Rodrigues at 2nd, Mena 3rd at halfway mark in Merzouga rally

Consolidating their performance from earlier rounds, Hero MotoSports riders Joaquim Rodrigues and Oriol Mena finished a creditable second and third place respectively in stage three of the Merzouga Rally 2019 here Thursday.

The superlative effort takes Rodrigues to second and Oriol to third place in the overall rankings, ensuring that the team enters the half-way mark in a very strong position.

Stage 3 had two stages and the 229 km long route was divided into two parts (89 km and 107 km) and riddled with navigational pitfalls. The first part was a little rugged while the second required riders to be on top of their navigation to get out of a labyrinth.

The rally came to a halt at the Marathon bivouac, where the competitors will be on their own to attend to their machines and themselves.

The second part of the Marathon will test the riders with another long day of riding to re-unite with their teams back at the rally bivouac at Erfoud.

"I had a really good day. Made no mistakes and got into a very nice rhythm. For a good 50km, I was at the head of the pack and riding with a very nice flow. I am happy to bring the bike safe to the Marathon Bivouac. One more stage in the books and only 2 more days to go," Mena said.

Rodrigues said:"It was another long stage today. I did well and avoided taking unnecessary risks as we don't have our team to assist at night. So my focus was to bring the bike to the marathon bivouac safely. Overall a good day for me and for the team.