Dakar Rally 2021 Scrutineering & Prologue Stage Results: CS Santosh Tops Indian Rider Classification

The short Prologue stage started from Jeddah and ended in Jeddah, which will be the start point for Stage 1 of the 2021 Dakar Rally on January 03. The Prologue route covered a total of 129 kilometres along with a special stage of 11 kilometres. According to the organizers, the Prologue stage will help set the tone for participants and teams for the upcoming racing season.

After the short Prologue stage, the 2020 Dakar Rally winner riding for Honda, Ricky Brabec has finished first among 101 riders competing in the bike category. The podium places are completed by Joan Barreda in a close 2nd and Daniel Sanders on the 3rd place. The top-three riders are split by 13 seconds at the end of the Prologue stage.

Our country's Ace rally rider C.S. Santosh has topped the Indian rider classification by securing 35th position. C.S. Santosh is in his seventh Dakar outing and continues to ride for the Hero MotoSport.

Other Hero MotoSport riders, Sebastian Buhler and Joaquim Rodrigues have finished the preliminary stage of the 2021 Dakar Rally in 5th and 10th position overall, respectively. The Indian manufacturer is on a good start with two riders completing the top 10 riders line-up.

Harith Noah who is participating in the Dakar Rally for the second time has finished the Prologue stage in 43rd position. He continues his participation with the Sherco Factory Rally Team sponsored by TVS. Lorenzo Santolin and Rui Goncalves who are also riding for the Sherco Rally team has finished in 16th and 20th position overall, respectively.

Indian debutant, Ashish Raorane who is competing as a privateer under the Malle Moto class has finished the Prologue stage in 74th position overall. Ashish is using a KTM 450 Rally Replica motorcycle to compete in the ‘Original by Motul' category.

Prologue Stage Provisional Results:
Hero MotoSport Rally Team Standings
5th Position - Sebastian Buhler [00:06:17]
10th Position - Joaquim Rodrigues [00:06:24]
35th Position - C S Santosh [00:07:06]

Sherco Factory Rally Team Standings
16th Position - Lorenzo Santolin [00:06:32]
20th Position - Rui Goncalves [00:06:36]
43rd Position - Harith Noah [00:07:20]

Privateer
74th Position - Ashish Rorane [00:09:06]

Overall Standings Bike
1st Position - Ricky Brabec [00:06:01] (Monster Energy Honda Team 2021)
2nd Position - Joan Barreda [00:06:07] (Monster Energy Honda Team 2021)
3rd Position - Daniel Sanders [00:06:14] (KTM Factory Team)

Thoughts About The Dakar Rally 2021 Scrutineering & Prologue Stage Results

The 2021 Dakar Rally is underway with the end of the Prologue Stage. After the short stage, Monster Energy Honda rally team have two of its riders in the top-three spot. Indian riders have successfully completed the short stage and are all set to start the actual rally race tomorrow. Stay tuned for a complete race report after each Stage of the 2021 Dakar Rally.