Author: David Bodapati

Neom (AlUla 15 Jean 2021: Slightly shortened due to rainfall rendering a fifty-kilometre portion impracticable, the 11th stage of the Dakar had been heralded and continued as a theatre conducive to dramatic turns in events with over 8 taxi drivers on a Golden day for India when TVS Racing product Harith Noah, who entered as a privateer, with Sherco Factory team support, managed the best performance by an Indian ever, finishing the Stage 11 in 19th position for an overall 22nd place. In his second year, the Keralite who made steady progress stunned better riders and safely completed the stage and is in for his first Dakar finish, the third Indian to do so.

As this of is complex and comprehensive stage threw up both navigational difficulties, for which total concentration was required at the start of the special, and a vast zone of dunes on the last third, where experts in taming the sandy mounds would hold a strong hand. This is exactly what Sam Sunderland and Nasser Al-Attiyah applied themselves to doing, without however managing to break their respective rivals’ resolve.

Meanwhile, the only Indian left in the field that is, Noah completed the stage with aplomb despire some setbacks after he crossed the last but one Waypoint where he lost a few places. But he recovered and his resilience saw him gain the places back to finish 19th in the Stage and 20th overall for an Indian record surpassing that of CS Santosh. He is the third Indian following the footsteps of Santosh and teammate KP Aravind.

Outline

In several years’ time, perhaps rally aficionados will excitedly recount the battle of Yanbu. It was surely on this special that the title up for grabs between Sam Sunderland and Kevin Benavides in the bike category was decided. The Argentinean remains at the top of the general standings with a theoretically sufficient lead of 4’12’’, all the more so given that tomorrow he will enjoy a more favourable place in the starting order to defend his position. However, the Honda rider had to make a serious effort in opening the way with Ricky Brabec in order to withstand the attack of Sam Sunderland. The British rider’s show of force on the route of the special temporarily brought him within approximately forty seconds of his target, before he faltered slightly. In the car category, Nasser Al-Attiyah also found himself in this role, but with a much more distant focus of his attention. Despite his 41st stage victory and a time gain of 1’56’’, it was impossible for him to reverse the trend and block the way of Stéphane Peterhansel’s march to a 14th title. Tomorrow, the Frenchman will start with a time cushion of 15’05’’. In the quad race, Manuel Andújar headed for Yanbu with the same mind-set and his Chilean rival Giovanni Enrico only closed in to within 25’52’’ by winning his second stage of the fortnight. In the lightweight vehicle category, the battle could have been much trickier for “Chaleco” López behind the wheel of his Can-Am, with a lead of only 10 minutes over Austin Jones, but the American let the pressure get to him rather than exerting it. As for Seth Quintero, he proved that his feat of last week was by no means down to chance as he won his second special. Anton Shibalov moved the counter up to 5 successes in total since his debut on the Dakar and should finish second, like last year, but this time behind Dmitry Sotnikov.

Performance of the day 

In 2020, Wei Han finished his second Dakar in 10th position, becoming the best Chinese representative in the rally’s history. Currently occupying 18th place, he will not be able to improve his own record this year, but Han demonstrated that he was able to shine behind the wheel of an SMG buggy that is now prepared by the team he created alongside Philippe Gache. He proved this by achieving the sixth best time on today’s special, ten minutes behind Nasser Al-Attiyah, slotted in between none other than Cyril Despres and Giniel De Villiers! As a result, Han picked up is second top ten finish and his best stage result on the Dakar. This bodes well for the Chinese driver, who hopes to line up with a reinforced team on the Dakar as from 2022.

A crushing blow

There is reason to wonder whether the day’s bad luck encountered by Joan Barreda is due to an unfortunate chain of circumstances, or merely just a major blunder. Either way, the Honda rider, who had posted the best time after 215 km, got muddled up reading his road-book and did not stop at the refuelling point, exposing himself to a severe penalty and especially to the likelihood of running out of petrol. This is exactly what happened as he ground to a halt after 267 km. Since he requested a medical examination, he was airlifted to the bivouac in Yanbu. Although he had the chance to equal his best finish on the rally so far, namely the 5th placed finish in 2017, “Bang-Bang” well and truly tore up all the benefits of his performance which had, until today, been in phase with his objectives and the hopes of his Honda team to see their bikes paint the upper reaches of the general standings red. As a result, his 11th participation on the Dakar finishes with the 5th withdrawal of his career on the rally.

Stat of the day: 7 

In the absence of Toby Price, there were several riders ready to lay claim to the place of best KTM representative, but it was Sam Sunderland who came up trumps. By reacquainting himself with stage victory for the first time since 2019, the British rider also put a halt to a series of seven successive successes by the Honda clan, started on stage three by Joan Barreda and then continued by Kevin Benavides, Ricky Brabec and Nacho Cornejo. This sequence marked a shift in the balance of power to the Japanese constructor, which had taken time to rock the KTM boat but which had started, over the last few years, to prevent the Austrian brand becoming rapid-fire stage winners. Indeed, it is necessary to go back to 2016 to find a similar performance from KTM riders, with none other than Toby Price, alongside Antoine Meo and Štefan Svitko.

The makings of a Classic

Spanish drivers Antonio Gutiérrez and Luis Heras took part in the last African edition of the Dakar in 2007 in a truck that reached Lake Retba, the pink lake, in 47th position. This time, they are about to complete their Dakar Classic adventure on the shores of the Red Sea in a Mercedes G 320.

Quote of the day

Sam Sunderland: “I gave my all”

By winning stage 11 on the Dakar, the winner in 2017 has climbed into 2nd position, 4’12’’ behind Kevin Benavides before the final special.

“I knew that today was one of my last chances to try to win and I gave my all, all day. The boys up front did a great job and, you know, I cannot be sad, because I give everything I have and try my best. I didn’t quite manage to take enough time, but I’m happy with my effort. We still have one day to go and many things can happen on one stage. What a really tough day and a really difficult Dakar, but I’m super grateful for the team and everybody that put all the work in. Even to be able to be racing our bikes in the desert with the situation as it is in the world everywhere else, I can’t complain and I’m going to be happy to go and get some rest now”.

Sakaka (Saudi Arabia), 11 Jan 2021: Ace Indian rider and a product of TVS Racing Harith Noah successfully completed anothers stage on Monday to keep his dream of finishing Dakar Rally 2021 alive.

The Germany-born Malayalee, put in consistent performance in the eighth Stage finishing the 709-km stage in 29th place with a time of 3hours, 44min, and 47seconds.

On Sunday, Harith Noah, finished Stage 7 in 26th place and Overall general category. Meanwhile, Ashish Raorane, who suffered a fall and rushed to hospital after finishing the stage on Saturday. Ashish has rejoined the rally in Dakar Experience category, which allows riders to experience Dakar and finish the rally. After Stage 8, he was in a group ration.

The city of the future has not yet emerged from the sand and rocks, but the region of Neom can already boast some impressive creations: those of its ancient geological formations. The canyons, cliffs and mountains of brown rock through which the riders and drivers wound during the second half of the special were worth the price of the navigational difficulties they had to tackle on leaving Sakaka. At the start of the special, they also had to get to grips with stony portions which were not particularly kind to the wheels of the bikers, as Toby Price and Sam Sunderland could testify. In the car race, Sébastien Loeb also encountered misfortune, puncturing his last tyre. Such enchanting views demand tough sacrifices!

On 10 January, 2021, Hubert Auriol Passed away.

He won the Dakar three times, first on a motorbike (1981 and 1983) and then in a car (1992), and served as race director for almost a decade. He inspired generations of riders and drivers and has been an integral part of the rally throughout its history.

Outline

Just like a champion! “Nacho” Cornejo took the lead in the general standings yesterday by just one second thanks to his 2nd place on the stage at Sakaka. Exposed to the role of opener after quickly catching his team-mate Ricky Brabec at the front of the race, the Chilean managed to post the best time and increase his lead over Toby Price to 1’05’’, all on the second half of a marathon stage. What’s more, the young man does not seem perturbed at having to approach the last four days of the rally in the position of leader. In the car race, maturity was in evidence, as Nasser Al-Attiyah won his 40th special (see stat of the day) to close in and continue to exert constant pressure on Stéphane Peterhansel, who he now trails by 4’50’’. So far, the X-Raid buggy driver has been a picture of composure and has withstood his Qatari rival’s attacks, but the size of his lead forbids him from making any missteps. An example of such misadventure happened to Aron Domżała, ejected from the leader’s position in the lightweight vehicle category due to a mechanical problem. Austin Jones took advantage of the Polish driver’s misfortune to reach the summit of the general standings with a lead of 9’22’’ over Seth Quintero and 19’42’’ over “Chaleco” López, the winner of a fourth stage this year and determined to make up the time gap. In the quad category, the battle for the top is now between Manuel Andújar and Alexandre Giroud, with advantage to the Argentinean for the moment thanks to a lead of 19’43’’ over the Frenchman, victorious for the fourth time this year including the prologue. In the truck race, the one-two-three finish accomplished on the stage by Kamaz, led by Shibalov, did not alter the top three in the general standings, also entirely blue, headed by Dmitry Sotnikov.

Performance of the day

The Abu Dhabi Racing team is ramping up its performance with the duos of Cyril Despres/Mike Horn and Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi/Xavier Panseri. On the first stage, Al-Qassimi achieved the fifth best time. He has since then come close to this result without emulating it before today. Assisted by his French co-pilot, the Emirati, who was the eleventh driver to start, climbed up the stage standings to fourth position, a little more than seven minutes behind the winner. Before the start of the day’s special, Cyril Despres, who is taking advantage of this Dakar to collect as much data possible for the development of a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle, was coming off the back of his best result this year, with the sixth best time on Sunday. However, the five times winner of the Dakar on a bike went one better today! During the special, he even managed to move into fourth place, before being pipped at the post in the last few kilometres by his team-mate. These two promising performances by the Peugeot drivers will no doubt fuel their determination to do as well if not better on the rally’s return route to Jeddah.

A crushing blow

One year is much like another, except for a few details, for Aron Domżała. Assisted by Maciej Marton, the Polish driver displayed consistency by finishing in the top five in five out of the seven stages contested before today, not unlike last year when nonetheless he had to wave goodbye to hopes of overall victory much more prematurely, losing four hours on the second day after winning the opening stage. The duo behind the wheel of a Can-Am has again won a special in 2021 and was in the lead in the general standings. However, bad luck struck again, this time in the guise of a mechanical problem. Domżała lost more than half an hour due to the incident, robbing him of first place in the general standings and considerably compromising his plans. With four days left before the finish in Jeddah, if he still has any hopes of winning, he must avoid any mistakes at all costs.

Stat of the day: 40

In 2007, Nasser Al-Attiyah was especially perceived as a hot-headed chancer when he won his first special in Nema, accompanied by Alain Guéhennec behind the wheel of an X-Raid team BMW. Since then, there has not been a single Dakar where he has not tasted victory on at least one stage, a feat which no other driver has achieved over 14 consecutive editions in the history of the rally. On the way to Neom, the Qatari driver picked up the 40th stage victory of his career and is now in 3rd position on the roll of honour for stage wins, with Stéphane Peterhansel (47) and Ari Vatanen (50) in his sights.

The makings of a Classic

The Volkswagen Iltis driven by Spaniard Ignacio Corcuera dates from 1980 and has been faithfully restored in keeping with the characteristics of the vehicle that won the car category that year, with Freddy Kotulinsky behind the wheel. In the race for consistency taking place this year, he is currently 21st in the Dakar Classic standings, which are still dominated by Marc Douton in a Sunhill Buggy.

Quote of the day

Toby Price: “I struggled with focusing”

The 2nd placed rider in the general standings lost a small amount of time to “Nacho” Cornejo, but is only 1’05’’ behind.

“It was really tough for me today. I struggled with focusing a lot this morning with the road-book. I was a little bit tired from yesterday’s crash. It was good to make it to the finishing line with me, myself and the bike. I’m glad I’m here and we’ll fix everything up tonight, then get ready for the last few days. The chin’s alright, it’s just a little bit hard to eat. It’s a little bit swollen and I’ve got a bit of a headache, but it’s not too bad – there are no bones broken or anything, I just got some stitches in the cut. It’s all good, it’s fine”.

On 10 January, 2021, Hubert Auriol Passed away.

He won the Dakar three times, first on a motorbike (1981 and 1983) and then in a car (1992), and served as race director for almost a decade. He inspired generations of riders and drivers and has been an integral part of the rally throughout its history.

The recent updates on the health of Hubert Auriol foreshadowed the tragic news received by the organisers of the Dakar during stage 7. The former biker and driver has succumbed to a disease that sapped his strength but was unable to stop him from paying one last visit to the community he helped to build and galvanise, last year in Ha’il, on the occasion of the first edition of the rally in Saudi Arabia. Long before the start of this new era, back when the race was still in its infancy in Africa, he became one of the most iconic faces in the rally, going on to win the motorbike class in 1981 and 1983. The man from Addis Abeba soon came to be known as “The African”, but it was especially his epic duels with Cyril Neveu (particularly in 1987, when he lost after breaking both ankles in the penultimate stage) that established his legend and that of the Dakar. Following a switch to the car class, the 1992 edition saw Auriol become the first competitor to win in two different categories, a feat he achieved together with the navigator Philippe Monnet. After his final participation, when he finished as runner-up in 1994, he jumped behind the wheel of the whole event, staying at the helm of the Dakar until 2003.

The organisers of the Dakar, shocked and saddened by the news, would like to extend their sincere condolences to the friends and family of a man who was a guiding light throughout the history of the rally, with a special thought for his daughters Julie, Jenna and Leslie.