- Joaquim Rodrigues finished fourth, Oriol Mena bagged the second spot
- Overall ranking of Joaquim and Oriol settled at the third and fifth position
- Stage two spanned across 212km of timed section
Hero MotoSports Team Rally riders finished the second stage of the 2019 Merzouga Rally in top five. Competing in the 450cc category, the Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodrigues finished fourth while the Spaniard Oriol Mena clinched the commendable second position. The overall ranking of Hero’s Oriol and Joaquim stands at fifth and third position, respectively. Meanwhile, the first, second and fourth position in the overall ranking chart is held by Adrian Van Beveren (Yamaha), Michael Metge (Sherco TVS) and Jocopo Cerutti (Solarys Racing), respectively.
The second stage of the 2019 Merzouga comprised of a 212km special (timed) section which was divided into two parts. The first part was an 86km stretch featuring Merzouga region’s tricky dunes of Erg Chebbi. This was followed by the second part of stage two which spanned across 126km of mountain crossing. This section threw some intense navigation challenges on the riders. Notably, the GPS navigation equipment on Joaquim’s bike loosened and came off the motorcycle. The rider said his time was killed in fixing back the equipment.
Owing to the rain a night before, the second stage of Merzouga Rally brought tricky terrain and navigation challenges for the riders. The third stage of the rally will traverse through Moroccan desert. Moreover, it will be the first day of two-day marathon stage during which the riders are kept deprived of any technical assistance.
