Hero Team's Mena finishes 15th, Santosh 19th at Merzouga Rally

Merzouga (Morocco), April 21 (IANS) Oriol Mena and C.S. Santosh of Hero MotoSports Team Rally finished 15th and 19th respectively in the Merzouga Rally here.

In the fifth and final stage of 40km on Friday, Mena completed the last stage in the 13th spot with a timing of 41 minutes and 12 seconds, taking his overall timing to 15 hours, 43 minutes and eight seconds.

Joan Barreda Bort of Honda Racing clinched the top spot with a timing of 13 hours, 28 minutes and 19 seconds. He was six minutes and 10 seconds faster than his teammate Kevin Benvides.

Santosh was 30th in the final stage, which he completed in 44 minutes and 57 seconds. His overall time over the week was 16 hours, 43 minutes and 19 seconds gave him a 19th place.

Santosh said: "It was our first international rally after the Dakar. I am really glad to have finished the Merzouga, as I was a little worried after the crash I had at the Desert Storm.

"Overall, I think I made fewer mistakes this year and improved a lot in my speed and navigation, this is been a good learning experience for me. Now I will look to build upon this experience for the next races to come."