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Stage report

Dakar 2017, Stage 3: Aravind retires after second fall, Santosh endures tough day

TVS Sherco's Aravind KP was forced to retire from the 2017 Dakar Rally after crashing at the start of Stage 3, while Hero MotoSports Rally Team's CS Santosh dropped down the pecking order at the end of the third day's running.

#77 Sherco TVS Racing Sherco: Aravind KP

#77 Sherco TVS Racing Sherco: Aravind KP

Sherco Racing

#77 Sherco TVS Racing Sherco: Aravind KP
#42 Hero MotoSports Team Rally: CS Santosh
#26 Sherco TVS Racing Sherco: Adrien Metge
#42 Hero MotoSports Team Rally: CS Santosh
#12 Sherco TVS Racing Sherco: Joan Pedrero
#27 Hero MotoSports Team Rally: Joaquim Rodrigues

Having broken his bones in Stage 1 of his maiden outing in the grueling cross-country rally, Aravind crashed 40km into Wednesday's third stage, which put an end to his campaign.

The Indian rider was already comprised after his injury to his left hand and rode through pain on Tuesday to end up 125th overall, but a fall in Stage 3 damaging his shoulder sealed his fate.

His teammates, meanwhile, had a mixed run in the Wednesday's two-part Stage 3, running 364km from San Miguel de Tucuman to Jujuy.

First up, Joan Pedrero slipped out of the Top 10 to finish 16th in the stage and was 14th overall, 35m10s from new leader Joan Barreda in the Honda.

The Spanish rider had a tough start to his day, but recovered well in the end for a steady finish. On the other hand, Adrien Metge made strong inroads to break inside the Top 70.

The French rider was consistent all through the day to end up 32nd in the stage, while was 68th overall on his RTR 450, less than hour behind Barreda.

Meanwhile, over at Hero, Santosh had a tough outing after he lost time at the start of the stage in the challenging navigational leg. To add to his difficulty, the Indian was handed a 1hr20m penalty for missing a way point.

As a result, Santosh dropped to 104th in the stage and sits 87th in the pecking order, over three hours behind the rally leader.

At the same time, teammate Joaquim Rodrigues had a strong run to end the day 19th in the stage, while 20th overall, making up two positions on his Speedbrain 450.

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