Mena moves to 10th, Santosh 34th

Hero MotoSports Team Rally's rookie rider Oriol Mena continued his great form to finish the first leg of the 11th stage of Dakar Rally at ninth position.

The result placed him at 10th position in the overall rankings.

Following a forgetful previous day, C S Santosh rode steadily to gain lost ground. He did well to reach the Fiambala bivouac and finish the stage at 33rd place, which takes him to the overall ranking of 34th at the end of stage 11.

He will be aiming to improve his rankings further in the last few remaining stages.

For the bikes, Stage 11 was the first leg of the Marathon stage as they covered a liaison of 205 km and a special stage of 280 km to camp overnight in the Fiambala Mountains.

The stage left the riders without the assistance crew for the second time in the rally. Now, they will be left to their own devices to tend to themselves as well as their bikes. The stage challenged the riders with lots of loose sand and bit of soil.

Stage 12 will take the competitors to San Juan and one more day closer to the finish line at Cordoba but not before their physical strength and endurance are put to test with many twists and turns and stony sections.

With only 3 stages remaining now, the rally will look to get into the top gear with all competitors pushing hard to improve their positions.