Mena fails to take advantage of good start

It was a mixed day for Hero Motorsports Team rally at the Atacama Rally as Oriol Mena was placed 13th while Joaquim Rogrigues couldn't finish the third stage of the event.

Mena started strongly but a difficult waypoint towards the end of the stage made him lose precious time to close the stage at 13th place. Rodrigues decided against taking unwanted risk and stopped before the stage came to a closure.

The third stage had challenging dunes where speed and ability are severely put to test.

"I am very happy as it was a good experience. I will try to do as much as possible. It was 260 km in three hours which is nearly 90kmph, so in the end it was okay," Mena told PTI.

"For me, the challenge is to win Dakar one day. For that, you need trust your navigation skills, be aware about road book dangers yet drive as fast as possible. You need to trust in your road book and try to find a good way."