CS Santosh happy with his first outing for Hero MotoSports

CS Santosh and Hero MotoCorp surprised many when they announced that they will be entering the world of motorcycle rallying together. The Hero MotoSports team has signed a joint venture with Speedbrain which has good racing experience. For CS Santosh, the new partnership meant he was now riding for an Indian team to compete on a global level. The first challenge for CS Santosh was the Merzouga Rally in Morocco. The only Indian to compete in Dakar Rally finished the event in a respectable 16th position which is good considering that he was competing in only his second cross-country race. His team-mate Joaquim Rodrigues of Portugal fared better finishing the race in ninth position.

Speaking about the race, CS Santosh said, “It’s absolutely delightful to work with such a committed bunch of people, who share the same goal. For example, Hero MotoCorp CTO, Marcus Braunsperger, was not in Morocco, but he was in constant touch with us with words of encouragement.  In the Merzouga Rally, we achieved most of the targets that we set out to accomplish. The bike is really good and fast and with more development in the coming months, it will get even better. Hero MotoCorp Team Rally has everything that it takes to make for a winning team, which is our goal.”  

Santosh struggled with navigation which resulted in him losing precious time or he could have registered a top-10 finish. The India racer said that he will be focussing his attention to improve his navigation skills and train hard for the upcoming race. CS Santosh and Hero MotoSports will race next in the OiLibya Rally in Morocco in October, which is part of the FIM World Cross-Country Rally Championship, before heading to South America for the challenging 2017 Dakar Rally.