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Sports18 channel to telecast Indian Supercross League races live
Pune, January 11, 2024: CEAT ISRL announced Viacom18 as its exclusive streaming and broadcast partner today, guaranteeing that the adrenaline-fueled excitement of Supercross racing will reach fans nationwide. The league has also unveiled a thrilling master calendar for its debut season, featuring three exhilarating races in Pune, Ahmedabad, and Delhi, to captivate audiences across the country. This collaboration aims to bring the heart-pounding action of Supercross racing to millions of fans across the nation, ensuring an unprecedented viewing experience.
The master calendar for Season One is as follows:
- 28 Jan 2024: Pune (Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi)
- 11 Feb 2024: Ahmedabad (EKA Arena, Transstadia)
- 25 Feb 2024: Delhi
Veer Patel, Co-founder and Director of the CEAT Indian Supercross Racing League, said, “Our partnership with Viacom18 signifies a major step forward in expanding the reach of Supercross racing in India. Through JioCinema and Sports18, we aim to bring the thrill and excitement of our races to a diverse and enthusiastic audience, elevating the sport to new heights. With Viacom18’s extensive reach and expertise in live sports streaming and broadcasting, we are confident that this partnership will elevate the CEAT ISRL experience for fans across the country.”
Viacom18 Spokesperson said, “We are proud to partner with the inaugural season of the CEAT Indian Supercross League. Adding to our unique array of sporting properties, we will deliver fans the best of Indian riders competing against top international talent across digital and TV platforms.”
CEAT ISRL’s partnership with Viacom18 will facilitate streaming of the races on JioCinema, reaching millions, enabling them to catch all the live action on the go, at their convenience, and on devices of their choice. Additionally, the league will also be broadcast live on the Sports18 network, enhancing viewership.
JioCinema has consistently been setting new benchmarks over the past year in live sports streaming. The IPL 2023 final on JioCinema set a new peak concurrency record for the league as 32.1 million viewers hit play.
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Historic Indian Supercross Racing League – List of articles
Here is a list of ISRL (Supercross League) articles published in IndianMotorsports.in
- Sports18 channel to telecast Indian Supercross League races live
- Mahansaria group’s ReiseMotoSports, sixth and final team in ISR
- Team Mohite Racing, fifth franchise team in ISRL
- CS Santosh brings BigRock Motorsport team into ISRL
- Dhrumil Patel and Gaurav Gill to own Gujarat Trailblazers: Supercross League
- APL Apollo-led SG Sports team SG Speed Racers will be the Delhi team
- Eeshan Lokhande interview about the historic Indian Supercross League
- Panchshil Racing becomes first team franchise: Ceat Indian Supercross League
- Ceat Indian Supercross Racing League rider registration begins
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Hero MotoSports’ Ross Branch wins 2nd place: Dakar 2024
Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp, has created history becoming the first ever Indian manufacturer team to finish on the podium of the legendary Dakar Rally.
Ross Branch finished the Rally at the second place for the team. His consistent performance over the 12 stages saw him at the first and second spots in the overall rankings throughout the Rally. For the Indian manufacturer this is a phenomenal achievement and a solid validation for the many years of effort put into their racing program. The growth curve for the team has also been steep in the last few years – raking up a first Stage Win at Dakar 2022, doubling it to 2 Stage Wins in 2023, and eventually finishing on the podium in this edition. The team achieved two stage wins during this edition.
Hero MotoSports Team Rally was formed in 2016 and it participated in its first Dakar Rally in 2017. Over the years, the team has achieved multiple podiums, wins and stage wins at top rally-raids across the world. This edition of the Rally was extremely grueling and saw three of the four Hero riders drop out of the race during the first week – Joaquim Rodrigues and Sebastian Buhler suffered injuries, while Joan Barreda who displayed a fantastic performance in the first week, exited due to an unfortunate mechanical failure in Stage 6. The pressure on Ross Branch to continue in the race and continue in the top order was tremendous. However, the Botswanan Hero made it look easy – conquering every mile with a broad smile.
Dr. Arun Jaura, Chief Technology Officer, Hero MotoCorp and Team Principal, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “This is a fantastic result for our young team! Hero MotoSports is truly the flag bearer of Indian motorsport. A few years ago, no one could have imagined that an Indian manufacturer team will be on the podium of Dakar Rally. Huge congratulations to Ross, Waffi and the entire team for this massive achievement. We will continue to build on this result.” Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager & Head, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “Truly a sensational result. It’s a big reward to reach the podium today. We started many years ago as small set-up within Hero MotoCorp and building on that every year we have reached here. So, many people have worked hard for us to reach here. We had a tough time in the first week of the Rally losing three of our four riders. However, Rossi carried forward our hopes, keeping a cool head to bring home success in this very difficult Dakar. At the end, by overcoming many obstacles we are on the podium. This 2nd place podium I want to dedicate to Paulo Goncalves, we carry his never-give-up attitude deeply in our team.” In its fifth year at Saudi Arabia, the 2024 edition was undoubtedly the toughest Dakar so far – longer stages, extreme terrains, and confusing navigation right from the start. Two new formats of racing were also introduced by the organizers to add more spice – a marathon stage early on in the race, and a 48H chrono stage during which the competitors were split across several bivouacs – away from their teams, and surviving on bare minimum essentials. As many as one-third of the competitors who started the race retired from the rally across the 14 days of grind. To get to a Dakar podium is no small feat – a thousand things need to be right, and yet, each kilometer of these many thousands can destroy a result with a tiny mistake. 8,000 kilometers at the world’s toughest rally conquered with a top-2 result – Hero has made it clear they’re here to stay.
Dr. Arun Jaura, Chief Technology Officer, Hero MotoCorp and Team Principal, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “This is a fantastic result for our young team! Hero MotoSports is truly the flag bearer of Indian motorsport. A few years ago, no one could have imagined that an Indian manufacturer team will be on the podium of Dakar Rally. Huge congratulations to Ross, Waffi and the entire team for this massive achievement. We will continue to build on this result.”
Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager & Head, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “Truly a sensational result. It’s a big reward to reach the podium today. We started many years ago as small set-up within Hero MotoCorp and building on that every year we have reached here. So, many people have worked hard for us to reach here. We had a tough time in the first week of the Rally losing three of our four riders. However, Rossi carried forward our hopes, keeping a cool head to bring home success in this very difficult Dakar. At the end, by overcoming many obstacles we are on the podium. This 2nd place podium I want to dedicate to Paulo Goncalves, we carry his never-give-up attitude deeply in our team.”
“Many thanks to the Chairman Dr. Munjal, the entire Hero family across the globe and all our fans, supporters and partners. We will continue to build on this success.”
Ross Branch, Team Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “Finally finished the Dakar!! It was a really tough Dakar 2024, and I’m so thrilled to be here! Finishing on the podium was always the goal, and today it’s a dream come true. I’m really over the moon to achieve this goal for Hero. And a big thank you to the team for developing a highly competitive machine, for the sleepless 3 weeks here, and for everything they’ve sacrificed to reach to this point. I’m really proud of my team. We’ve got some more work to do to be on the next step, so we’ll look forward to that in the next year. A big thank you to everyone for your continued support from all around the world!”
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Historic victory for Harith Noah in Rally2 class at Dakar 2024
Yanbu (Saudi Arabia), 19 January 2024: Sherco TVS Rally Factory team rider Harith Noah clinched a historic victory at Dakar Rally 2024 by winning the Rally 2 category in the Motorcycle section at the coveted cross-country rally which concluded here on Friday.
“It’s amazing. It’s amazing stuff. Crazy. It’s crazy to do what I have done. I am so happy,” is the immediate exclusive reaction of Harith Noah from Saudi Arabia after he realised his Rally2 victory.
He clocked an overall 54hours, 24minutes and 44seconds for the 12 gruelling stages in 14 days and finished an overall 11th place in the general ranking and also won his class, the Rally2 class which saw 110 riders take the start.
The 30-year old from Kerala, Harith Noah, concluded his good run at the mighty Dakar 2024 with a cautious 5th place in the 328-km 12th stage in the Rally2 class today and managed to retain his 11th position in the overall general rankings in the main class. His victory in the Rally 2 class is the first by an Indian rider. With the dominating performance in one of the most-demanding and toughest cross-country rallies in the world, the Sports Science graduate from Shoranur in Kerala, entrenched himself in the annals of Indian motorsports with a milestone achievement.
Astride a 450SEF Rally bike tuned by Sherco TVS rally factory team, Noah began the prologue on January 5 in a cautious way finishing 29th but increased the tempo to finish P22 in the very first Stage, the next day. He managed to improve his riding with stunning results after each stage and each day, thereafter. Staying put in the top-20, he delivered a killer punch in the toughest Stage 6, that had two days of ‘48-hour Chrono’ marathon rallying. Noah, made the best use of the difficult conditions to shoot to P13 overall.
On Jan 15, with four days to go he touched his peak dishing out his career-best with an Overall P5 and a stage win in his class, the Rally2 category. Later, he won the stage again in the penultimate round and clinched the issue on the final day with a Rally2 victory. He also got a note-worthy 11th place in the main Motorcycle category that saw 142 riders from all over the world take the start.
Noah is sponsored by Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team, TVS Racing, Red Bull and Casio. In 2021, he became the fastest from India at Dakar finishing in 20th place and became the third Indian to finish the prestigious Dakar rally.
“I’m happy that I’ve finished. That was the main goal. I’m really blessed to be here. I learned a lot this year, especially during the second week. I felt really strong and it’s something to build on for next year. I tried to not have any expectations. I just tried to ride every kilometre, one at a time. It’s a really nice feeling to get fifth overall in Stage 10 and to know that you have it in you. It feels good to win. I hope it motivates other riders, younger riders, to do the same or try to pursue their dreams and grow the sport. I never thought when I was a child that I would be here on the Dakar. Then I did my first Dakar, then I finished in 2021, which was amazing, and now here I am winning my Rally 2 class. I’m happy,” said a jubilant Noah, before the result got confirmed. A racer of different breed, Harith Noah does not look at the results after every stage, lest they disturb his rhythm.
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Harith Noah leads Rally2 general ranking; logs overall P11: Dakar Stage 11
Yanbu (Saudi Arabia), 18 January 2024: The 30-year old from Kerala, Harith Noah continued his good run at the mighty Dakar 2024 and managed to escalate his position to the top of the table in the overall general rankings of the Rally2 class with a splendid Stage 11 parformance in one of the most-demanding stages near to the end of this edition of the Dakar on Thursday. The riders took over part of the 2023 route with the same very rocky course that was very complicated and prone to causing punctures.
The top rider from India was cautious. After the stage, Harith Noah said: “I knew it would be a tough day with very rocky and difficult trails. I felt pretty good at first but once we started entering the rocks, I had two small falls. I tried to concentrate on navigation and stayed on two wheels for the rest of the stage. The race is not finished yet, there is still one more stage left tomorrow.”
Today’s course represented the most demanding sporting challenge of the second week of the race and was likely to disrupt the rankings in all categories. Spanning more than 400 kilometers, the special took place mainly on hostile and challenging terrain. This is the last physical challenge to overcome.
Harith Noah continued his momentum with another victory in Rally 2 and a eleventh place overall. He thus gained time over his closest competitor R. Dumontier, he now leads the Rally 2 standings.
At kilometer 12, his teammate Rui Goncalves fell, resulting in a deep injury to his left arm. After seeking medical assistance from the organization, he was quickly transferred to Alula Hospital. An intervention surgery was essential to treat his wound, and he remains under observation tonight. No Noah is the only Sherco rider left in the field.
Harith Noah is the last rider still in the race for the Indo/French outfit. He is currently in 11th position in the general classification. Tomorrow marks the final stretch to hope for a TOP 10 finish!
Stage 11 ranking
Harith Noah: P11
Rui Gonçalves: DNFProvisional general classification
Harith Noah: P11
Rui Gonçalves: DNFTomorrow, is the last day of the 2024 Dakar, the riders will set off for 328 km including 175 km of special and 153 km of connection with an arrival in Yanbu.
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Saneem Sani-Musa Sherif, all set for Middle East Rally full season
Mangalore, 18 January 2024: Star driver Saneem Sani and multiple National winner and celebrated co-driver Musa Sherif, are all set to take part in the full season of the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) 2024. The duo is the first pair from India to take part in a full season of MERC. They will begin their campaign with a UAE Sprint Rally on Jan 20, to acclimatise and it will also be the 75th international appearance for Sherif.
The prestigious Championship will begin with the Qatar International Rally from February 1 to 3 and will have four more rounds in Jordan (May 16 to 18), Lebanon (Sep. 6 to 8), Cyprus (October 4 to 6) and Oman (Nov 28 to 30). They will be driving a Ford Fiesta Rally4 spec in the MERC4 category.
Saneem, who made his rally debut in 2008, won three UAE Rally championships in the FWD class with Musa Sherif, a seven-time National INRC champion co-driver and winner of 22 championships. Saneem from Thrissur is now based in Dubai. They will be receiving vehicle service backup from Sharjah’s Toolbox Auto team and are supported by MRF Tyres, VIBGYOR Real Estate, Dubai, CLIVET Air condition Middle East, Alankar Hotels, Thrissur and Blueband Sports.
“Though we have been taking part in the UAE Championship, this will be another chance to represent India and bring laurels to the country. It is always a proud moment to drive for my country. We will give all our best and we are looking forward to the first round,” said Musa Sherif, a top Indian co-driver from Kasargod, who has completed 309 rallies including 74 internationals and is in his 32nd consecutive rally season. Currently, the rally veteran is supporting Blueband Sports, the Promoter, as Vice-President Operations INRC.
The Qatar International Rally in a revised three-day format will have 13 timed special stages traversing through 622.49 km.
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Stunning Harith Noah posts Dakar’s top-5; Second Rally2 stage win in 3 days: Stage 10
Al Ula (Saudi Arabia), 17 January 2024: Ace rider from India, Harith Noah, dished out stunning stuff to not only claim a historic second stage win in three days in the Rally 2 class but achieved a mind-boggling Overall fifth in the general rankings of the Motorcycle class in the tenth stage that was shaped by tricky navigation on Wednesday.
Performance of the Day
The heroic show by the Sherco TVS Rally Factory rider was hailed at the “Performance of the Day” by the Dakar 2024 team.
“I can’t believe it!” It is how a visibly-pleased Harith Noah said after the stage. “I had almost perfect navigation and I felt good on the bike. There was a lot of dust today, and I had to be patient. I got a little lost at the end but overall, I did well. One more day is done and two to go. Tomorrow, it will be more complicated with more rocks. I have progressed since last year, but that is not my favourite terrain,” he concluded.
With only 106 of the 142 riders that took the start in the Prologue, surviving the 12 day, the 30-year Kerala rider took a historic fifth place among the 106 riders. He is only the second rider from Rally 2 class who cracked the tough top-5 in Dakar 2024. Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing) had already taken fourth place in Stage 1. On Wednesday, it was the Sherco factory rider Harith Noah, astride a 450 SEF Rally, the Sherco TVS Rally Factory rider came in fifth. It was a career-best performance for the Indian, who is racing in his fifth Dakar and has only managed to complete the rally once.
Third Indian to finish Dakar
Harith Noah at Dakar – INDIAinF1 image Back in 2021, he became the third Indian to finish the race, which he did in 20th place. Indian pioneer CS Santosh became the first Indian to finish Dakar in 2015 when he toiled for two weeks and came in 36th place. In 2019, another Sherco TVS rider, Aravind KP, became the second Indian to finish Dakar in 37th place, in his third attempt.
First from India in top-5
In 2023, Noah hurt his back and escaped a serious injury to the spinal cord and returned to competition in the Baja Aragón last January. He is now second overall in his class, just 4min 31sec behind Romain Dumontier. The inclusion of a rider from India in the line-up of the French brand Sherco can be traced back to their rally-raid partnership with the Indian maker TVS. India, represented by Harith and the constructor Hero, is making its mark on the Dakar scene. None of its entrants had ever-finished so high up in a stage of the Dakar before.
Today’s loop – a tough one for navigation
Harith Noah prides himself in his navigation and loves when it is tough. Fresh memories never lie. Seeing the loop carved out near Al Ula, starting and finishing at the bivouac where he had gathered less than two weeks ago, it was a given that this special was going to be a wild ride. The timed sector stretched for 371 kilometres on sandy terrain with a need for speed, either on the track or off-track, sometimes through rocky areas, but almost invariably with nuances to decipher in the road book. The showdown among the leading competitors was shaped by tricky navigation in the motorbike race and Noah cracked it with ease before a small hiccup in the end, but managed to stay safe and stayed on the top. It was a very nice loop around Al ULa, and the route offered exceptional landscapes with huge rocks but the riders had no time to enjoy any of it. They had to slalom through these rock formations, searching for the right track through the middle of the canyons. It was a magnificent stage, including a special that was over 370 km, which was announced as being less technical.
His performance today was his best result in this most prestigious of rally-raids. He is now in second place in the provisional ranking of the Rally2 category and with two days remaining he is expected to do much better than his target – an Overall P15.
Sherco teammate Goncalves’ heroics
Harith Noah wins Stage 10 in Rally2 category, his second stage win in his class in three days. Noah’s teammate from Sherco, Rui Goncalves had bad visibility in the morning as it was greatly reduced by the presence of the sun. Gonçalves suffered a significant fall at kilometer 5, damaging his motorcycle and severely twisting the handlebars. He also suffered physical injuries, requiring stitches to his elbow and he received a large hematoma on the thigh. Despite these difficulties, he managed to accomplish an impressive special stage. After his fall, he was in 24th position, but he persevered and eventually finished in 11th place, covering 365 km with twisted handlebars. This result is remarkable considering the difficult conditions!
Rui Gonçalves said: “After my fall I knew that the day was going to be long and that I had to grit my teeth. This is what I tried to do throughout the whole day even though I was in a good amount of pain, I didn’t give up and we’re getting closer to a top-10 result. I went for a medical check-up at the end of the day. I will try to recover for tomorrow. The whole team is working to get prepared for the next stage. I want to thank everyone for all your encouraging messages which help me every day to get to the finish.”
Stage 10 ranking
Rui Gonçalves: P11
Harith Noah: P5 (P1 in Rally2 class)
Provisional general classification
Rui Gonçalves: P24
Harith Noah: P12
Tomorrow – Penultimate Stage 11
On Thursday, the riders will compete in the penultimate stage of the Dakar, from Alula to Yanbu, covering 527km, including 420km of special stages and 107km of liaison stages.
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Harith Noah conquers another day, stays P13 in general ranking: Stage 9
Al Ula (Saudi Arabia), 16 January 2024: Sherco TVS Factory Rally team rider Harith Noah continued his quest for a second Dakar finish safely negotiating the brutal Stage 9 with a 436-km Special and managed to remain in the top-15 in the bikes class of the Dakar Rally 2024 on Tuesday. Three more days are left in the gruelling event which ends on Jan 19.
The 30-year Kerala rider finished the Overall general ranking after 12 days in 13th place after a P14 rank today. He also managed to ride safe and retain his third place in the Rally2 class with a P4 finish in Stage 9.
For this ninth day of racing, the riders set off from Ha’il towards Al Ula for a stage of 435 km. The start of the special was very fast with sandy tracks and it also had some mountains of sand. Navigation becomes complicated when you must guess the tracks rather than following them visually, and riding on rocky plateaus requires both confidence and technique to maintain an ideal pace.
The expedition back to Al Ula has surely brought back some memories. However, it was not a return to square one, because the situation has evolved considerably since the prologue. The return journey spared the competitors from the volcanic rocks, instead opting for the northern route from Al Duwadimi, which nevertheless shared some common ground with the previous visit. Over the majority of the 436-kilometre special, the riders, drivers and crews had to be doubly vigilant, by carefully riding or driving to avoid punctures on the rocky portions and then by paying extreme attention to reading the roadbook when faced with the wealth of tracks in front of them. Noah, who is strong in his navigation was able to adapt and retained his position in the top-15 riders.
Noah’s Sherco teammate, Rui Gonçalves finished 11th overall on the stage. “It was a strange day. The first part where I navigated alone went well. Then I rode with D Sanders and S Svitko. Like many, we wasted a lot of time trying to find the way.” said Harith Noah after the stage.
Tomorrow, the riders will set off for the tenth stage of the Dakar, from Al Ula to Al Ula, a total of 612 km including 371 km of special and 241 km of liaison.
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Historic stage win for Harith Noah in Rally2 class; Overall 11th in Stage 8: Dakar Rally 2024
Hail (Saudi Arabia), 15 January 2024: Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team rider Harith Noah created history by becoming the first from India to win a Stage in any class at the Dakar Rally as he won the 678-km Stage 8 in his class, the Rally2 category for Bikes, here on Monday. Four more days are left in the gruelling Dakar 2024 edition which concludes on Jan 19.
The 30-year Kerala rider covered the technically-challenging stage of 458-km Special and 220-km Liaison from Al Duwadimi to Hail in 3 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds on Monday. He was third overall in the general ranking for the Rally2 class while he is in Overall P13 after eight stages in the general ranking. Today, he finished Stage 8 in a creditable P11, just 07minutes 09seconds from the overall leader in Dakar Bikes section.
The rider from Shoranur, thus beat his own record, a P20 he set in 2021, to become the fastest rider from India in the Dakar Rally history with 11th place in Stage 8. With four more days to go, he is taking it day by day to keep his cool to complete his fifth attempt in a successful manner. He became the fastest at Dakar in 2021 when he completed the dreaded rally in 20th place beating the Indian record of pioneer CS Santosh’s P36-finish. In this edition, he also got a top-3 finish in Rally2 class in Stage 3. The Sports Science graduate is sponsored by Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team, TVS Racing, Red Bull and Casio.
Harith Noah in action during Stage 7 on Sunday. Photo by Sherco Rally Factory team Thankfully for the riders, stage eight at Dakar lessened the intensity a little with the 458-kilometer timed special split into two sections, a 179-kilometer liaison joining the two very different halves. The first leg consisted mainly of sandy tracks and dunes, but the second half posed more of a challenge with stones and rocks covering much of the final 119 kilometres leading to the finish in Ha’il.
“Felt good on the bike and my sickness is getting better too. I guess everything feels good when you do good. I am focussed on navigation and pushed when comfortable. I lost some time trying to find the way in the second part. Tomorrow is another day and the Dakar is far from over,” said Harith Noah from Saudi Arabia.
Earlier on Sunday in Stage 7, Noah finished the Stage in Overall general ranking of P13 and P5 in his class, Rally2 despite a running nose throughout the day. Tomorrow, the stage 9 would be from Hail to Al Ula.
Tomorrow, the riders will set off for the ninth stage of the Dakar, from Ha’il to Alula, a total of 639 km including 417 km of special and 222 km of liaison.
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Harith Noah finishes 48h Chrono marathon stage at a career-best P12: Dakar Rally
Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), 13 January 2024: Ace Sherco TVS rider, Harith Noah continued his strong campaign at Dakar Rally 2024 conquering the ‘48-hour Chrono’ marathon stage with a noteworthy 12th place in the general classification for bikes and a third place in the Rally2 class going into the rest day on Saturday
Sherco TVS Factory rider, Noah has made outstanding progress in the 48-hour chrono stage, starting from 21st and climbing up to 12th by the end of the stage. In the overall rankings, he holds 13th position, climbing up from 18th. Harith Noah is sponsored by TVS, Sherco, Scott India, Red Bull India, Stanley Tools India, 100%, Alpine Stars and Mobius Braces.
“This is the longest stage in my life. A 625km in the dunes. On the first day of the 2-day 48h Chrono Stage 6, I managed to do a bulk of the run finishing 430km. I rode with Toni Mulec (Insta @tonimulec) and stopped to give Rui Goncalves of Hero MotoSports some spares. Stopping at 16:30 hours to sleep and go the next day at 6:30 am to do the rest of the stage. I had a few tip-overs and rolled down a big dune without the bike but that was about it, lots of drama but done,” said Harith Noah after the marathon stage. In fact, “the air bag opened up but ‘thanks God! nothing happened,” is how he dismissed it. Now he will have a day’s rest before tackling the second week of the Dakar. He is also involved in a bit of service helping his former training partner Mason Klein helping start his bike along with Dakar legend Nasser Attiyah.
“Harith Noah rewrites the script! Halfway through the brutal Dakar Rally, he sits 13th overall, the highest ever for an Indian. He also bagged a historic podium finish in Rally2! Catch his inspiring journey unfold!,” said TVS Racing in it official Instagram handle.
After six stages and a total of eight days of racing, including the prologue in AlUla, the 46th edition of the Dakar has been a roller-coaster of breakthrough performances, vindications, debacles, plot twists, comebacks and surprises on the tracks and dunes of Saudi Arabia. The culmination of the first week, the brand-new 48H Chrono concept, scattered drivers and co-drivers across the Empty Quarter and delivered on its promise: nearly every category saw a change in leadership as the field emerged from the dunes, just before the rest day in Riyadh.
Bivouch during Stage 6 at Dakar before the rest day! Photo by Florent Gooden/DPPI Exactly at the midpoint, with another 2,384 kilometres of specials on equally diverse terrains ahead, the big kahunas will now get to grips with the return trip in their bids to claim victory in Yanbu.
Ricky Brabec and his Honda teammates have laid down a marker; Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekström‘s Audis are calling the shots ahead of Sébastien Loeb; Eryk Goczał is trouncing the opposition in the Challenger class; Yasir Seaidan‘s dominance in SSV race is softening the blow of Yazeed Al Rajhi‘s exit for the Saudi fans; and Martin Macík rolled into the capital as the king of the juggernauts.
All in all, 291 out of the 330 vehicles at the start have completed the first half of the rally, including 111 motorbikes (out of 122), 8 quads (out of 10) for the FIM entrants; and 59 Ultimate cars (out of 70), 40 Challenger cars (out of 42), 30 SSVs (out of 36), 3 Stock cars (out of 3) and 40 trucks (out of 47). The Czech Ondřej Klymčiw continues to deliver a masterclass in the Dakar Classic regularity race.
Motorbikes: Honda gains the upper hand
Four years ago, Ricky Brabec won the Dakar while picking up two stage victories along the way. Could the American add a second trophy to his case this year by playing the quiet game again? Riding without fanfare, avoiding blunders and staying in the ideal position to press forward without taking excessive risks, Brabec took over the reins of the rally following the previous special, the sixth of the rally. In the top 3 since day one, the Honda rider has truly come into his own, gaining an edge over his rivals in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. Of course, with another six gruelling stages ahead, his margin of under a minute over Ross Branch is far from guaranteeing him the triumph that he has been chasing for such a long time, not least because there are other riders who are still in the running too. Adrien Van Beveren made hay of the long 48-hour stage in the Saudi sands to narrow his deficit to the lead group. Now third overall at 9′21″, the Frenchman remains a force to be reckoned with going into the second week. So is Nacho Cornejo, the winner of stages 2 and 4, who is just 14 minutes down on his Californian teammate and leader. A bit further down, Toby Price and Kevin Benavides fly the flag for KTM, less than half an hour behind Brabec. The Australian is biding his time, waiting for an opening to launch his attack, while the Argentinian, still grappling with the sequelae of a leg fracture, is picking up steam.
On the flip side, multiple pretenders to the crown saw their hopes and dreams crushed in the opening week. Tosha Schareina, the Spanish rising star who signed for Honda, broke his wrist in the very first stage after bagging the prologue. Meanwhile, Skyler Howes lost plenty of time in the first few stages, eventually bowing out due to mechanical issues in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. Staying with Honda, Pablo Quintanilla was in the lead group when he ran out of fuel during the soul-crushing stage 6 and plummeted down the overall. Other early withdrawals include Sam Sunderland, who succumbed to a mechanical in stage 3; Sherco’s main hope, Lorenzo Santolino; and Joan Barreda, who was tackling his first Dakar with Hero. This leaves Ross Branch without a wingman for the second week of the rally after Joaquim Rodrigues and Sebastian Bühler crashed out of the race. Up against the mighty Honda brigade, the Botswanan will need a hefty dose of luck to overcome the many perils lurking on the road to Yanbu.
Meanwhile, in Rally 2, the incredible Jean-Loup Lepan stormed to the lead after stage 6. The Frenchman, rock-solid since the Dakar got under way, also claimed stages 2 and 6 and, to top it off, he is sitting tenth overall, an hour and a half behind Ricky Brabec. Now second in the standings, Romain Dumontier held the lead for quite a while, but a fuel hiccup in stage 6 cost him a loss of 50 minutes to Lepan. Nursing a broken rib, the winner of the 2023 Rally-Raid World Cup will have to grit his teeth all the way to Yanbu to snag a spot on the final podium. Harith Noah, Paolo Lucci and Bradley Cox are piling on the pressure within half an hour of the leader. Heinz Kidigadner‘s young nephew Tobias Ebster is another man to watch. The Austrian is perched at the top of the Original by Motul leader board and clinched stage 5 in the Rally 2 class. He will be the talk of the town for a long time to come.
