Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) has finished his participation in the Morocco Rally where he added more than 2,000 kilometers to his preparation for the Dakar, the positive side of a week of competition conditioned by the problems of the first day, which leave him choices. in the classification. Instead, the rider from Salamanca dedicated the stages to finding speed, navigating race conditions and testing improvements to his bike for January. A crash on the penultimate stage in the fall where the airbag went off and the track was not completely comfortable was the bitter part of the race. The Guijuelo rider is self-critical and admits that this was not the result he expected.
The rally ended on Thursday lined up in the fifth stage, a 290-kilometer special between Tan Tan and Agadir with a return to the rally’s starting point. The stage is characterized by the sand, which the riders are going to find from the start, and by the coastal landscape; in addition, attention must be paid to navigation. Santolino aimed to finish well as it was difficult to improve his provisional position after the penalty on the first day in the prologue.
The man from Salamanca started on the track in thirteenth place, his classification from the previous day, where he experienced the greatest fear of the entire race, a fall without consequences in which, however, the obligatory airbag for all the pilots jumped and exploded. .the water bag, with which he walked 150 kilometers without drinking. In the first bars he set his best part of the whole week, eighth time in the first waypoint. He lost pace to finish in thirteenth place, 9.43 behind the day’s winner, Adrien Van Beveren (Honda). In the general classification, same position, thirteenth, and final victory for Skyler Howes (Husqvarna).
“We finished the Rally of Morocco, not as expected, the whole team and I wanted to be a little better with the results, but from the first day I had a serious mistake in the navigation in the prologue I lost everything of choices to be made. something good in the general”, Santolino acknowledged.
“The rest of the days I couldn’t seem to find a good rhythm, it cost me a lot. We have reached the southern part of Morocco, which we have never been to, we encountered very barren terrain, very difficult roads, many stones and I was not comfortable. Despite this, we worked every day with the team to find solutions and get the bike ready for the Dakar. The positive thing is that we continue to improve things, on that happy side, although not much because of the result”, he assured that now he hopes to “do a reset” for Andalusia, “a race that I have always come from. “.
The Andalusian event, moved from its May date due to high temperatures, will be held from October 18 to 23 and is the last race before the Dakar next January in Saudi Arabia.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
