Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team Announces 4-Rider Squad For Merzouga Rally, 2018


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Akash1886

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Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team announces 4-rider squad for Merzouga Rally, 2018

Team aims for a Top 5-finish

Joan Pedrero.jpg

Lorenzo Santolino.jpg

Bangalore, April 13, 2018: Sherco TVS Factory Rally team today announced a 4-rider squad for Merzouga Rally, 2018. The squad includes Joan Pedrero & Lorenzo Santilino from Spain, Martin Duplessis from Argentina and Vanni Cominotto from Italy. This will be the 2nd Merzouga Rally for Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team and the team is aiming for a Top 5 finish.

B Selvaraj, Team Manager, TVS Racing, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to be a part of the ninth edition of the Merzouga rally. This rally is a good training ground for Dakar riders as it tests the limits of man and machine under challenging circumstances. Takeaways from such rally events are huge as it results in improving the teams’ technical capability and in the development of robust motorcycles. Merzouga Rally will offer a virtuous platform to evaluate the physical and technical strengths of the team and provides direction for our preparedness for the upcoming races. ”

The experienced Joan Pedrero will lead the Sherco TVS Rally Factory team in this event. Santolino Lorenzo will be participating for the first time in the Merzouga Rally. Lorenzo is a 7-time Spanish champion between Enduro and XC and has participated in OiLibya Rally , Morocco in 2017 and Desert Storm, India in 2018. Martin Duplessis and Vanni Cominotto will also be making their debut in the rally and their performance will be assessed by the team management.

David Casteu, Team Manager, Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team, said "Merzouga Rally is an important learning ground for us not only because it is part of the Dakar Series but also the sandy terrain here is similar to the ones the riders face at Dakar. There's a lot of roadbook navigation and riding in windy conditions which makes it interesting. After a solid performance at the Desert Storm in India, Santolino is raring to perform well here and has been training hard. Joan (Pedrero) brings all his experience to the team and will push himself to stay on top. This year we are also giving opportunity to two of our young riders Vanni Cominotto and Martin Duplessis. Our technical crew is also well prepared for the race with 4 Rally-bikes to be managed and we look forward to finish the Rally on a high note.”

Merzouga Rally, in its 3rd year under the Dakar Series label, commences on 15th April 2018 in the dunes of Morocco and culminates on the 20th April, 2018. This will be the 9th edition of the Merzouga Rally and will consist of 5 stages in this year's edition.

About Merzouga Rally

The Merzouga Rally is a grueling 5-day rally raid that takes place annually in Morocco, among the dunes of Merzouga. Participants at the event will have to deal with rising ambient temperatures of the Moroccan desert, stimulating sand sections and tricky navigational challenges. The demanding rally provides excellent preparation to riders who wish to compete in the Dakar Rally scheduled for later in the year.

About TVS Racing

Since the past 36 years TVS Racing has been actively participating on and off- road racing events such as road racing, Super-cross and Motocross, Dirt Tracks, Rally etc. TVS Racing is the only factory team in India to have any woman rider as a part of their team. In early 2015, TVS Racing became the first Indian factory team to take part in the Dakar rally, which is the longest and toughest rally in the world. TVS Racing won 15 championships across all forms of two-wheeler motorsport events Supercross, Rallies and Road racing last year.
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Akash
 
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Update

Day 2: Stage 1, Merzouga Rally, 2018

Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team continue their solid performance

Joan Pedrero & Lorenzo Santolino tackle navigation challenges to remain in the Top 10

Lorenzo Santolino.jpg

Joan Pedrero.jpg

Duplessis Diego Martin.jpg

Cominotto Vanni.jpg

Merzouga, April 17, 2018: Stage 1 of the 9th edition of the Afriquia Merzouga Rally began at Timbaktu hotel and saw the racers battle across two loops of 110.7 kilometers and 96.01 kilometers respectively. At the end of the stage, the overall rankings of the Sherco TVS Factory Rally team were as follows - Joan Pedrero stood at P6 followed by Lorenzo Santolino at P9. Duplessis Diego Martin had a great stage 1 climbing up to P12 with the other debutant Vanni Cominotto finishing at P27.

Commenting on his performance, Joan Pedrero, Racer, Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team says, “The stage was a test of our navigational skills and included dunes, sand as well as water zones. I am happy with my performance and look forward to improving my rankings in the next stage.”

David Casteau, Team Manager, Sherco TVS Factory Rally team says, "The stage saw some complicated navigation but the team managed to perform well. Pedrero and Santolino continue their good run, while Duplessis and Cominotto are taking rapid strides towards moving up in the rankings.”

Stage 2 will be 175 km long including two loops– the opening and closing sections will be run in the dunes of the erg. It will be a test of the racer’s physical endurance as well as navigation techniques and is touted to be a very tough stage.

Overall Rankings at the end of Stage 1:

Pedrero Garcia Joan – P 6

Lorenzo Santolino – P 8

Duplessis Diego Martin – P 10

Vanni Cominotto – P 22
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Akash
 

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