Hero Motosports Team Rally to kick-start with Afriquia Merzouga Rally

Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motor-sport division of Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL), is geared-up to start its exciting quest to Dakar 2018, with the first Dakar series race, ‘Afriquia Merzouga Rally’. The rally, open to motorcycles, quads and Utility Task Vehicles (UTVs), will be held from May 7 to 12, in Morocco.

Making its second consecutive appearance at Afriquia Merzouga, Hero MotoSports Team Rally will field a full strength team, with the riders, Indian ace CS Santosh and Portuguese supercross star, Joaquim Rodrigues.

While CS Santosh will make a much-awaited comeback to rally racing, after missing the India BAJA, his co-rider Joaquim Rodrigues or ‘JRod’ as he is popularly known, will look to build on his winning momentum from the India BAJA 2017, which took place in Rajasthan in April.

Running under the aegis of the Dakar Series since 2016, the eighth edition of the Afriquia Merzouga Rally involves six days of racing in south-east Morocco, including 1,200 kilometres of fully off-road specials. This year, 145 vehicles (88 bikes, 23 quads and 34 SidebySide) for a total of 178 competitors will be at the start of the Rally.

CS Santosh, Rider of Hero MotoSports Team Rally said, “I have made immense progress in the past couple of months and I am glad to be back here with the team. I have been training with some great people and working on all the aspects, be it body or mind or motorcycles. However, I am going into the Merzouga Rally with the expectation of learning and having a great time being back to racing on my bike.”

Joaquim Rodrigues, Rider of Hero MotoSports Team Rally said, “It has been a great start to the year. The recent victory at the India BAJA Rally has given me a fresh boost of energy and I am really excited to be back at Merzouga Rally. I am happy with my recent performances and hoping for a good result here as well.”