Dakar 2024 stage 1

< Back

Published the 6 Januar 2024

A great start for the Sherco Factory Rally Team Riders

Saturday January 6, the first stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally for our Sherco Factory Rally team riders. The race today consisted of 127 km liaison and 414 km special, and the course went from Alula to Al Henakiyah. Lorenzo Santolino found the right rhythm from the start and rode with the race leaders for several kilometers, he finished 7th in the stage and is 6th in the general classification. Rui Gonçalves had a little more difficulty finding his rhythm, but still achieved the 19th best time of the day. He also occupies this position in the general classification. Harith Noah is 21st.

Stage 1 ranking
Lorenzo Santolino: P7
Rui Gonçalves: P19
Harith Noah: P21

Provisional general classification
Lorenzo Santolino: P6
Rui Gonçalves: P19
Harith Noah: P21

Lorenzo Santolino:
“Big day today, more than 5 hours on the bike. The first part of the stage was very pretty, it went through sandy canyons, then the landscape became more open, and we had more tracks, sand, and rocks. I did enter one area with a lot of rocks where it was difficult to get into a good rhythm. For me the race went well, I had good sensations, a good feeling from the start, I caught up with Sam Sunderland at kilometer 9O and I rode in front, all day alone. I rode at my own pace and did well with the navigation. I didn’t make any mistakes, I didn’t fall, it was a very good first day. I had a great stage, with a good ranking, the gap was reduced between me and the first-place rider, only 3 minutes after 5 hours of riding and 414 km of special. We are well placed for the start of tomorrow’s stage.

The bike performed very well, it was very comfortable and efficient. It’s important to see that the work of the entire Sherco team is visible in the results! „.

 

Rui Gonçalves:
“It was a very long day today. More than 400 km so a lot of hours on the bike. An average day for me. From the start I didn’t really feel good, and I made a mistake. Afterwards, there were a few riders who fell in front, it took away a little confidence from me and I had difficulty regaining it during the special and until the end of the stage. It was a bit of a tricky day since it was very long.
Everyone on the team works day and night to have everything ready and to be as efficient as possible. For my part too, I will do my best to achieve a better result tomorrow! Thanks to everyone and see you tomorrow.”

 

Harith Noah:
“Today was a very hard day for me. After refueling at kilometer 200 I started getting cramps all over my body and then a very bad headache. This has never happened to me before. Quitting really crossed my mind a couple of times. I am trying to figure out what could have caused this and hoping it won’t happen again. „.

Tomorrow, the riders will set off for the 2nd stage of the Dakar, from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi, 655 km of racing.

The video for today will be available on our social network pages tonight or tomorrow morning, the quality of the network on site does not allow uploading at the moment.
To make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe to our social network pages, Instagram, Facebook and subscribe to the Sherco Racing Factory follow-up on YouTube.

@motul
@bsbatteryofficiel
@airoh_official
@gaerneofficial
@kennyracing81
@michelinmotorsport
@twin_air
@polisport_off_road
@akrapovic
@furyganofficiel
@tvsmotorcompany

#sherco #shercofactory #tvsracing_offical #tvsmotorcompany #poweredbymotul #rally #dakarrally #sherco