Hero MotoSports Team Rally has completed the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally 2022 with yet another strong result.
Continuing his consistent performance at Dakar 2022, Joaquim Rodrigues finished the stage in the 11th position. The day's terrain featured a lot more canyons and rocks than in the earlier stages. Despite the difficult terrain, J-Rod rode and finished well and with it, maintained his 14th place in the overall RallyGP class standings.
His teammate Aaron Mare finished at the 17th position. Aaron found himself riding at a much better pace than in the previous stage, although a minor navigation mistake and a small fall cost him some time. His consistent run throughout the rally places him at the 16th position in the overall RallyGP class rankings.
The 287 km long Stage 9 was a loop around Wadi Ad-Dawasir, featuring a change in scenery from the previous stages. It threw new challenges to the competitors as the riders traversed their way to the finish through narrow passages between valleys and canyons, upside-down dunes, and some fast tracks.
Joaquim Rodrigues said: "It was a different stage today with a lot of canyons and rocks, but still a fast one. I wasn't feeling very comfortable today and wasn't riding very fast. Anyhow, I was able to finish the stage, and I look forward to continuing the good performance till the end of the race."
Aaron Mare added: "I enjoyed my pace in this stage and felt comfortable riding in this terrain. Early on, I caught up with a rider in front and we ended up making a navigation error and lost some time there again. Later, after refuel, I had a small fall while in the dunes and lost some time. This threw me back by a few positions on the table. At the end of the stage, I'm happy to have finished yet another stage without any injuries, and look forward to the last three days of the race."
Coming up next is a 374 km stretch of beautiful landscapes and colors, touted to be one of the fastest special sections of this season. Starting early from Wadi Ad-Dawasir, the competitors will ride a total of over 757 km to reach the bivouac at Bisha.
( With inputs from ANI )
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