Dakar 2022 Stage 5: Steady Progress For Hero MotoSports And Harith Noah

The gruelling Dakar 2022 continued with the fifth stage of the rally. This stage had competitors tackle a looped section in Riyadh that was 560km long, out of which 346km was a special stage. A mix of dirt tracks and a long dune section did manage to catch a lot of competitors off guard. Here’s how everything went down: 

It was a steady bounceback from Hero MotoSports in the bikes category after a difficult Stage 4, with Joaquim Rodrigues and Aaron Mare finishing 19th and 24th. Harith Noah also improved to 28th position which meant a top 30 finish from our Indian presence in the rally.  

Head towards the top of the bikes category and ex-MotoGP rider Danilio Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM Racing)  certainly had a day to remember, taking his maiden stage win in his rookie Dakar campaign. While it was Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Racing) who finished first on the road, a speeding penalty handed Petrucci the win. Joining Petrucci on the podium was Ross Branch (Monster Energy Yamaha) in second place, and Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Monster Energy Honda) in third position. 

Sam Sunderland (GasGas) continues to lead the overall standings ahead of Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Racing), and Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Yamaha). The Hero MotoSports squad of Joaquim Rodrigues and Aaron Mare are ranked 20th and 17th, with Harith Noah in 29th position.

 

Heading towards the cars category, we had Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing) overcome a broken door for most of the stage to take his maiden stage win. Behind him was Sebastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) and Lucio Alvarez (Overdrive Toyota). Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb continue to hold on to the top two spots in the overall standings with Lucio Alvarez’ podium promoting him to third in the standings. 

 

The sixth stage of Dakar 2022 will see another looped section around Riyadh, spanning 620km long that includes 404km of special stages. The route also brings the challenge of a 40km long dune section along the looped route.