Hero's Buhler continues his stellar run, Santosh remains steady in Dakar

Hero MotoSports Team Rally rider Sebastian Buhler continued his stellar run and gained positions to finish in 20th place and moved to 23rd position in the overall rankings after the third stage of the gruelling Dakar Rally here on Tuesday.

Buhler's teammate C S Santosh also continued to battle it out in another tough stage, and arrived safely at the finish line in the 50th position. He is placed 44th in the overall rankings at the end of the stage 3.

Another Hero rider Joaquim Rodrigues continued his Dakar adventure and rode with ease to gain several positions from his start to finish the stage in the 31st position.

However, it was a day to forget for another Hero rider Paulo Goncalves who was left stranded at about 30 kms into the stage due to a technical issue in his bike.

He had to wait until another competitor in the Trucks category, run by Cabini and his team, showed real Dakar spirit and helped him by bringing the replacement parts.

He managed to replace the complete engine himself and resumed the stage again.

The good news was that he is still alive in the rally to record his overall rankings and fight for the stage results.

The third stage of Dakar Rally took the competitors for a circuit around the megacity of Neom for a special stage of 404 kms towards the border with Jordan. The stage offered a series of canyons and mountains to explore on a carpet of sand and also touched the highest point of this Dakar, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.

With the team's top two riders out of contention for top spots, Hero's hopes are now pinned on the young shoulder of Buhler and the experience of Santosh.

In the stage 4 of the Rally, competitors will move to the historic old town Al-Ula after covering 676 kms, including the special of 453 kms.