Cordoba (Argentina): Factory rider Sebastian Buhler led the charge, completing Stage 2 with an impressive third-place finish as Hero MotoSports Team Rally continued its impressive performance at the Desafio Ruta 40 2024 in Cordoba, Argentina, completing the 2nd stage of the rally with strong results.
Rally GP class riders Ross Branch and Ignacio Cornejo crossed the finish line in the fifth and ninth positions respectively. In the Rally 2 category, Ramiro Barco finished in 9th place for Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp.
Moving on from the start city of Cordoba, the rally continued their exploration of the vast Argentinian landscape, especially through the winding mountain ranges. Stage 2 was the longest of the week at a total of 724 km, including 423 km of special.
The first 150 km were fast and slippery tracks through the mountains, while the rest of the day were mostly challenging. Salt pans, water crossings, sand, dust, and fesh fesh are also featured across the route. Our riders, however, enjoyed going flat out at the 160 kmph top speed for most of the day, while also being careful not to wear out their tyres.
Continuing his impressive performance right from the start of the race, Sebastian Buhler was leading the race until the 232 km mark and later dropped to the second position behind the leader until 325 km into the Stage.
Unfortunately, he lost a bit of time after refuelling, but nevertheless, his fantastic performance earned him a spot on the podium. In a strong fighting position, Buhler maintained the 4th overall position, just 20 seconds behind the podium, the team informed in a release on Wednesday.
Ross Branch has been showcasing a powerful ride at the Desafio Ruta 40 so far. Finishing Stage 2 with a good result, the World Championship leader maintained a 5th overall position in the Rally.
The team’s latest recruit from Chile, Nacho Cornejo, has found incremental success in adapting to his new machine. Nacho is currently perched at the 10th position in the Rally GP class standings. Ramiro Barco, the Rally 2 competitor from the team finished 8th in the same category.
Stage 3 will be a 478 km loop that takes the riders to explore the northern regions of San Juan and will feature lots of sand and dust in addition to the fast slippery sections. 341 km of the route will be timed.
“Today’s Stage was really long and demanding as well. We started off on fast pistes which were very slippery. Managing the tyre condition while riding extremely fast was dangerous, but also fun at the same time. After refueling I lost a bit of time, but overall I’m happy with the result and enjoy a good starting position for tomorrow,” said Sebastian Buhler at the end of the round.
–IANS
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