J-Rod climbs to top five in Stage 4 for Hero MotoSports | 2021 Rallye Du Maroc Rundown

Joaquim Rodrigues finished in the top five in Stage 4 of the 2021 Rallye Du Maroc after a ride through a whopping 367km Special Stage. The route travelled through the Sahara Desert that extends in the country of Morocco and also shared routes with the stages from before and that proved to be a problem for navigation for the riders. Franco Caimi and Sebastian Buhler were affected by the ruts left by the previous stages and that caused the riders to make navigation errors which dropped them down the order. It also looks like Hero MotoSports have ironed out their reliability issues with their Hero 450 Rally bike and have also tested their Dakar spec parts on the bike as well. This puts them on a positive foot for the rally ahead and for the crown jewel, the Dakar 2022. So with that said, let us see how Stage Four panned out for the Hero MotoSports riders.

Joaquim Rodrigues managed to bring himself back in contention after solid performances in the last two stages. J-Rod was pushing through the stage and towards the end he caught up with the other riders. But in the end, he had to slow his pace down to ensure he finished the stage safely. J-Rod finished the stage in P5, just six minutes away from the race leader.

After completing Stage 4, J-Rod expressed, “Today was a good day for me. I tried to push from the start to gain some time on the other competitors. I was able to find a good rhythm. Towards the end, I caught up to other riders and it was a little dangerous riding in their dust, so I settled down my pace to ensure I finished safely.”

After finishing second in Stage 3, Sebastian Buhler was the second rider to start Stage 4. And that meant Buhler had trouble navigating through the dunes of the Sahara Desert, in which he nearly got lost on multiple occasions. He finished the stage in P15.

Franco Caimi had a mixed day as his fast pace through the stage didn’t amount to much after his navigation error cost him time. But despite that, Caimi finished the stage in P11 showcasing the potential of the Hero 450 bike. Moreover, he was also testing parts for the Dakar 2022 and was happy with the bike overall.

With that said, in the overall standings, J-Rod currently stands in P8, with Franco Caimi in P24 and Sebastian Buhler at P26. Coming up is the last stage of the rally, a relatively shorter Stage 5 with 290km Special Stage and 150km liaison in the desert to the South of the bivouac at Zagora. For more news and updates from the motorsport world, stay tuned to evo India!