Following Aravind KP’s crash on stage 5, which led to a broken right ankle and him pulling out of the Dakar Rally, Sherco-TVS’ Joan Pedrero is the sole rider left for the team as the event reaches La Paz in Bolivia.
The injury meant Aravind had to be airlifted to La Paz before being taken to Lima, Peru, for an X-Ray and CT Scan. Surgery will be required to repair the ankle, which will take place once he reaches India.
In the meantime, Pedrero finished the 758km long leg 6 (with a 313km special stage), which was shortened due to fears of poor visibility for bikers and quad competitors, in 16th place. That allowed him to hold on to 15th overall out of the 100 classified riders that are left in the rally.
Prior to Aravind, Sherco-TVS also lost Adrian Metge to a shin injury during the rally’s Peruvian stages that turned out to be extremely tough for the riders to tackle on account of the massive dunes and dusty and rocky trails in them. Even last year’s bike winner Sam Sunderland fell foul to them, succumbing to a back injury in stage four.
Sherco-TVS and Pedrero will now get the chance to regroup and plan their strategy for the remainder of the rally, as today will be a rest day for the field.
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