Hero MotoSports Team Rally Gives Dakar Experience At CIT Jaipur

Hero MotoSports Team Rally showcased a glimpse of their practice for the Dakar Rally with its riders CS Santosh and Joaquim Rodrigues at CIT, Jaipur.

The Hero MotoSports Team Rally is going into final testing for Dakar 2017 - the Oilibya Rally of Morocco. Before that, the team planned to visit India for an interaction with the press at the Hero Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur. On this occasion, both the riders of the team - CS Santosh and Joaquim Rodrigues showed their off-roading prowess on their rally machines, developed by Speedbrain which is handling the entire team as well.

Speedbrain is a German firm with good off-road racing experience and the requisite technology to drive the team. The riders have already represented the team at the Merzouga Rally, which is also a part of Dakar's qualifying events. During this attempt, India's finest off-road rider, CS Santosh, finished 16th, while his Portuguese team-mate, "JROD" Joaquim Rodrigues, managed to secure 9th position. Both riders provided a glimpse of their Dakar practice during the event on a specially designed track, developed under the supervision of French and German engineers. Along with the other members of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the riders also had an interaction with us and they were looking quite confident for the upcoming challenge.

Heading the event, Dr Markus Braunsperger, CTO, Hero MotoCorp said, "Motorbike rally racing is the toughest form of motorsport in the world. In addition to putting to test the endurance limit of the riders, it is the ultimate platform to evaluate the competency of the machines. We at Hero, are aggressively working towards elevating our product development capabilities to global standards and our presence at the international racing circuit gives us an opportunity to further refine our vehicle concepts. Today, I am extremely excited to welcome the members of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally at Hero CIT. Being the hub for all our R&D efforts, Hero CIT is the ideal location to introduce our team to the nation."

CS Santosh said, "We are absolutely proud to carry the tricolour of India to Dakar Rally 2017. This year will be a completely different experience for me as I am a going to participate as a member of the world-class factory team. After a great first qualifier, we are now charged-up for the Oilibya Rally in October. Hero MotoSports Team Rally has all the traits of a champion team and I am hopeful that we will put up a great show at Dakar next year."

Joaquin Rodrigues said, "I am extremely excited to be a part of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally. Even though this is a new set-up, I'm confident that the team has a bright future with all the right ingredients to make a successful rally team. The synergy by Hero will not only help improve the team‘s fortunes but also help bring in more viewers to the sport and popularise it in new markets."

During the interaction, we also got to know that apart from taking care of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Speedbrain is also helping the company in training its in-house R&D team. It will help the company to build a more advanced team for development of its future products. Moreover, the experience gained during these international motorsport events will also help them in the improvement of products.

Our best wishes are with Hero MotoSports Team Rally and we believe they will give an outstanding performance at the upcoming Oilibya Rally in October followed by the 2017 Dakar Rally.