2025 Dakar Rally Stage 6: Mixed results for team Hero MotoSports

Team Hero MotoSports, the only Indian team at the 2025 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, has completed the sixth stage of the gruelling rally. Nacho Cornejo finished the stage with the third fastest time. Thanks to his performance, the team climbed up to eighth place in the overall standings for bikes. “We've completed Stage 6 – the first of the second week. I finished third in the stage and didn’t lose much time so I am overall happy with the job done,” Cornejo said, commenting on his performance in the stage.

Sadly however, Ross Branch’s Dakar 2025 journey came to an end today, due to an unfortunate crash 48km into today’s stage. After a medical check-up, Branch was airlifted to Ha’il hospital where his CT scan revealed no major injuries. He was discharged from hospital and has joined the team post his untimely exit. The 2024 World Rally Raid Champion is now focussing on recovery and is determined to come back stronger for the next race of the World Championship. Commenting on the occasion, Branch said, “That's the end of the rally for me, and I'm really disappointed to say that. We worked tirelessly all year, putting in countless hours of training and effort into the bike. The team did everything they could, and I'm grateful for that. Unfortunately, this is a part of the sport, and today it happened to me. I'm thankful to be in one piece and will focus on recovering and getting fit for the next race.”

Stage 6 of the Dakar Rally spanned 605km and was divided into two segments. A 171km untimed road section, classified as a transfer, separated the two parts, resulting in 434km of timed competition. Following the transfer stage, the competitors faced a faster section which gradually upped the difficulty level as they navigated sandy terrain including hills, dunes and sandy tracks. The second part of today’s special was particularly technical, as the competitors tackled a demanding sector in the dunes.

Stage 7 of the rally will be coming up tomorrow, with 455km of timed specials, and the rally will becoms more challenging with a good mix of fast and slow terrains, difficult navigation and a touch of mountain racing as well. Competitors will take a 188km road section to reach the new starting location, and the distance for tomorrow’s timed special has been shortened slightly to 411km. Stay tuned to this space and our Instagram for more updates on the Dakar Rally.