid any unjustified incidents at the start of the rally. It was similar with Santosh when both drivers made it into the bivouac without incident. Privateer Ashish Raorane struggled with the stony sections at the beginning of the stage and at the same time made some navigation errors that cost him crucial time. Harith Noah also complained about rocky sections while eating dust along the way. The driver also had navigation problems but made a good start to the rally.

Joaquim Rodrigues, Heldenreiter, said: « It felt like a really long stage today. I didn’t start out very confident and definitely my speed wasn’t up there either. So I decided to concentrate on navigation for the entire stage. But as soon as some drivers passed me there was a lot of dust and I got a little lost. But I’m happy that the first stage is off my shoulder and that we will take over the second tomorrow. « 

CS Santosh said: « It was definitely not an easy stage today. It was a very physical stage with lots of rocks so it was slow and you always had to pay attention to the road book. There were lots of changes in direction and difficult navigation to keep you off the track. Overall, I think it was a very difficult first stage of the Dakar and that this is the priority for the coming stages. « 

Sebastian Bühler got off to a strong start but couldn’t benefit from an early start and struggled in the midst of a lot of dust

Sebastian Bühler said: « Today was generally a tough stage. It was more of an enduro stage, but over stones. I made a small mistake when choosing a route at the beginning and then drove in the dust pretty much alone, which was very difficult and risky. But it’s only the first day so I’m happy to be back in the bivouac for sure, and tomorrow we’ll try to do better. « 

Meanwhile, Toby Price of the RedBull KTM factory team leads the moto category, followed by defending champion Kevin Benavides from Honda in second place. Third place went to Matthias Walkner from RedBull KTM at the end of the first stage. On the second stage of the Dakar 2021, the drivers will cover 685 km from Bisha to Wadi-Ad-Dawasir, which includes the 457 km long special section.

1. Toby Price RedBull KTM works team 03h 18m 26s
2. Kevin Benavides Monster Energy Honda Team 31s
3. Matthias Walkner RedBull KTM works team 32s
23. Joaquim Rodrigues Held MotoSports Team Rally 16m 27s
29. Sebastian Bühler Held MotoSports Team Rallye 31m 54s
33. Harith Noah Privateer 35m55s
43. C S Santosh Hero MotoSports Team Rally 49m55s
84. Ashish Raorane Privateer 02h50m48s

1. Toby Price RedBull KTM works team 03h 43m 58s
2. Kevin Benavides Monster Energy Honda Team 23s
3. Matthias Walkner RedBull KTM works team 01m 12s
22nd. Joaquim Rodrigues Held MotoSports Team Rally 16m 31s
29. Sebastian Bühler Held MotoSports Team Rallye 31m 30s
33. Harith Noah Privateer 35m55s
43. C S Santosh Hero MotoSports Team Rally 49m55s
84. Ashish Raorane Privateer 02h50m48s

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Dakar Rally, Rallye, Ricky Brabec, Joan Barreda, Toby Price, Motorsport, 2021, CS Santosh