Dakar Rally 2021: Hero MotoSports gets another top-10 stage finish

NE SPORTS BUREAU

SAUDI ARABIA, JAN 15

Hero MotoSports Team Rally continued their impressive performance at the 2021 Dakar Rally and posted another Top-10 stage finish on Thursday.

This is the fifth top-10 stage finish for the team and the fourth for Joaquim Rodrigues. Riding like a man on a mission, he set the pace right from the start and rode with a good rhythm, in the relatively shorter Stage 10, to finish at 10^th place.

His teammate Sebastian Buhler though had a more subdued stage after losing a lot of time in the beginning due to a navigation mistake. However, he regained his rhythm and focus quickly to win back sometime in the latter part of the stage and finished at 21^stplace.

With only two more stages to go, the finish of the 2021 Dakar is in sight and Hero MotoSports Team Rally is eyeing a good result this year with Joaquim Rodrigues in 11^th place and Sebastian Buhler in 16^thplace in the overall standings after 10 stages.

Stage 11, the penultimate stage of the rally, will offer the longest special with 511 km to be done under the clock, taking the rally to the Yanbu region in Saudi Arabia.

Joaquim Rodrigues (Competitor No. 27) said, “It was a pretty fast and dangerous stage again today with a lot of rocks. I decided to focus more on navigation and it all went pretty well. I managed to ride at a good pace and did not commit any navigation mistakes. I am happy to finish the stage and get a good result for the team.”

Sebastian Buhler (Competitor No. 24) said, “I made a mistake at the beginning of the stage today that cost me a lot of time. But after that, it went well as I began to feel good on the bike and got into a decent rhythm. Now only two days are left for the finish so it is important to concentrate harder and get a good result, but at the same time not take unnecessary risks as well.”

Provisional Rankings – Stage 10

1.Ricky Brabec                       Monster Energy Honda Team                                 03h 12m 33s

2. Joan Barreda Bort                        Monster Energy Honda Team                                 +03m 15s
3. Kevin Benavides                Monster Energy Honda Team                                 +05m 11s
4. Joaquim Rodrigues       Hero MotoSports Team Rally                               +16m 24s
5. Sebastian Buhler          Hero MotoSports Team Rally                                           +43m 31s

Provisional Overall Rankings at the end of Stage 10

1. Kevin Benavides                Monster Energy Honda Team                                             40h 20m 08s
2. Ricky Brabec                      Monster Energy Honda Team                                 +51s
3. Sam Sunderland                RedBull KTM Factory Team                                     +10m 36s

11. Joaquim Rodrigues        Hero MotoSports Team Rally                                           +01h 47m 52s

16. Sebastian Buhler          Hero MotoSports Team Rally                               +03h 30m 08s