Tuesday, 11 January 2022 00:52

Hero MotoSports Rally Team starts its second week of Dakar 2022 with good result

Written by Evelyn Alas

Hero MotoSports Rally Team, the motorsports team of the world's largest motorcycle and moped manufacturer - Hero MotoCorp, maintained its consistent performance in the Dakar Rally 2022 with a good result in the seventh stage.

Joaquim Rodrigues was in excellent form and finished the stage in sixth place. The rest day prior to this stage allowed him to recover from his previous crashes in the rally, where he hurt his back.

Aaron Maré started strong and was successful in leading a group of 4-5 drivers through a long section of rocks and a lot of dust. However, a small navigational error in the last part of the stage cost him time. He finished in 18th place in the RallyGP class.

JRod and Aaron are now 16th and 17th, respectively, in the overall RallyGP standings after 7 stages.

Stage 7 started in the capital city of Riyadh and featured over 400 kms of a special stage and an additional 300 kms of linked stages before finishing at the bivouac in Al Dawadimi. The entire stage consisted of fast sections, but at times with no clear path to follow, due to heavy rains that washed them out completely.

The next stage will be the longest of the rally at 828 kms, with almost 400 kms of racing and the rest in linked sections. The first 200 kms will be on sand and dunes. The rally will reach Wadi ad-Dawasir at the end of the stage.

Joaquim Rodrigues "The stage had a difficult navigation, especially after refueling. Next, we had to stop and find the route as many had crawled. I took my time and was able to find my way through the stage without losing too much time. I am happy with this result and we have 5 more stages to go, so I will take it one day at a time, and focus on getting my Hero Rally 450 to the finish line each day".

Aaron Maré

"I started the leg quite well and was able to catch up with some drivers before the resupply point. After resupply, there were a lot of rocks and dust, and it was difficult to navigate.

I was leading the stage several times with a group of 4-5 drivers, but that meant that every time I made a small mistake, I would have to go back into the dust again.

Eventually, I found a rhythm and was making progress up to about 300 kms, where I lost a good bit of time looking for a specific road. It was a disappointing finish, but I'm learning from my mistakes, and looking forward to making up for lost time on the next stage".

Provisional Classification of Stage 7 - RallyGP Class:

1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Monster Energy Honda 03h 28m 46s

2. Kevin Benavides Red Bull KTM Factory Team + 44s

3. Joan Barreda Bort Monster Energy Honda + 02m 51s

4. Luciano Benavides Husqvarna Factory Racing + 07m 50s

6. Joaquim Rodrigues Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 08m 57s

18. Aaron Maré Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 22m 13s

Clasificación General Provisional después de la Etapa 7 – Clase RallyGP:

1. Adrien van Beveren Monster Energy Yamaha 23h 45m 02s

2. Matthias Walkner Red Bull KTM Factory Team + 05m 12s

3. Kevin Benavides Red Bull KTM Factory Team + 05m 23s

4. Sam Sunderland GasGas Factory Racing + 05m 38s

15. Joaquim Rodrigues Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 53m 45s

16. Aaron Maré Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 57m 07s

Clasificación General Provisional después de la Etapa 7 – Todas las clases:

1. Adrien van Beveren Monster Energy Yamaha 23h 45m 02s

2. Matthias Walkner Red Bull KTM Factory Team + 05m 12s

3. Kevin Benavides Red Bull KTM Factory Team + 05m 23s

4. Sam Sunderland GasGas Factory Racing + 05m 38s

16. Joaquim Rodrigues Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 53m 45s

17. Aaron Maré Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 57m 07s