Santosh finishes 47th in Dakar

Buenos Aires, January 15 

Riding for debutants Hero MotoSports Team Rally, CS Santosh finished the gruelling Dakar Rally in 47th spot, while teammate Joaquim Rodrigues finished 10th.

The rally concluded here after completing the 9,000-km run across Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina.

It was the third straight appearance for Santosh at the world’s toughest off-road rally. He had to retire last year and finished 36th in his first attempt in 2015.

“It’s always a pleasure to finish Dakar. It’s an incredible feeling. I am satisfied with my performance, though I would have loved to finish much higher up in the rankings,” Santosh said.

The other India in the rally, Aravind KP, had retired after crashing in Stage 3. 

Motorcycle rider Sam Sunderland became the first Briton to win the Dakar Rally in any category on Saturday while French veteran Stephane Peterhansel won the car crown for his 13th career title. — PTI