The final day in the 2017 Afriquia Merzouga Rally had the riders to cross a short loop of 50 kilometers through the GP Des Dunes to go through the chequered flag.
After the six stages, it was Yamaha’s Xavier de Soultrait taking the win from KTM’s Gerard Farres and Yamaha teammate Franco Ciami.
![Hero MotoSports' Joaquim Rodrigues [Copyright: Afriguia Merzouga Rally]](http://www.fmsci.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/merzouga-rally-1-1-300x200.jpg)
Hero MotoSports’ Joaquim Rodrigues [Copyright: Afriguia Merzouga Rally]
The Top 3 were followed by Sherco TVS’ Joan Pedrero, finishing 38m30s behind de Soultrait. The Spaniard completed the rally with a total time of 15hr 33m 06s.
The lead Hero MotoSports Rally Team rider Joaquim Rodrigues having finished second in Stage 6 was ninth overall, posting a time of 16hr29m43s.
Teammate CS Santosh survived a crash, damaging the rear of his Speedbrain 450 in the stage to finish 17th in the General classification, completing the rally in 18hr32m34s.
Behind Santosh were the two other Indian riders with Sherco TVS’ Aravind KP in 21st posting a total time of 20hr16m59s, while Abdul Wahid was 27th.
Both Aravind and Wahid together with Santosh had a sound outing in the Moroccan dunes, finishing inside the Top 30 among the 76 finishers.
The final entrant, Sherco TVS’ Adrien Metge, who missed chunk of time in Stage 2 due to mechanical issues on his RTR 450, was classified 53rd overall with a total time of 55hr37m33s.
[Image courtesy: Afriquia Merzouga Rally]
