CS Santosh Forced To End 2016 Dakar Rally

By Rajkamal

Updated: Thursday, January 7, 2016, 17:11 [IST]

As heartbreaking as the news sounds, CS Santosh was forced to end his race this year, owing to trouble with the motorcycle and equipment. The decision had to be taken during stage 4 of the 2016 Dakar Rally.

First up was his navigation tower that broke and CS Santosh managed to ride 300km trying to hold it in one hand and navigate with the other. Doing that, CS Santosh managed to go off track and lose his way, and by the time he was back on track, he was nearly three hours behind the first motorcycle that crossed the line in stage 4.

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The second issue the Indian rider had was with the motorcycle electricals, which shorted. CS Santosh had trouble with the motorcycle from the beginning of the race, with the reliability and top speed of the Suzuki 450 RMZ motorcycle he was riding for the 2016 season.

CS Santosh made good progress in the 2016 edition, and after stage 3, he was in the 95th position overall, after starting from the 127th place. The Bangalore rider was determined to finish this year's Dakar in the top 20 place, but his, as well as all his fans dreams was shattered.

Last year, CS Santosh rode for the Dakar Rally for the first time, and with help from Red Bull and KTM, Santosh finished in the 36th place.

DriveSpark wishes CS Santosh best of luck for the 2017 Dakar Rally.

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