Afriquia Merzouga Rally 2018: Indian teams excel after Stage 5

Two home grown Indian motorcycle manufacturing companies TVS Motor Company and Hero MotoCorp have been participating in the Dakar and Merzouga for the last few years at a stretch. Their machines too have been performing mighty well in the tough conditions.

The 9^th edition of the Afriquia Merzouga Rally in 2018 saw Sherco TVS and TVS MotoSports participate with four and two riders respectively. While Joan Pedrero of Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team finished in top 10, his teammate Martin Duplessis ended at 11^th position overall after five stages. For Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team, Joan Pedrero finished 7^th, followed by Martin Diego Duplessis at P11, Vanni Cominotto at P21 and Lorenzo Santolino at P31.

Commenting on his performance, Joan Pedrero, Racer, Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team says, “The Merzouga Rally is tough and very competitive but I am thrilled to have finished in the top 10. It has been a great learning ground and I hope to use these learnings, going forward.”

As for Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport division of Hero MotoCorp, both their riders registered a top 20 finish at rally. Oriol Mena finished at 15th and Indian driver C S Santosh finished at the 19th place.

C S Santosh said, “It was our first international rally after the Dakar. I am really glad to have finished the Merzouga, as I was a little worried after the crash I had at the Desert Storm (Maruti Suzuki rally held in North India). Overall I think I made fewer mistakes this year and improved a lot in my speed and navigation, this is been a good learning experience for me. The bike and the team have been fantastic and helped me get the bike home every day. Now I will look to build upon this experience for the next races to come.”

Meanwhile, after five days of racing in the desert of southern Morocco, Spaniard Joan Barreda (Honda) won two stages and the general classification. Frenchman Axel Dutrie (quads) and Brazilian Bruno Varela (S×S) also won the race outright. For the field as a whole, including many amateurs, the number 1 goal was gaining more experience in ultra-tough stages as a further step towards their dream of taking part in the Dakar, the biggest rally raid in the world.

CLASSIFICATION AFTER FIVE STAGES

Pos.       No.         Rider                                                                     Team

1              10           BARREDA BORT JOAN                                     HONDA

2              2              BENAVIDES KEVIN                                            HONDA

3              7              QUINTANILLA PABLO                                      HUSQVARNA

7              4              PEDRERO GARCIA JUAN                                 SHERCO TVS

11           18           DUPLESSIS DIEGO MARTIN                           SHERCO TVS

15           17           MENA ORIOL                                                      HERO

19           29           CS SANTOSH                                                       HERO

21           31           COMINOTTO VANNI                                        SHERCO TVS

31           36           SANTOLINO LORENZO                                    SHERCO TVS

A quick look at the five stages

After an intense morning dominated by the technical scrutineering, the field of the Afriquia Merzouga Rally hit the tracks for the first time for the free practice session and the prologue on Sunday April 15, 2018. The competitors spent the morning going through technical and administrative scrutineering and they used the free practice session and the prologue to rev up their engines. A total of 123 competitors —80 bikers, 12 quad riders and 31 side-by-side buggies— took part in the ninth edition.

The cool temperatures of Sunday morning soon gave way to the spring heat at the Toumbouctou Hotel, where the Afriquia Merzouga Rally has set up its bivouac. After their first footsteps on the sand, the competitors spent the morning going through administrative and technical scrutineering, a precondition to taking part in the race.

Stage 1 which started on April 16, 2018 saw the racers battle across two loops of 110.7 kilometers and 96.01 kilometers respectively.  Stage 1 comprised of just over 200 kms of two loops. The first part of the stage tested the riders with relatively complicated navigation leading onto the second loop that offered dunes, sand and water zones.

Stage 2 on Tuesday April 17 consisted of 175 kms in the region of Erg Chhabbi with the difficulty levels being tuned up a notch. The stage was fast but at the same time required physical toughness with tougher navigation as well. Stage 3 of the rally, touted to be the highlight stage of the Rally, saw the racers battle dunes of Rissani erg, Chebbi erg along with sand in the Fezou region and Ouzina erg before finishing at the campsite.  Stage 4, the second marathon stage, saw the riders race through dunes before reaching the Errachidia plateau.  Featuring a 233-kilometer special in a total of 372 kilometresrs, the stage once again saw the racers get no help from the service crew. Competitors in the Afriquia Merzouga Rally faced a 241.1 km course with dunes as far as the eye can see today. In the evening of the stage, held on April 19, the Race Direction rectified the results following the decision to stop the stage at km 224, instead of the original 241,10 km. The fifth stage was the last and the shortest stage of the rally with only 48 km to cover, which they further reduced to 40 km due to some last minute changes.