Uyuni (Bolivia), January 14: Oriol Mena finished the stage seven of Dakar Rally in the 17 position to break into top-20 while his Hero MotoSports Team Rally team-mate CS Santosh finished 39th for an overall ranking of 40.
@cs_santosh22 and @OriolMena continue their steady climb at Dakar. End of stage 7 sees CS at 40th overall and Mena at 20th. Tomorrow is leg two of the marathon stage with a near 500km special stage, and they have no access to team support tonight. pic.twitter.com/MsgCk6VcFX
— Rishaad Mody (@rishaadmody) January 14, 2018
After a rest day at La Paz, the Dakar Rally went on the road again with the first Marathon stage kicking off from La Paz to Uyuni. A change in software was required for the riders as the landscape changed from sandy dunes to lot of off-piste, river beds and harder ground and the stages become longer and faster from here on.
Good day for both @hero_motosports riders with @OriolMena finishing a solid 17th to remain in #Top20 & @cs_santosh22 finishing 39th to claw his way back into the #Top50 at 46th on #Stage7 of #Dakar2018 from #LaPaz to #Uyuni @AUTOTODAYMAG stage 7 pic credit: DPPI Florent Gooden pic.twitter.com/LjC0jTs6S6
— Yogendra Pratap (@YogenPratap) January 13, 2018
Both Mena and Santosh tackled the stage with a steady head and arrived at the Uyuni bivouac safely, though deprived of any assistance from the team for the overnight halt as per the regulations of the marathon stage.
📅 @dakar RACING PROGRAM: Stage 8 | Uyuni > Tupiza 🇧🇴
— Peugeot Sport (@peugeotsport) January 14, 2018
➡Start time: 8:40am
⬅Estimated arrival: 2:20pm
🏁Total stage: 585km
⏱Total timed section: 498km
⏸Total liaison: 87km
🌵Terrain: 15% sand, 78% soil, 7% vegetation
⏰ Time Bolivia (Paris -5h)#3008DKRMaxi #WeLoveDust pic.twitter.com/V1nJB6eiAM
Stage 8 will see the rally move through to Tupiza for the second leg of the marathon stage, which will test the riders with the longest special stage of the rally, covering nearly 500 kms, including a high altitude dune crossing. Tupiza will be the last halt for the rally in Bolivia before changing the borders again and crossing over to Argentina.