Advertisement

CS Santosh finishes eighth at Qatar round of World Cross Country Rally Championship

Team OD Updated: April 29, 2014, 05:53 PM IST

The Sealine Cross Country Rally at Qatar, a rally that is known for being particularly hard to navigate and with stages that are very long, was the second round of the World Cross Country Rally Championship. Fresh from his top-10 finish at the season-opening Abu Dhabi Rally, CS Santosh arrived at Qatar ready to tackle the dunes and challenges that this particular rally was sure to throw his way. Given that the average stage length at this particular round of the WCCRC was 400km, Santosh had his work cut out for him.

Santosh finished the Sealine Cross Country Rally in eighth place in the motorcycle classSantosh finished the Sealine Cross Country Rally in eighth place in the motorcycle class

Over the first three days of the rally, the going was tough for the Indian rider who finished the opening round tenth overall. The third day of the rally was particularly challenging in terms of navigation. "The rally is notorious for rocks just everywhere along the route and I had so many moments where I almost lost it," he said. The going then got tougher on the fourth day of the rally when he crashed, resulting in a ruptured right fuel tank. Santosh managed to isolate the tank and finished the stage by running only the rear and front left tank.

Santosh is also eighth in the overall standings in the motorcycle classSantosh is also eighth in the overall standings in the motorcycle class

There was an improvement on the fifth day of the rally, when he rode well and ended the 326km stage just 4 minutes and 50 seconds behind the stage winner. "It was a moment that's even now hard to believe!" Santosh exclaimed. The rider eventually finished eighth overall and eighth in the standings too. Finishing first at the event Joan Barreda Bort, with Marc Coma second and Helder Rodrigues third.

Santosh astride his KTM Rally Replica Santosh astride his KTM Rally Replica

The Indian rider will skip the third round of the championship at Egypt due to political unrest in the country, and compete in the fourth round of the championship at Italy in June.

Advertisement

Latest Videos

View All Videos
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement