Hero MotoCorp finishes its first ever Dakar

Hero impresses in its first ever Dakar outing with both its riders finishing the gruelling rally in 10th and 48th place

This year’s Dakar has been quite a wretch with the weather and landslides playing truant and forcing organisers to cancel some stages and alter some leading to shaving off almost half of the Dakar stages. If that wasn't enough, a lot of top competitors had to retire. Some due to mechanical issues while some due to the inevitable crashes. Heck, even last year’s winner Toby Price who was leading the initial stages this year and seemed on his way to pick up the trophy for the second consecutive time ended up crashing and breaking his femur, forcing him to retire. But that's what you get when you put very fast vehicles, fearless riders, inhospitable terrain and inclement weather in the mix. That is Dakar in a nutshell.

Well, some conquer Dakar, some don't and some actually go ahead and win it. Like Sam Sunderland (KTM) who racked up his first win ever since he participated and that has been a good four times. This Dakar has been a bad one for Honda team riders, especially Joan Barreda who would have comfortably won this year had it not been for the one-hour penalty given for refuelling in a restricted area. Barreda had to settle for fifth place. The penalty was a crushing blow for fellow HRC rider Paulo Goncalves who missed a podium spot and had to settle for sixth place.

This year was a good one for KTM as they swept the podium. KTM factory rider Mathias Walkner finished the final stage trailing Sunderland by 32 minutes while KTM privateer Gerard Farres Guell came third, 35.40 minutes behind Sunderland closely followed by Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha).

The 2017 Dakar was a good year for the Indian contingent especially, Hero Speedbrain who were on their very first outing here with two entries of which both managed to finish the rally. Even better news is Hero rider Joaquim Rodriguez managing to secure a tenth place finish. Fellow Indian rider, CS Santosh too finished the rally in 48th position, a commendable feat.

The other Indian manufacturer participating in the rally was Sherco TVS who had three riders competing. Unfortunately Indian rider and Dakar debutant, Aravind KP had to retire after two crashes in which he fractured his hand and shoulder. His fellow teammates meanwhile completed the rally. Juan Pedrero (Sherco TVS) finished the Dakar in 13th position while fellow teammate Adrien Metge finished in 22nd place.

Lady rider Laia Sanz (KTM) finished in 16th place, an admirable feat. This year, Dakar lived up to its legacy by being tough, challenging, inhospitable and above all unpredictable to both the spectator and the participant. But this is Dakar and despite all the tribulations, it keeps pulling participants back. It's a drug. Like the Everest which even if you scale it once, will make you want to scale it again.