Hero Motosports Team Rally's Joaquim Rodrigues made an impressive start yesterday, maintaining a blazing pace throughout the first stage of the Andalucia Rally, narrowly missing a top-ten finish, at 11th place. The new Hero rider on the block, Sebastian Buhler, wasn't too far behind either, finishing the stage in 15th. Lastly, Indian ace CS Santosh decided to exercise more caution and restraint as he finished the stage with a 23rd-place finish. The riders retain the same rankings at the end of Stage 1.
Speaking about his performance, Joaquim Rodrigues said, "Today was a good day for me. In the beginning I felt a bit tense, but then i started relaxing a bit and everything started coming together nicely. It was not too bad out there today so I am happy to bring my Hero 450RR back home safely."
Adding in his experience, CS Santosh said, "The stage was very different from what we experienced in the past. I lost my way a bit initially, which also cost me some time. But I am happy with my overall performance today, and am looking to build on it for the following stages."
Sebastian Buhler, Hero Motosports' newest member weighed in too, saying, "It was a very good stage for me and everything fell in place. I like this kind of terrain as it had a mix of fast and slow sections. I'm now looking forward to the next stages."
Below are the overall rankings at the end of stage 1:
For the second stage, which is currently underway and the results for which will be out later today, the rally starts near the town of Algamitas and ends in Villamartin, covering a total distance of 336km, 243km of which will be a special section