As the event progresses, the Dakar 2018 has begun turning up the wick on its gritty participants. After the inaugural stage, participants moved from Lima in Peru, to Pisco, a city which gave birth to the name of the most famous hard liquor of America and one of Peruvians’ biggest prides. For stage 2 of the Dakar 2018, participants had to cover a total of 279km, of which, 267 clicks comprised of a special competitive section. Competitors were challenged by the tricky canyons in the first 40 km of the stage, made only tougher by the series of dunes that followed. This distance was much higher than the 31 km sprint which acted as a warm-up before the first real difficulties of the rally start emerging.
Competitors faced the full might of the dunes of Ica near Pisco on Sunday as the second stage in Peru was 90% off the track. The 267 km challenge required some serious navigational skills, especially among the car drivers, who for once had to open the road. The motorcycle classification saw a change of leader, with Joan Barreda of Team Monster Energy Honda cranking things up in the second half of the stage to defeat his rivals with a stage time of 02H 56′ and 44″. He is also the overall leader now, followed by Adrian Van Beveren of team Yamaha by two and a half minutes.
The second stage of the Dakar turned out to be difficult for the SHERCO TVS Factory Rally Team as one of their riders, Adrien Metge took a fall at kilometre 72 and went down with what looks like a broken Tibia. Adrian will now travel back home to recuperate and carrying the Sherco-TVS flag will be their other two riders – Joan Pedro and Aravind KP. After finishing stage 1 in the 30th position, Aravind rode steadily to finish in the 40th place for the stage and is now 32nd in the overall classification, 40 minutes and 30 seconds behind the leader. On the other hand, Joan Pedro finished stage 2 in the 23rd position and has slotted himself in the 22nd position in the overall classification, 24 minutes and 32 seconds separating him and the overall leader.
Because it was a 100% sand stage that had the cars starting first, team manager Davide Casteu described their outing as a “Very difficult day.” He said, ” We quickly learned about Adrien’s fall. We are like a family, we live together, the good things and the bad things. We know that the riders are fully committed and it is very hard to see a rider having to stop because of an injury. “
Talking about Joan Pedro’s performance, he said, “He had a good start to the stage and navigated very well. He did, however, break down 2 km from the refuelling and had to push his bike in the sand. This caused him to lose between 10 and 15 minutes, but the bike worked very well and he is motivated for the future stages.” On Aravind’s successful stage finish, David described his performance by stating that he continued his way and rode a beautiful stage with good navigating despite the high difficulties involved. He added that Aravind protected himself very well and he continues at a pace that suits him. Talking about the team’s overall performance after two stages, he said, “It was a very hard day today. I know that the team and the riders give their all, I ask a lot of them and now I want to see Adrien stop hurting, it is very painful.”
On the other hand, Hero MotoSports Team Rally regained the momentum to make a solid show on the 2nd Day of the Dakar Rally 2018, shrugging off the unfortunate events of the Day 1. With a tough stage on the cards, both the Hero riders decided to be cautious and steady. Oriol Mena finished the stage at 27th place and CS at 29th. Describing his performance in a happy state, C.S Santosh said, “The Dakar really kicked off today with a difficult stage. The sand was really soft and some of the dunes were really massive. I started really slow but then gained a good rhythm. I had fun today and really happy to make it to the end of day 2.”
Talking about his refuelling ordeal, his fellow competitor Oriol Mena said, “It was a really hard day today but I covered the 1st half at really good speed and caught up with three riders in front of me. Before the refuelling station I had a slight problem and lost a few minutes there but happy that I finished today and now have one day less to arrive at Cordoba.”
Like Sherco-TVS, team Hero Motorsports Team Rally is also a member short after losing Joaquim Rodrigues yesterday. Wishing all his best to this teammates, he said, “Thanks to all the friends and my team for the support and wishes. I am doing ok now and will be flying back home soon to complete my recovery. Sorry, my Dakar was short this year, hard luck but I will come back stronger. All the best to CS and Mena to make it to the finish line at Cordoba safely.”
The third stage of the Rally will commence on January 8, when it moves to the next location of San Juan De Marcona, where the competitors can expect to encounter a Chott (dry/marshy saline lake), a number of canyons and almost 60% sand during the course of the 504 km of riding. Here’s what the Stage 2 leaderboard looked like:
Provisional Stage 2 Classifications
1. Joan Bort Barreda Honda Racing Honda 02h56m44s
2. Adrian Van Beveren YAMAHA OFFICIAL RALLY TEAM Yamaha +2m 54s
3. Matthias Walkner RedBull KTM Factory Racing KTM +4m 24s
23. Juan Pedrero Garcia Sherco TVS Rally Factory +20m 58s
27. Oriol Mena Hero Motosports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +24m 55s
29. C.S. Santosh Hero Motosports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +26m 07s
40. Aravind Prabhakar Sherco TVS Rally Factory +36m 12s
Provisional Overall Classification after Stage 2
1. Joan Barreda Fort Monster Energy Team Honda 03H 18m 36s
2. Adrian Van Beveren Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team +2m 30s
3. Matthias Walkner Red Bull KTM Factory Team +4m 50s
22. Juan Pedrero Garcia Sherco TVS Rally Factory +24m 32s
27. Oriol Mena Hero Motosports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +28m 12s
28. CS Santosh Hero Motosports Team Rally Hero MotoSports +28m 16s
32. Aravind Prabhakar Sherco TVS Rally Factory +40m 30s