INDIA in F1

Tag: Ashish Raorane

  • Sanjay Takale impressive on Stage 1; Ashish Raorane, Jatin Jain complete Day 2 on bikes

    Sanjay Takale impressive on Stage 1; Ashish Raorane, Jatin Jain complete Day 2 on bikes

    Bisha (Saudi Arabia), 4 January 2025: All the three Indians at the iconic Dakar Rally completed the first stage successfully on Saturday. Travelling south from Bisha, the air gets thinner and thinner as the road approaches 1,300 metres. The drop in oxygen levels is barely noticeable, but the landscape is no longer the same. Near the middle of the special, the entrants had their work cut out for them exploring the canyons and powering their way up rock-strewn sandy plateaus! The 412 km stage was a test of concentration and sand-surfing skills and the three INdians, Sanjay Takale in Classic Cars sections and, Ashish Raorane and Jatin Jain in the Rally2 class of bikes section managed to finish the day without any hiccups.

    Earlier on Day 1, top Indian rider and last year’s Rally 2 Champion, Harith Noah had a bad crash, fractured his wrist and withdrew from the Dakar 2025. The Sherco TVS Factory rider suffered a premature end to his campaign.

    Sanjay Takale – Classic Cars

    As expected it was a tough long day for all the categories and even the Classics had a long day of 374km Stage 1. The Pune driver, Takale had a good run as both driver and navigator worked well in tandem to finish the day in 37th overall out of 96 cars. In his class H1B class, Sanjay moved up to 5th place out of 11 cars. Tomorrow Stage 02 is the first part of the Chrono stage. Classic cars, come back to Bisha but only 90 minutes of service is allowed.

    Earlier on the first day, as Dakar kicked off with a short prologue, aerpace Racer Sanjay Takale settled into the race and secured an impressive 13th place overall.

    Ashish Raorane – Bikes Rally 2

    Raorane started second today as the start order was based on the reverse order of the prologue results. The 499-km stage with 412-km competitive stage with canyons and rock-strewn sandy plateaus was just the beginning.
    Ashish finished a creditable 77th in the stage and also in General Classification of Rally2 bikes. The Xraids Experience rider clocked 7 hours, 50 minutes and 08 seconds. The indian is supported by Rynox Gear, Reise tyres and DosMoto design. The technical and maintenance support comes from SlipStream Performance, while spares and accessories partners are Motousher, BigBad Bikes, Lazyass Bikers and MX store.

    Jatin Jain – Bikes Rally2 class

    Indore’s Jatin Jain is on his maiden Dakar and he did well to complete the first full section. He finished 111th in the classification and was bogged down by a penalty. He is riding with team Desert Storm Racing. He is riding a Kove 450 Rally bike and service is provided by XRaids Experience team. He is supported by Vamsi Merla in his quest for Dakar through VM Sports Foundation, and also has Rynox as one of his supporters.

    RIDER FACTS… (Jatin Jain)

    • Jatin Jain’s passion for motorbikes and rallying has taken over his everyday life. After working and founding several businesses, Jatin Jain has fully focused on his passion with the firm intention of competing in off-road rallies for the next 15 years.
    • The Indian from Indore started racing on home soil some 20 years ago and started with motocross and supercross. To date he has over 200 podium finishes.
    • Cross-country rallying wasn’t really an addiction, but he was pushed by CS Santosh, the first Indian to finish the Dakar in 2015 to give it a go despite not really liking the navigation side. Bit he eventually decided to switch to the discipline.
    • After competing and gaining experience on rallies like the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the Sonora Rally or the Desfaio Ruta 40 in Argentina, it’s now time for the big one for the 46-year-old rider who will be starting the Dakar on a Kove.
    • Not too worried about the difficulty of such a demanding rally, the main concern for this father of two based in Nagpur is food. Jain is indeed a pure vegetarian and might come with his own food from India just to make sure that he has everything he needs to be as efficient as possible on the bike.
  • Harith Noah finishes Prologue in 29th place; Ashish Raorane 73rd

    Harith Noah finishes Prologue in 29th place; Ashish Raorane 73rd

    AlUla (Saudi Arabia) 29 Dec. 2023: The fastest Dakar rider representing India, Harith Noah, began his fifth Dakar cautiously but finished in 29th place in the Prologue. With 142 riders taking the start in the Dakar, it was a creditable show that rules his starting position for the Stage 1 on Day 1 tomorrow, the 6th January 2024. But in his Rally2 class, Harith Noah finished a noteworthy 9th place clocking at time of 21 minutes, 14 seconds, about 1min 31sec, behind the leader in his class.

    Harith Noah said: “The prologue was short and sandy with tricky navigation. I had to turn around to get a waypoint, but I didn’t waste too much time. This is the usual for the prologue, but it’s over now and I’m looking forward to stage 1 tomorrow”.

    The clock started today for the participants in the 2024 Dakar with the prologue. They had to race on a 27-km course through canyons around AlUla. The Sherco riders did not take any risks and approached the prologue as a warm-up before the real start and the first stage tomorrow, 127-km liaison and 414 km of special from AlUla to Al Henakiyah.

    The journey once again began as a Team Sherco TVS Factory Rally rider, Noah, who became the fastest at Dakar, scoring a note-worthy top-20 performance in 2022 bettering the result of CS Santosh, is all set to overcome the drawback he suffered last year. Other Sherco riders, Lorenzo Santolino finished the Prologue at P12 while the third rider, Rui Goncalves ended the opening day at P18.

    Ashish Raorane, the second Indian

    The other Indian rider, Pune privateer Ashish Raorane, managed to finish P73 in his class, the Rally2. He clocked a time of 31min, 25sec.

    Ashish Raorane’ is no factory rider. He spends most of his time on boats as a marine engineer. As a kid he started riding on the old rusty bike of his father. Several decades later he was participating in a cross-country rally in the Himalayas that gave him that taste and desire for the Dakar. Inspired by CS Santosh, the first Indian biker to start and finish the Dakar (back in 2015), he wanted to prove to his fellow compatriots that the Dakar wasn’t only for top factory riders. A very competitive table-tennis player back in his youth, he wanted to show that a normal biker could give it a go. Sadly that first Dakar in 2021 ended as soon as stage 5 when the Indian from Mumbai crashed out. He was able however to continue in the Dakar Experience all the way to Jeddah but that certainly wasn’t what he was hoping for. Three years later Raorane has decided to return for unfinished business. This time the 42-year-old will be part of the Xraids Experience team. An option he hopes will this time help him achieve his dream.

    How it all began for Ashish!

    “A friend of mine was at home and he showed me a documentary about the Baja 1000. We were both fascinated. That’s what pushed me to compete in Baja races in India. In 2015, I did my first cross-country rally in the Himalayas. I then built on that experience with the aim to one day do the Dakar. I followed the Dakar thanks to CS Santosh. He was an inspiration. I raced with him in India and he’s been very helpful. But it seemed that only Indian factory riders were able to do the Dakar and my idea was to change that perspective and show that a privateer like me can do it. My experience at the first Dakar was bitter sweet. Being my first Dakar, and in the Original by Motul category, I knew it was going to be tough but I was happy with how I was managing my race. The unfortunate accident on stage 5 took me out of the running. My return to the Dakar Rally is the next natural step for me, which ideally should’ve have happened in Dakar 2023 but several factors led to that not happening, ‘’c’est la vie’’. This time I’m racing with Team Xraids Experience from Spain and they’ve provided me excellent support from the beginning of 2023, racing at the Abu Dhabi Desert and through the year after that for preparations. We are working closely now to have the best possible solution for my Dakar’24 campaign”.

    Saturday, Stage 1

    The tough, action-packed challenge of Stage 1 sets the tone for the 2024 edition. Its course, drawn from scratch in an area with geological features never seen before in the Dakar, will throw the competitors in at the deep end. The field will snake around volcanoes in a palette of mineral hues filled with every shade of grey, from the dimmest to the brightest. Even at this early point in the race, this stage is difficult enough to open big gaps. It has both huge stretches of sands and difficult dunes.

  • Harith Noah, Ashish Raorane to represent India at Dakar 2024, the mother of all rallies

    Harith Noah, Ashish Raorane to represent India at Dakar 2024, the mother of all rallies

    Ø  The start list contains the names of two Indians among the 140 riders who will tackle the 46th Dakar on two wheels, exploring Saudi Arabia from AlUla to Yanbu between 5 and 19 January. The defending champion, Kevin Benavides, is still on the mend after a succumbing to multiple injuries this season, but his brother Luciano, the reigning W2RC champion, will be leading the charge for the wider KTM constellation through its subsidiary Husqvarna.

    Ø Harith Noah, the Kerala rider, will represent India once again, as a Sherco TVS team member, in the top class while Ashish Raorane, of Team Xraids Experience, will be the only other Indian at the 2024 Dakar participating as a privateeer.

    Ø  However, their rivals at Honda have an even deeper roster. The two signings of this season, Skyler Howes and Tosha Schareina, are but two of the six red riders with a real shot at the top step of the podium.

    Ø  Hero, with Joan Barreda joining Ross Branch, and Sherco, once again with Lorenzo Santolino as its designated leader, are also forces to be reckoned with.

    AlUla (Saudi Arabia) 29 Dec. 2023: Five-time Indian National Supercross champion will be attempting his fifth Dakar as he begins his journey once again as a Team Sherco Factory Rally. Noah, who became the fastest at Dakar, scoring a note-worthy top-20 performance in 2021 bettering the result of CS Santosh, is once again raring to go. Last year, he failed to complete the course due to a technical failure and only completed Dakar 2023 in the non-competitive Experience Class. He will be once again on a #20 Sherco 450 SEF Rally spec.

    Pune privateer Ashish Raorane will be the other Indian to take part in the 2024 Dakar Rally which begins here on Jan 5. Rane, who managed to make his Dakar debut in 2021 amidst Covid 19 against all odds, will be making his second attempt to finish the mighty Dakar. In his maiden attempt, he completed the Dakar Rally in the Malle Moto Class, an Experience class that was added in the same year despite a massive crash that resulted in a head injury and called for medical evac. This year too he will astride a KTM 450 Rally Replica and serviced by Team Xraids Experience in the R2 class.

    File photo of Ashish Raorane from 2023 ADDC. INDIAinF1 archives

    “Embarking on my daring quest to conquer Dakar, the toughest race in the world, as a passionate biker, there were moments when the idea of giving up crossed my mind. Yet, my story is an unfolding saga, a thrilling ride through challenges, fuelled by a relentless pursuit of improvement. It’s a journey of becoming better, faster, and stronger, fuelled by the unwavering belief and motivation I have received from my Ghar ka Champion, my father,” said Harith Noah KV on Thursday in a social media reel, along with his father Mohammed Rafi KV, who was his inspiration and support.

    Never-ending learning curve

    The Dakar is an Everest to climb even for the most talented riders. And even when the summit is reached, the attempts after a first achievement can be very brutal. It took Harith Noah two editions to learn and adapt but 6 years after CS Santosh, Harith Noah became the second Indian rider to reach the finish of the world’s toughest rally. Not only did he achieve his dream he also managed the best ever performance for an Indian claiming an excellent 20th overall position in 2021.

    The following two editions were once again painful, especially last year when the wonderkid from Shoranur in Kerala crashed out on stage 4 and fractured the fifth thoracic vertebrae (T5) of his spine. A very worrying crash that could have had terrible consequences. So it really has been a rollaer coaster rider for Noah on the Dakar. Born in Germany he had a rather long journey before taking on rallies. It started on his sixteenth birthday when he was given a motorbike. A weekend later, he was racing and although he finished last of that first race, his passion grew. His first encounter with the Dakar came thanks to the video tapes his dad would bring back from his business trips all over the world. He was 5 years old then and far from imagining that he would be on the start line of the Dakar. Part of the Sherco TVS factory team, the 29-year old had a confidence boost this season when he won the Transanatolia rally back in September. He then went on to conquer 15th spot at the Rallye du Maroc. Time now to switch back into Dakar mode and once again hope to reach the finish in style.

    File photo of Harish Noah 28Dec2021

    Harith Noah
    “I got my first bike in 2009 and on the next weekend I was racing in the paddy fields by my house in Kerala. I fell in love with it immediately. Two years later I became national supercross champion in the privateer class. About the last Dakar, it was a painful one. On stage 4, there was a small step of sand and once I hit it, I bottomed out on the rear and went over the bars. I landed on my head first and then my back. While I did break the T5, there was no nerve damage. A few centimetres to the left or right could have changed everything. Of course, I analysed what went wrong and how I can ensure that it doesn’t happen again. All you can do is keep your head up and try to move forward. For 2024, I’ll be able to push hard only if I am physically fit. Then mentally, I need to stay cool in situations where things are out of control. It happens at every Dakar; everything from small crashes to navigation mistakes. I just try to minimise it as much as possible – be efficient, be in the moment, and see what’s ahead. Though I’ve been riding for a while now, it’s a never-ending learning curve when it comes to racing. I need to adapt to everything that comes my way. For instance, there was a lot of rain last year, which has never happened before. And once you make a mistake, you start thinking about it. Though I’m a competitive rider and want to keep improving, I have never looked at the result during the race. It’s something that my psychologist and I decided on right after the first Dakar. I like to take it kilometre by kilometre, stage by stage. If I ride as good as I can each day, I’ll finish where I deserve to.”

    Top guns

    The clockwork orange has sand in its gears!  After securing a one-two finish in the last Dakar, with Kevin Benavides clinching the trophy by just 43 seconds over Toby Price, the factory KTM riders were unable to carry over this form to the rest of the season. The two-time champion (2021 and 2023) from Argentina broke his femur just before the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, fractured his wrist shortly after returning to training for the Desafío Ruta 40 and recently hurt his leg again in the run-up to the 2024 edition. Toby Price showed remarkable consistency throughout the W2RC season, capping it with victory in the Rallye du Maroc, only to come up four points short of the title at the end of the championship. The man from Oz is still at the helm of the Austrian squad, which lost its standard-bearer, Matthias Walkner, to a multiple leg fracture in early December.

    Another star, though, is burning with the light of a thousand suns in the wider KTM constellation: Luciano Benavides, enrolled in the Swedish-born subsidiary Husqvarna, will be sporting race number 1 in the Dakar. The man of the year, who started the season with a hat-trick of stage wins in the last Dakar, became the world champion after finishing second in every other round. This success makes him one of the hot favourites to take the rally despite not having finished in the top 5 before. The Spanish division is also bringing its firepower to bear, with GasGas again fielding Daniel Sanders, who opened his rally raid account in the Sonora Rally, as well as the two-time winner Sam Sunderland, who will be out to settle the score after withdrawing from one race after another in 2023.

    In the opposing camp, Monster Energy Honda Team is brimming with confidence after taking its second back-to-back W2RC manufacturers’ title and rolling out the latest version of its CRF 450 Rally in the Moroccan finale. The management of the reds has landed a few nice catches in this year’s transfer market. After bringing Adrien Van Beveren on board in 2022, the Japanese maker has signed the American Skyler Howes, third in the 2023 Dakar, and the Spanish young gun Tosha Schareina, the runner-up in the Sonora Rally and later winner of the Desafío Ruta 40. Honda have also got other aces up their sleeve: Ricky Brabec already tasted glory in 2020, while Pablo Quintanilla has cracked the top 5 six times (including the second spot in 2020 and 2022) and his compatriot Nacho Cornejo scored a near-miss in 2021. The team has a shot at victory with each of its six riders. However, they will also have to contend with the Indian maker Hero, where Ross Branch, never far from the top spots this season, has been joined by Joan Barreda, who has his sights set on his 30th career stage win and perhaps even loftier goals. Other candidates for the places of honour include the Sherco riders, chief among them Lorenzo Santolino, who is bound and determined to improve on his sixth place overall from 2021.

    One step below the big guns, the Rally2 riders are also in the mix for the top 10. For example, the 2023 winner, Romain Dumontier, who came in fourteenth in Saudi Arabia and dominated the W2RC season to take the title in the category. He will have to keep an eye on his main rivals for the championship, from the Italian Paolo Lucci and the Frenchman Jean-Loup Lepan to the South African Bradley Cox. The advent of the Kove motorbikes could also shake up the ranking. The Chinese maker is pinning its hopes on two Chinese riders, Sunier Sunier and Fang Xiangliang, as well as the Frenchmen Neels Theric (eighteenth in 2023) and Xavier Flick (thirty-second in 2021). Mason Klein, a former category champion who moved up to RallyGP last year but failed to make an impression among the leading constructors, is also returning on a Kove, albeit with his own structure.

  • Indian star Profile: Ashish Raorane, rally-raid/Dakar

    Indian star Profile: Ashish Raorane, rally-raid/Dakar

    This is a profile story written by David Bodapati after Ashish Raorane successfully completed the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to qualify for Dakar 2024, pending technical fulfillments.

    Abu Dhabi, 4 March 2023: Ace Indian motorsports athlete Ashish Raorane, braving a severe muscle injury, finished Rally2 category in a creditable 11th place in the 7-day gruelling Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (ADDC), the second round of the FIM World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) here on Friday, and qualified for Dakar 2024.

    The rigorous Desert Challenge saw some of the Dakar veterans racing across a route spanning 1,915kms of the demanding and treacherous terrain amidst the sprawling sand dunes.

    Competing with some of the biggest names in motorsports, the 41-year -old Pune rider, conquered the international cross-country rally astride a KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica to seal his entry for the Dakar 2024.

    Pumping in painkillers, the former marine engineer successfully completed the final day’s Stage 5 for an Overall P20 among 49 participants and came 11th in his class. He clocked a total time of 25:09.05.

    “I am delighted and happy that the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is in the bag. Going in I knew this was a tough and very physically-demanding rally and I am happy to have persevered despite the multiple challenges,” said Raorane, who is supported by Rynox Gears, Dosmoto Design, Motousher, Bigbadbikes and LazyAssBikers.

    Riders are required to complete at least one FIM-sanctioned World Championship race or other rally that falls under the “Road to Dakar” label and completing ADDC clears the road for Raorane’s Dakar 2024 participation.

    “I am delighted and happy that the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is in the bag. Going in I knew this was a tough and very physically-demanding rally and I am happy to have persevered despite the multiple challenges,” said Raorane, who is supported by Rynox Gears, Dosmoto Design, Motousher, Bigbadbikes and LazyAssBikers.

    “The meaningful experience gained each day will go a long way in the upcoming rallies as well as our Dakar 2024 campaign and the result has certainly boosted my confidence. Thank you to all the fans and supporters for the messages over the last week, they really kept me going,” said the KTM rider, who gets technical support from Slipstream Performance, the Indian tuners from Pune. To give back to motorsports, he also founded Off-Piste Racing and trains bikers for cross-country rallying.

    The #34 team ‘Xraids Experience’ rider went through a harrowing time, but with great determination, Raorane came back strongly every day, to complete the daunting rally. He suffered the fuel-range anxiety with a lost front fuel tank in Stage 1 at around the 204-kms mark and also saw the air bag deployed during a hard landing in the ‘empty quarter’ and ended the day’s competitive section with fumes in the rear fuel tank.

    The next day in Stage 2, was another big challenge spotting the drop-offs. The Indian was caught out coming off a dune crest and “the earth below suddenly vanished”.

    The worst was on Stage 3 on March 1 and it looked as though the rally ended in disappointment, when Raorane suffered a massive crash and ruptured his right bicep muscle but carried on for another 160kms, undaunted. Despite extreme pain, he managed to finish the day’s competitive section. Later, Raorane recovered and after doctor’s clearance, he came back next day stronger and despite a painful arm, completed the last two days where he also overcame another minor fall and malfunctioning of his Roadbook roll.

    An adventure travel rider, Raorane had claimed a podium on debut in the Indian National Racing Championship (INRC) round at Nashik in 2015 and soon took to cross-country rallies like a duck to water. He took part in the almighty Raid de Himalaya and many other bigger national and international events including polished him into a high-performance Rally Raid athlete that laid the seed for his Dakar dream, the mother of all rallies.

    After pioneer CS Santosh, KP Arvind and Harith Noah completed Dakar, Raorane, became the fourth Indian to complete in Dakar Experience class in 2021. The dream continues next January, at Dakar 2024.

  • Ashish Raorane comes out in flying colours with a P11 finish in Rally2

    Ashish Raorane comes out in flying colours with a P11 finish in Rally2

    Abu Dhabi, 3 March 2023: Ace Indian star Ashish Raorane completed the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge successfully finishing the final day’s Stage 5 at Overall P20 for a creditable Rally2 class ranking of 11th, here on Friday.

    Ashish Raorane of Xraids Experience, astride a 450 Rally Factory Replica, clocked a total time of 25:09.05 for his Overall P20 and P11 in Rally2.

    “Stage 5 is done and dusted with some painkiller help and with that the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is in the bag. We finished at P11 in Rally2 category, I am happy with the result and more importantly gained a lot of meaningful experience each day. Thank you for following along and all the messages over the past week, it really helps to keep going. Thank you to all partners for the support!” said Ashish Raorane on his Instagram handle. He is supported by Rynox Gears, Dosmoto Design, Lazyass Bikers.

    The Indian began well but went through harrowing time but with great determination he came back strongly to complete the daunting cross country rally raid competition successfully. He suffered the fuel-range anxiety with a lost front fuel tank in Stage 1 at around 204-km mark and also saw the air bag deployed during the hard landing and ended the day’s competitive section withn fumes in the rear fuel tank.

    The next day in Stage 2, it was another big challenge spotting the drop-offs around noon time and as everything looked flat the Indian was caught out coming off a dune crest and “the earth below disappeared”. Later that day he said: “Lost about 15 mins getting myself unstuck in one of the dunes in this section, thanks to Justin Gerlach for stopping to save (me). Later I too, got an opportunity to pay it forward just 10Km ahead helping another rider upright his downed machine.”

    The SMILE IS BACK: Ashish Raorane finishes an incredible and grueling rally at a respectable P11 in Rally2 class despite all the obstacles in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on Friday. Photo Instagram @Ashish_Raorane

    The worst was on Stage 3 on March 1, but the brave Pune mariner successfully completed one more day despite a fall as he recovered admirably and rode with a ruptured bicep muscle and an extremely painful arm for about 160Km. After close to five and a half hours of racing, completed the timed special with grit and determination.

    Then yesterday, the pain reduced a bit and he was cruising before another obstacle hit the rider. He lost his road book and had to manually do it. After sometime, with a straight path in front, he rode on but was taken back by a speed zone and was penalized 9 minutes.

    Nevertheless, the Indian came out with flying colours and the finish was as sweet as any for the Rynox Gears supported athlete.

    Adrein Van Beveren wins ADDC: Moto

    Adrien Van Beveren seized the lead of the ADDC in stage 2 and held onto the top spot until the end of the high-stakes finale. Following his late-season triumph in Andalusia last year, the Frenchman’s victory in Abu Dhabi makes it two wins out of four since he moved to Honda. He also added his name to the list of winners of the ADDC after finishing as runner-up in 2021. Much like VBA, Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) defended his second place until the end. Toby Price unleashed a barrage of attacks over more than 200 km to secure third stage overall.

    The absence of the reigning world champion, Sam Sunderland, and the victor of the fist round, Kevin Benavides, both of whom were injured in the week before the ADDC, paved the way for Toby Price to surge to the top of the championship standings, now with 46 points. VBA brought his tally to 42 —the lucky number he sports in every race! Kevin Benavides is still on the podium thanks to the 38-point haul from his victorious Dakar campaign. His brother, Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing), is fourth with 35 points after bagging two specials this week. The red bikes prevailed in this round of the manufacturer championship, courtesy of VBA’s triumph and Nacho Cornejo’s fourth place, but KTM held onto the overall lead with 84 points to Honda’s 74. Husqvarna is third with 69.

    In the Rally2 category, Tobias Ebster (SRG Motorsports), the nephew of Heinz Kinigadner, a legendary rider for KTM who took the inaugural edition of the ADDC motorbike race back in 1995, made a strong impression and seems poised to light up the remaining legs of the championship, although he was not eligible for the classification. The Austrian, an entrant in the Road to Dakar challenge held in every round of the W2RC, earned a ticket to the 2024 Dakar. In the W2RC, Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing) took home the trophy ahead of Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing), who led the ADDC until a crash in stage 4. Toni Mulec, the Italian’s teammate, came in third. Lucci remains in command of the ranking with 50 points to Lepan’s 45. Romain Dumontier (HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing), who came out of the Dakar in the overall lead, is now third with 38 points. Mulec is fourth with 30.

    The Emirati Abdulaziz Ahli (Abu Dhabi Team) claimed his third win in a row in the quad race after firing a blank in the Dakar. He proved stronger than Laisvydas Kancius (AG Dakar School), who only managed to snatch one stage from the local hero. The Lithuanian rose to the top of the championship standings with 44 points to Copetti’s 38 and Varga’s 30. Ahli scaled up to fourth with 25 points. Two other Lithuanians, Gančierius (16 points) and Kanopkinas (11 points), opened their account, as did Rodolfo Guillioli (13 points), one of the sensations of the previous season.

    AL Rajhi prevails as Loeb tightens his grip

    Yazeed Al Rajhi took his maiden victory in the ADDC, becoming the first Saudi winner of the race to boot. It was also his first ever W2RC triumph and the second consecutive win for a Hilux this season, following Al Attiyah’s success in the Dakar.

    Martin Prokop repeated his performance from last year to finish second in his Ford Ranger. In another echo of 2022, a Red Bull Off-Road Jr Team USA T3 claimed third place. After “Chaleco” López last year, this time round it was Seth Quintero who came out on top in his South Racing / Can-Am. The top three drivers in the championship following the Dakar all ran into big trouble in the ADDC, but Guerlain Chicherit (GCK Motorsports) and Al Attiyah, second and third going into the second leg of the season, paid a heftier price than the leader.

    They went home from the race empty-handed, whereas Loeb padded his lead by 14 points thanks to a series of strong performances in the last three stages. the Frenchman now has 101 points to Al Attiyah’s 85. Prokop gained one position and is now third with 64 points. Al Rajhi was the biggest winner, leaping from tenth to fourth with 63 points. Jan Cruz Yacoponi (Overdrive Racing), fifth, and Chicherit, sixth, have 49 points apiece. Sebastián Halpern (X-raid Mini JCW) is seventh with 43. The setbacks experienced by the three former leaders of the ranking allowed their pursuers to narrow the gap. In the manufacturer ranking, Toyota Gazoo Racing benefited from Al Rajhi’s victory and Yacopini’s fourth place to increase its lead to 120 points to BRX’s 79.

    In the T3 category, Seth Quintero (Red Bull Off-Road Jr Team USA) clinched the race ahead of Austin Jones (Red Bull Can-Am Factory) after a series of exciting duels with Mattias Ekström, who had two off days. His teammate Cristina Gutiérrez was also unlucky, paving the way for the other woman in the field, Aliyyah Koloc (Buggyra ZM Racing), to finish third in the W2RC standings for this leg. The championship ranking is singing a full-throated rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, with Quintero in the top spot with 127 points to Jones’s 121 and Guthrie Jr.’s 81.

    Meanwhile, Rokas Baciuška (Red Bull Can-Am Factory) dominated Pau Navarro (FN Speed) in the T4 race. The reigning world champion wrapped up the ADDC in the lead with 134 points to his name. The Dakar champion, Eryk Goczał (Energylandia Rally Team), has 86. Navarro is third with 73. Shinuke Umeda and his Polaris, another big attraction of the week, gained ground and is now sixth with 44 points.

  • Pune mariner Ashish Raorane completes Stage 4 in P28

    Pune mariner Ashish Raorane completes Stage 4 in P28

    Abu Dhabi, 2 March 2023: Indian star Ashish Raorane, the mariner from Pune, continued his onward march completing one more day with guts and determination braving an injury and finished Stage 4, a noteworthy 28th Overall, in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on Day 5 on Thursday.

    The gutsy rider clocked 5 hours, 37min, 50seconds and was 1hr,50:42sec behind the leaders including a penalty time of nine minutes but his daring feat carrying a painful arm made it all the more sweet. The Indian needs to finish the last stage tomorrow to put one more international rally raid event under his belt.

    He finished 15th in Rally2 class today for a cumulative standing of 11th in his class and Overall P28 today and his 28th in the Overall standings remains as it is.

    Earlier in the morning, a thick blanket of fog descended upon the penultimate stage, delaying the start of the motorbike race by two hours and shortening the car special to 173 kilometres.

    The #34 Xraids Experience rider has encountered a fall on Day 2 and met his worse incident yesterday where he suffered a ruptured bicep muscle but bravely recovered and continued for another about 100Km. Today the disciplined warrior lost a bit of time but successfully conquered the marathon stage.

    Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) claimed his second win in the motorbike category, while Pablo Quintanilla, who started the stage in second place overall, is out of contention after his Honda gave up the ghost 250 km into the special. His teammate Adrien Van Beveren still tops the leader board.

    In the cars section, Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) took the car stage. Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing) is more than 10 minutes clear of Martin Prokop (Benzina Orlen Team) and 20 minutes ahead of Denis Krotov (X-raid Mini JCW) in the overall.

    FIM: Hero’s Ross Branch third

    Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) grabbed his second stage win after dominating the special from A to Z. Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda), who seized the overall lead two days ago, finished second on the day at 3′22″.

    Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) came in third at 4′06″. Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) finished seventh at 9′01″ after opening the way this morning. Benavides surged up the general standings, where he is now the Frenchman’s closest pursuer at 2′58″.

    The Chilean Nacho Cornejo has finally placed his Honda on the provisional podium, 6′14″ behind his teammate. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) is fourth at 6′38″. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna Factory Racing) sits in fifth place at 7′16″.

    Toby Price slipped down to sixth at 8′35″. Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda) is seventh at 8′52″. Less than 9 minutes separate the top 7. Benavides will be starting tomorrow’s stage right before the overall leader —an unenviable position for the Argentinian to find himself in.

    However, other riders are in with a shout too, with the next five competitors in the standings a mere 6 to 9 minutes off the pace. The race is still wide open among the top 7, who will settle their differences in a finale stretching for more than 200 kilometres.

    In the Rally2 category, Paolo Lucci, the hegemon of the race since Day 1, conceded buckets of time following a crash with 20 kilometres to go. The BAS World KTM Racing rider surrendered the lead to Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing) and is now almost 11 minutes down.

    In the quad race, Abdulaziz Ahli (Abu Dhabi Team) picked up his third victory by over 16 minutes on Laisvydas Kancius (AG Dakar School), padding his overall lead and all but wrapping up his third title in a row.

  • Heroic effort sees Ashish Raorane complete Stage 3 with a bicep muscle rupture

    Heroic effort sees Ashish Raorane complete Stage 3 with a bicep muscle rupture

    Liwa City (Abu Dhabi), 1 March 2023: Ace Indian Rally-raid rider Ashish Raorane of Xraids Experience, astride a KTM 450 Factory Rally Replica successfully completed one more day despite a fall as he recovered admirably and rode with a ruptured bicep muscle and an extremely painful arm for about 160Km in the Stage 3 of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge here on Wednesday. After close to five and a half hours of racing, Raorane, the marine engineer from Pune, completed the timed special with grit and determination taking an overall 29th place among 45 riders that started the stage, including World Championship riders, and overall 12th among 29 riders in his class, the Rally2 category.

    “The day witnessed flowy tracks with soft & technical dunes. I missed a double caution on a fast section and took a bad tumble. I hurt my arm but managed to recover and ride the remaining 160Km, although the pain in the techincal dunes was excruciating. The bicep muscle is ruptured so let’s see how we go tomorrow.” said Ashish Raorane on Social Media after finishing Stage 3.

    Later, as the doctors cleared him for the further stages, the Pune rider will start the stage tomorrow, which is the longest and toughest of the rally, a 306-km of dunes in a tough zone, an ‘empty-quarter’. Two more Stages are left in the Cross-country rally raid that also serves as a qualifier for the Dakar 2024 and is the second round of the World Rally Raid Championship. The #34 biker is in Rally2 category.

    Ashish Raorane’s time 05hours 31minutes and 37seconds, on another toughest day, riding over the loop around Liwa City, for a 266-kilometer timed special was physically demanding and one of the toughest days of the event so far. He could not have completed it but for his strong will. The terrain was rougher and more technical than the previous days and it was a daunting task even for the experienced and fit, but the Indian managed to navigate and finish much of the route before the fall and later in deep pain.

    The rider supported by Rynox Gears, who finished Stage 2 yesterday in Overall 25th and P8 in his Rally2 class, slipped to 29th overall, but it was a creditable performance on the tricky soft and technical terrain that challenged the best of the riders and finishing the task for an Indian who does not have much of seat time on the bike is such a terrain and despite the bothering arm, is a significant achievement.

    Earlier in the morning, the opening teams have noted many broken dunes and the competitors were warned of, by the race officials in the briefing. The 403 km stage ran a loop around Liwa City. After a short liaison of 2 km, synonymous with sleeping in, to get out of the bivouac, the competitors started the 266-km special stage composed of 52% of dunes and 48% of soft sandy tracks. The 35-km liaison then allowed them to return to the bivouac.  

    Day’s Winners – for the record

    The day saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price claim victory, securing his first stage win of the event with just 16-second lead. The Australian now lies third overall, just under three minutes down with two days left to race. Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing) won the Rally2 category once again. He is ahead of Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing) by 6’37”and Tobias Ebster (SGR Motorsports) by 8’37”. Toni Mulec, the winner’s teammate, is 4th at almost 11 minutes behind.

  • Ashish finishes despite fumes in fuel tank and an airbag pop-out!

    Ashish finishes despite fumes in fuel tank and an airbag pop-out!

    Qsar Al Sarab (Abu Dhabi), 27 Feb 2023: Pune mariner Ashish Raorane, the lone Indian rider at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge overcame all odds in the first stage to post a creditable time of 1hour, 17min, 44seconds for the 404 km stage of the day between Al Dhannah city and Qasr Al Sarab in the Liwa desert that also included a first liaison of 59 km here on Monday.

    The Indian finished Stage 1 in a hard-fought 10th place in his Rally2 class and was 23rd Overall after starting from P24 despite all the hiccups on Day 1 as he completed 242 km of timed run. Meanwhile, the Hero MotoSports Rally team Ross Branch finished overall fourth, a mere three seconds behind Toby Price. Branch finished third but after the route openers bonuses were added, he dropped to fourth.

    Starting 24th, Ashish, the fifth Dakar athlete from India, began the day well but after about 100km suffered a jolt when he lost his front petrol tank. due to a broken fuel hose and was forced to slow down with a view to complete the remaining distance of about 140km of competitive run. But at the 192km-mark, the Indian faced another bombarding shock of a hard landing that opened up his airbags. Undaunted, the rally-raid athlete supported by Rynox gears, Dosmoto design, Gaerne and Lazyass Bikers continued his Day 1 sojourn and completed the Stage 1 of 242 km that was timed between Ghiyathi, which included some steep drops amidst the vast and daunting dunes, and the finish was judged near Tal Mor’eb. Later, he had to do a 103-km liaison, to joine the bivouac in the middle of the dunes.

    “The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is living up to its name from the word go. The 242km of sand and dunes with some really hard to spot drop-offs saw many riders run out of fuel. The fuel-range anxiety was real today. After I lost my front fuel tank at around 204-km mark, I eased up and made the 192-km refueling mark on fumes in the rear fuel tank. Also the air bag getting deployed during the hard landing was a shocker which I was not expecting. Overall, it was a great physically demanding day on the bike,” said Ashish Raorane, the fifth Indian who gained the Dakar experience. He will be qualifying for the Dakar 2024 with this ADDC.

    Tomorrow, the Stage distance would be 257 km and the transport section would be about 108 km.

    Ashish Raorane Parters: Spares & Accessories partner: MotoUsher (Insta – @motousher)
    Technical partner: Slipstream Performance (Insta – @slipstreamperformance)

    Key points of the Rally:

    ·        The winners of the prologue in the car and motorbike categories successfully navigated the first stage of the ADDC, held on a never-seen-before course, and stayed in control of the race following the opener.

    ·        Toyota dominated the car stage, with Nasser Al Attiyah preceding Yazeed Al Rajhi and Henk Lategan. Meanwhile, at BRX, Sébastien Loeb failed to finish the special due to a mechanical and Guerlain Chicherit withdrew from the race after falling ill in the dunes.

    ·        Just like yesterday, Pablo Quintanilla prevailed over Adrien Van Beveren in the motorbike stage. The two Honda riders continue to top the leader board, with Toby Price third overall.

    FIA: AL ATTIYAH LAYS DOWN A MARKER

    Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) was probably braced for a fierce competition with his main rivals for the championship. The overall leader, Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme), ground down to a standstill with coolant hose issues a mere 39 kilometres into the race. His subsequent withdrawal from the race spells the end of his ADDC title challenge and echoed his nightmare from last year, when he also had to throw in the towel on day one. However, this time round, his Qatari rival was not kind enough to follow him down the boulevard of broken dreams! Instead, Guerlain Chicherit, the other Prodrive entrant, who had been close behind the factory Hilux at the first checkpoint, also ran into serious trouble. The Frenchman had to stop several times following a bout of “sea sickness”… in a sea of dunes. In the end, he decided to quit the race despite finishing the stage in third place overall. Toyota scored a clean sweep, with the three Hilux drivers, Nasser Al Attiyah, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Henk Lategan, hogging the top 3 in the stage and the general standings. In the T3 category, Seth Quintero (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA) outgunned his teammate Austin Jones. The world championship leader produced a gutsy ride to take the runner-up’s spot. Although there were valuable points on the line, the American rushed to the aid of his teammate Cristina Gutiérrez (Red Bull Can-Am Factory) without thinking twice after she ran out of fuel. Mattias Ekström, who held second place in the category for much of the stage, shared the Spaniard’s fate. Meanwhile, Rokas Baciuška (Red Bull Can-Am Factory) grabbed the T4 stage. Pau Navarro (FN Speed), who came in just over 5 minutes behind the stage winner and provisional leader, is shaping up to be his arch-rival in this round.

    FIM: HONDA TIGHTEN THEIR GRIP

    Pablo Quintanilla and his teammate Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda), the fastest men in yesterday’s prologue, were untouchable again today. The Chilean bagged the special with two minutes to spare over the Frenchman, with Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) in third place at 3′14″ down. Another Honda rider, “Nacho” Cornejo, posted the fourth fastest time at 4′16″. Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came in fifth at 4′37″. In the general standings following stage 1, adding the times in today’s special to those in the prologue, which were multiplied by a coefficient of 8 in accordance with the championship rules, Quintanilla is 2′16″ ahead of “VBA” and 5′17″ clear of Price. Branch is fourth, a meagre 3 seconds behind the factory KTM rider. In the Rally2 competition, Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing) took over the reins of the race from Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Diverse Racing), 5 minutes back today. The Pole is still within 2 minutes of the Italian in the rankings. Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing) is third in the provisional W2RC standings at 8′35″. Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM Racing) also ran out of petrol before the refuelling station and is now fourth, 35 minutes behind the leader. Abdulaziz Ahli hit the ground running in the quad race, putting over twenty minutes into Rodolfo Guillioli in both the stage and the overall. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Laisvydas Kancius is almost 45 minutes down on the Emirati after screeching to a halt.

  • Ashish Raorane, lone Indian to start 24th on his #34 KTM 450 Factory Rally replica

    Ashish Raorane, lone Indian to start 24th on his #34 KTM 450 Factory Rally replica

    Abu Dhabi, 26 Feb 2023: Ashish Raorane, the Indian Rally-Raid cross country rider will be the lone Indian on a KTM 450 Factory Rally replica with number #43 and will start 24th after doing well in the Prologue as 46 riders compete for the rally. The Indian will be in the Rally2 class (R2 category P9) in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

    “New colors for 2023! A massive thank you to all the partners for joining us on this journey! Back on the international stage after 2 years, as the 2021-22 was full of up and downs but we keep the dream alive. The dunes are where I need to improve, so no better challenge than the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. I feel nervous and excited. Bring it…”, said Rane, a day before the prologue on his social media handles.

    Hero MotoSports

    Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp, will be competing in Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with all their riders, Joaquim Rodriques, Ross Branch, Franco Caimi and Sebastian Buhler.

    In the prologue, Buhler did well and will be starting 8th on his #14 bike, Hero 450 Rally, for Hero MotoSports Team Rally, followed by Ross Branch in his #16 bike in 9th and J Rod in 11th, with his favoured 27-number Hero 450 Rally. Caimi is immediately behind him in 12th on his #33 bike.

    The Hero team completed its Dakar 2023 campaign with a stellar result as three of its team riders crossed the final finish line. The Indian manufacturer scripted history once again in this edition of the rally. With a top-10 overall finish, two stage wins, and a stage podium, this is the Team’s best-ever performance at the Dakar.

    Sebastian Buhler, the youngest team rider of the team, who returned to racing after almost a year of recovery from injury, delivered an excellent performance. In his 3rd Dakar with Hero MotoSports, the young German claimed his first ever Stage Podium, finishing 2nd in Stage 2. Buhler also lost a few hours in Stage 4 along with Ross due to loss of fuel. However, consistently improving his performance, he finished Dakar 2023 in the 14th overall position in the Rally GP class.

    Key points:

    ·        The 7-km long prologue at the gates of the city of Al Dhannah which took place today allowed the ten quickest drivers and riders the opportunity to choose their starting order for stage 1 tomorrow.

    ·        In the car category, Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) achieved the best time ahead of Guerlain Chicherit (GCK Motorsports) and Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme).

    ·        In the bike race, Monster Energy Honda riders Pablo Quintanilla and Adrien Van Beveren prevailed ahead of Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

    FIM: HONDA’S STARS FLEX THEIR MUSCLES

    Pablo Quintanilla, who won the ADDC in 2018 and finished 3rd last year, was victorious today with a time of 5’00’’, ahead of his team-mate Adrien Van Beveren (2’’ behind) and Toby Price (5’’ behind). It was a poor start for Skyler Howes (Husqvarna Factory Racing), who could only manage a 10th placed finish. As a result, the American, 3rd on the Dakar, was the last to be able to choose his starting position. In the Rally2 class, Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM Racing) beat Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Diverse Racing). Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing) got off to a bad start with a 2-minute penalty after missing a way point. In the Quad race, Abdulaziz Ahli tasted victory ahead of Rodolfo Guillioli. Laisvydas Kancius (AG Dakar School) also received a 2-minute penalty for a missed way point and finds himself in last place in his category.

    On completion of the stage 1 starting order choice ceremony, the day’s quickest riders gathered as far as possible from having to open the way on the special. Quintanilla will start 11th, “VBA” 10th and Price 9th. Mohammed Al Balooshi, the last rider in the RallyGP class to finish, will open the special, followed by Skyler Howes and “Nacho” Cornejo (Monster Energy Honda). From the start of the special up to the finishing line, bonuses will be awarded to the first three riders, under the new regulations introduced in 2023 which aim to reward the efforts of the openers.

    FIA: AL ATTIYAH TAKES THE UPPER HAND

    Three times ADDC winner Nasser Al Attiyah set the tone by triumphing with a time of 4’45’’ on the prologue. Guerlain Chicherit posted the 2nd best time, 4’’ ahead of the other Prodrive Hunter driven by Sébastien Loeb, who was in turn 10’’ behind the Qatari’s time.

    Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing), thanks to a finish one second behind the Frenchman, is also in the reckoning. In the T3 category, team-mates Seth Quintero and Mitch Guthrie Jr (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA) completed the prologue in that order and within the same second, in front of Cristina Guttiérez (Red Bull Can-Am Factory), herself just 1 second behind the two men! Mattias Ekström (South Racing Can-Am) and Austin Jones (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA), the winner on the Dakar, did not get off to the best start, finishing in 8th and 9th place respectively. In the T4 race, the prologue was won by Rokas Baciuška (Red Bull Can-Am Factory), world champion in the category.

    For the start tomorrow, Nasser Al Attiyah has chosen to begin in 10th, Guerlain Chicherit 9th, Sébastien Loeb 8th and Yazeed Al Rajhi 7th. Cristina Guttiérez will be faced with the task of opening the way on tomorrow’s special, in front of Mitch Guthrie and Martin Prokop (Orlen Benzina Team).

    TOMORROW’S PROGRAMME*

    ·        The Al Dhannah to Qsar Al Sarab stage

    ·        Total distance: 404 km

    ·        A+B link routes: 162 km

    ·        Special: 242 km (start: Ghiyathi / finishing line: near to Tal Mor’eb)

    ·        Starting times for the special:

    – First FIM competitor: 08.00

    – First FIA competitor: 09.40

  • Rajendra bags overall honours; Aishwarya begins campign in style

    Rajendra bags overall honours; Aishwarya begins campign in style

    Hosapete, 17 October 2021: 2019 National champion Rajendra RE of Team TVS Racing won the feature event and the overall honours and 2019 World Cup Baja winner Aishwarya Pissay as they led Team TVS Racing sweep in Rally de Hampi, the first Round of the MRF Mogrip fmsci National Rally Championship for bikes (2w) 2021, the final event of the Utsav de Hampi 2021, here on Sunday.

    Defending champion in the top Pro-Expert class Nataraj of TVS Racing suffered a DNF (did not finish). Pune mariner Ashish Raorane, could only come 4th in the Expert class, but his very presence here gave a chance to the fans to watch a Dakar hero and his super machine. “It is like training for a marathon and coming for sprint. But is a rear op for our fans to watch our heroes,’’ said a veteran motorsport enthusiast, Rohit of the organising club, Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar, about Ashish, who is one among the two confirmed for Dakar 2022 in Saudi Arabia next January along with Kerala’s Harith Noah.

    Making a clean sweep of the top-four places in the overall honours and winning every class they entered, the Hosur-based 2-wheeler tyre specialists, TVS Racing, made their speed statement in style on the dirt tracks around the Hampi heritage region in the first round supported by Karnataka Tourism, Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, TVS Apache and Hotel Royal Orchid.

    2019 Champion Rajendra RE of TVS Racing who won the overall honours in Round 1 of the MRF Mogrip National Rally Championship 2w 2021 at Hosapete on Sunday.

    Sarath Mohan, a privateer from Mallapuram, won the Expert class while another Kerala rider Ajin Abraham clinched the gold in the Super Sport 130cc Group B class. Coimbatore riders Sasikumar (165cc), and veteran biker and Riders’ representative Venu Ramesh Kumar (400cc), also took the top spot on the podium in their respective classes. Samuel Jacob, Mohammed Zaheer won gold in their classes while Nadeem Ahmed became the Star of Karnataka, the support race.

    The Bike Rally Nationals promoted by GodSpeed Racing are scheduled to run five more rounds for the 2021 championship.

    Provisional (Unaudited) Results:

    Overall: 1. Rajendra RE (TVS Racing) (01:01:39.474); 2. Samuel Jacob (TVS) (01:02:12.993); 3. Abdul Waheed Tanvir (TVS) (01:02:25.753); 4. Imran Pasha J (TVS) (01:02:29.794); 5. Sarath Mohan (Privateer-Pvt.) (01:03:22.563); 6. Sachin D (TVS) (01:03:54.305); 7. Yuva Kumar (Hero MotoSport) (01:04:31.790); 8. Asad Khan (Pvt.) (01:05:26.509); 9. Sathyaraj Arumugam (Hero Motosports) (01:06:23.036); 10. Badal Subhash Doshi (Pvt.) (01:06:35.506).

    Class 1: Super Bike-Pro Expert Group A: 1. Rajendra RE (TVS Racing) (01:01:39.474); ); 2. Abdul Waheed Tanvir (TVS) (01:02:25.753); 3. Goutham Rao R (Pvt.) (01:11:52.935). All 3 Bengaluru.

    Class 1A: Super Bike (Expert) Group A: 1. Sarath Mohan (Privateer – Mallapuram) (01:03:22.563); 2. Asad Khan (Chikmagalur – Pvt.) (01:05:26.509); 3.  Badal Subhash Doshi (Vashi – Pvt.) (01:06:35.506).

    Class 2: Super Sport 130 Group B: 1. Ajin Abraham (Kerala) (01:10:45.998); 2. Nithesh G Poojari (Mangaluru)(01:13:27.186); 3. Deepak Naidu (Bengaluru) (01:14:12.420).

    Class 3: Super Sport 165 Group B: 1. Sasikumar K (Coimbatore) (01:07:12.705); 2. Pavan BK (Bengaluru) (01:07:55.068); 3. Stephen Roy (Kushalanagar) (01:10:11.197). (All 3 privateers)

    Class 4: Super Sport 260 Group B: 1. Samuel Jacob (Hosur) (01:02:12.993); 2. Imran Pasha J (Mysuru) (01:02:29.794); 3. Sachin D (Hosur) (01:03:54.305). (All three are from TVS Racing)

    Class 5: Super Sport 400 Group B: 1.Venu Rameshkumar (Coimbatore) (01:12:15.155); 2. Sajeesh Reghunathan (Bengaluru) (01:12:26.679); 3. Sravan Kumar Kuttoor (Hyderabad) (01:20:46.064).

    Class 6: Super Sport 550 Group B: 1. Mohammed Zaheer (01:10:52.393); 2. Sharath Kumar (01:15:20.814); 3. Naresh VS (1:20:12.947); All 3 Bengaluru).

    Class 7: Group “B” (S0 to S3 Scooters up to 210CC): 1. Shamim Khan (Hosur) (01:09:31.818); Karthik (01:09:36.111); 3. Syed Asif Ali (Bengaluru) (01:10:18.611). All 3 TVS Racing).

    Class 8: Group “B” Ladies Class (Open Indian M/c): 1. Aishwarya Pissay M (Bengaluru – TVS Racing) (01:10:20.050); 2. Tanika Shanbhag (Satara pvt.) (01:13:20.998); 3. Ryhana Bee (Chennai pvt.) (01:13:33.072).

    Class 9: Star of Karnataka (Non-Championship support class): 1. Nadeem Ahamed (Mysuru) (01:11:54.369); 2. Mohammed Israr (Mysuru) (01:19:33.041); 3. Vinay Channarudraiah (Bengaluru) (01:23:10.010).