Merzouga, September, 2019. Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsports team of the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, continued its impressive performance at the 2019 Pan Africa Rally with both its riders in the Top 5at the end of the Rally’s crucial third stage.

Joaquim Rodrigues finished the stage in third position, which keeps him at the second spot in the overall rankings. With this result he remains in contention for the top spot during the remainder of the Rally. His teammate, CS Santosh delivered a solid run during the stage, which helped him to improv his standing significantly as he broke into the Top 5 in the overall standings.

 Stage 3 of the Rally was the longest and probably the most crucial stage in determining the final standings. It saw 445 kms of competitive riding in the mixed terrains of the Merzouga region.

 The penultimate stage of the 2019 Pan Africa Rally will offer one last big test of 280 km for the competitors before the short final stage on September 27.

 Joaquim Rodrigues, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally said, “It was indeed another fabulous day for me. I opened the stage, pushed hard in the beginning and gained on some crucial time. In the second part, I got into a wrong river bed, of the several parallel ones and lost a lot of time in coming back to the right track. I had to again catch the guys in the front, which I managed to do. Overall it was a good day with a third-place finish.Happy that we are still in the battle for the win.”

 C S Santosh, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally said, “Stage 3 was really long and tough. I did a good job in the first two parts of the stage with good navigation and a good flow. I even gained some time. In the last part though, the tape of my road book came off and I had to stop a couple of times to fix it. I then had a small crash too. It was quite a physical and challenging day, but I think I tackled it quite well, so I am happy to bring home another stage for the team.”