Photo: KTM Racing
As you may know, the Dakar Rally 2017 started January 2nd. All riders took to a great start, but here we are three stages later, and KTM is in the top two positions.
Australian Toby Price started the day in 17th place, after a cautious start on Monday 2nd of January. However, he had taken the lead by the first checkpoint on his KTM 450 Rally and managed to stay in control through to the finish, currently leading the rally.
“Today was a whole different day,” said Price. “There was a lot of speed; a lot of fast roads and it was really dusty. We also had to deal with a lot of animals. It wasn’t a tricky day in navigation, but you can’t put a cow in the road book, and it becomes difficult when they are popping out at you. But it’s good to get to the finish with this heat.”
Round three was also good for Matthias Walkner who settled into the second place behind his teammate early in the stage and rode out the race in that position.
“Today it was almost straight with about 20 corners, but it was pretty dangerous at the beginning because of the vegetation and there were many animals and a lot of waterholes,” said Walkner after the second round. “But in the end, I didn’t think it was such a bad day.”
The third member of the crew, Sam Sunderland, managed to finish round two in fourth, trailing the leader by just 4.19 minutes. However, he lost it in the next stage and is currently riding in the fifth position.
Laia Sanz continued to lead the women’s classification and finished the stage in 24th place, 16.29 minutes off the winning pace. She is currently 25th overall.
The second stage took the riders from the Resistencia to San Miguel de Tucuman, from there going to Argentina and the north-south spine of the Andes. On Wednesday, they turn north and follow the line of the mountains to San Salvador de Jujuy.
“Today was a whole different day,” said Price. “There was a lot of speed; a lot of fast roads and it was really dusty. We also had to deal with a lot of animals. It wasn’t a tricky day in navigation, but you can’t put a cow in the road book, and it becomes difficult when they are popping out at you. But it’s good to get to the finish with this heat.”
Round three was also good for Matthias Walkner who settled into the second place behind his teammate early in the stage and rode out the race in that position.
“Today it was almost straight with about 20 corners, but it was pretty dangerous at the beginning because of the vegetation and there were many animals and a lot of waterholes,” said Walkner after the second round. “But in the end, I didn’t think it was such a bad day.”
The third member of the crew, Sam Sunderland, managed to finish round two in fourth, trailing the leader by just 4.19 minutes. However, he lost it in the next stage and is currently riding in the fifth position.
Laia Sanz continued to lead the women’s classification and finished the stage in 24th place, 16.29 minutes off the winning pace. She is currently 25th overall.
The second stage took the riders from the Resistencia to San Miguel de Tucuman, from there going to Argentina and the north-south spine of the Andes. On Wednesday, they turn north and follow the line of the mountains to San Salvador de Jujuy.
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