The Dakar Rally 2017 has 12 stages which run into almost 9,000 km. CS Santosh has been the only Indian rider to have completed the rally in his 1st attempt.
Do you know how it feels to be a part of the world’s one of the most dangerous and thrilling races? CS Santosh, who is one of the Indian riders in World’s most gruelling Dakar Rally 2017, will be able to give us the first hand experience of traversing through adverse roads in several countries in the past two years.
Santosh will be riding his KTM 450 Rally through Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia this time. The Dakar Rally 2017 has 12 stages which run into almost 9,000 km. There will be 491 racers, 316 vehicles, 146 motorcycles, 37 quads, 83 cars and 50 trucks, participating in the Dakar Rally in 2017.
This particular rally’s popularity has been on the rise and it does not look like it is going to fizz out anytime soon. Thanks to riders like Santosh, who has been holding on to the baton for India for three years now that this gruelling rally will continue to usher.
However, Santosh is yet to win the championship. It is obvious that traversing through the toughest of roads is not cream and cheese. There is no scope for an error in this particular rally. Because of you make one, you have got to wait for a whole year to resurrect and make things better unlike the MotoGP.
In MotoGP, if a rider falters, he gets another chance to make his mark after correcting his mistake in the following week. In Dakar Rally, there is no such thing called ‘second chance.’ There’s only one chance that comes once every year.
A rider has to go off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks and what not to complete all the 12 stages of the thrilling rally. Santosh made it to the headlines in 2015, which was his first attempt. He has been the only Indian rider to have completed the rally and that too with an injured shoulder and a broken toe.
However, he was forced out of the race at the fourth stage in 2016 due to a broken navigation tower in Chile.
It will be interesting to see if Santosh can impress alongside Aravind KP who also is a part of the Dakar Rally 2017 in South America. As of now Santosh has made a steady start and has entered Stage 2 of the Rally. We are rooting for him, are you?
