CS Santosh becomes first Indian to finish Dakar Rally thrice

What's the story?

India is making waves in various sports these days and one of the more offbeat yet significantly popular ones continues to be Motorsports. With Indian drivers in the past representing the country in Formula One and other Motorsports competitions, the future looks bright for upcoming speed demons.

One such personality is Indian rider CS Santosh, who just completed the unforgiving Dakar rally for the third time in his career, a record not held previously by an Indian. Santosh pulled off the feat for Indian team Hero MotorSports and finished 35th overall. The team performed admirably at the rally with Spaniard Oriol Mena finishing 7th in his debut race.

In case you didn't know...

The Dakar rally is a gruelling 14-day journey across nearly 9,000 km covering the South American countries of Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It is the world's toughest off-road Motorsport event and for good reason too.

Having participated in the race four times now, Santosh was unsuccessful in completing it on only one occasion -- 2016.

The heart of the matter

CS Santosh himself has had four attempts at the Dakar rally, in which the Indian has finished the race three times. His teammate Oriol Mena, on the other hand, was in his first ever race and shocked the world with a highly impressive finish in what turned out to be a near-perfect performance for the Indian outfit backed by Hero India.

Needless to say, Hero MotorSports' reputation has increased manifold due to this outstanding performance.

What's next?

The Bengaluru rider Santosh will not rest on his laurels and shall continue competing in extremely challenging circuits such as the Dakar Rally.

Author's take

Seeing an Indian complete the Dakar rally for the third time is impressive to say the very least as Motorsports continues to make stars from the country's youth.