A day of positives for Hero Motorsports Team Rally

Oriol Mena and Joaquim Rodrigues are placed 12th and 17th respectively at the end of Stage 4.

Published : Aug 18, 2018 12:20 IST , CHENNAI

Oriol Mena in action during Stage 4 of Atacama Rally.
Oriol Mena in action during Stage 4 of Atacama Rally.
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Oriol Mena in action during Stage 4 of Atacama Rally.

Stage 4 of the 2018 Atacama Rally proved to be full of positives for Hero MotoSports Team Rally with both riders making it to the finish line safely. The penultimate Stage of the Atacama Rally saw Oriol Mena continue his strong run to finish 11th.

A huge plus for the Team was that Joaquim Rodrigues was able to start today, although with a heavy penalty for not finishing the Stage yesterday. He started right at the back and had to tackle poor visibility throughout because of the dust raked up by the riders ahead of him. It was a difficult and risky situation but he rode with his trademark calm and confidence to finish the Stage 13th.

At the end of the penultimate Stage, Mena stands 12th and Rodrigues 17th in the overall rankings.

This Stage turned out to be a very fast stage with a mix of soft piste and dunes in the 253 kilometre timed special today. With the liaison included, the competitors had to cover a total of 371 km during the day.

The Rally will move to its final day tomorrow with a relatively shorter Stage 5 to be done entirely in the region of Copiapo, after which the winner of the 2018 Atacama Rally will emerge.

Mena said, "Today was a really fast, with mix of soft piste and sand. I decided to not push too much today and focus on arriving at the finish line safely. One day more done and now it’s one day left to bring another rally in the books. There has been a lot of learning for me throughout and I am happy with the way I am riding, the bike and the team.”

Rodrigues spoke of coming from behind to finish 13th, "After the technical issue yesterday I was happy to make a start today. It was a very difficult stage for me as I started behind all the bikes, especially a couple of quads. The stage was really fast and with all the dust in the front of me, it was very risky to ride. It was anyways difficult to pass the riders in front so I decided to take it steady and safe. The bike was working really well today so I am happy to ride again and arrive at the finish line safely."

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