INDIA in F1

Tag: Ashish Raorane

  • Harith Noah beats Santosh for the 3rd day running in high-altitude dunes

    Harith Noah beats Santosh for the 3rd day running in high-altitude dunes

    By David Bodapati

    Stage 3: Bisha to Wadi Ad-Dawasir, (Saudi
    Arabia) 5 Jan 2021:     TVS Racing’s product and second-timer Harith Noah
    Koitha Veettil of Kerala finished the Dakar Rally 2021 Stage 3 successfully to finish in 27th position for the Day’s Stage 3 ranking, which got him an overall 31st position after 3 days of Dakar as he completed the 629-km in 3hour, 56minutes and 41seconds, just off 23minutes and 18 seconds from the Stage winner RedBull KTM’s Toby Price time of 3:33:23 on Tuesday.

    Harith Noah said: “Quite happy with how today went. Being able to ride Stage 3, unlike last year (where he crashed out) in itself seems like a step in the right direction. Yet another fast but long stage. Rode in the zone and focused on not making any significant mistakes in navigation and the stone sections. Rode with @camchapcc & @mauriziogerini42 up through the first few waypoints. After 150 km or so, it was just me and myself, until I reached the finish line. Tomorrow is another day, another stage.”

    Despite taking a looped stage of high-altitude, with its 403km Timed Special that took place south of the bivouac at Wadi Ad-Dawasir. Harith Noah faced another tough day of navigation and varied terrain, with soft sand dunes once again forming the first half of the special, before opening out into faster, sandy tracks. The German-born Keralite continued his stunning run on the dunes some of which were at a high altitude of over 1000m above sea level on the third day and beat compatriot and HERO MotoSport’s CS Santosh, the pioneer in Indian rally raid endurance and an ambassador of motorsport, who is on his 7th Dakar appearance.

    CS Santosh, who put in another consistent performance finishing exactly in the same position as yesterday, 36th in Stage 3, for an overall ranking of 34 after 3 days. He began with a 35th place in the pre-event Prologue and finished 43rd on the first day, then he leap-frogged seven positions to find the sweet spot of his bike to be placed 36th and sustained the same position today with 9 more stages to go. At this stage it is a right strategy as the goal is to finish and not try too hard to gain positions or risk losing momentum. “I started the stage with a lot of motivation today. It was a fast stage and the new bike started feeling really good and safe, so I am really happy with that. I am slowly building my confidence and if I can continue like this for the rest of the stages, I think I will be in a really good position by the time the rally finishes. So, today was a good start in the right direction for me,” said Santosh said on Monday after Stage 2 through a Social Media post. Astride a 450 Rally model Hero bike tuned by Factory Hero team, the Bangalore rider is taking part in the Bike category of G2.1 Super Production class. Santosh is sponsored by Red Bull, Hero, Sidvin, Genetic Nutrition, Scott, Big Rock dirt park, Dos moto design.

    Harith Noah, the Sherco Factory team supported rider, who entered as a Privateer, is astride a Sherco Factory 450RTR tuned by Sherco TVS Rally Factory team, also entered in the same class as Santosh in Bikes G2.1 Super Production class. Though TVS has not sponsored him this year, assistance
    is provided by Sherco TVS Rally Factory team. Noah is sponsored by TVS, Sherco, Scott India, Camelbak India.

    What Harith Noah expects for the 2021Dakar? “Well finishing is the number one priority. I just want to ride as well as I can. The plan isn’t to compare myself to others. I know I’ll make mistakes but I’m ready for that,” the golden hair rider said before he left for Dakar. He was placed 43rd in the Prologue on the first day, a short distance initiation in the rally, and began the first stage with a stunning position of 31. The #33 number bike, a 450RTR, did extremely well to retain that slot consistently for three days in the overall ranking after over `15 hours of tough dune riding, with a focus on the finish. He finished Stage 1 in 31st place, Stage 2 in 32nd and delivered a superb run today with a 27th position in Stage 3. With nine more stages, the 27-year old from Shoranur in Kerala, who shifted to cross-country rally raid events in 2018 after  becoming 2017 Indian Supercross National champion, is all focussed on the finish. He first won the National Supercross as a privateer in 2011 forcing TVS to recruit him in 2012. Noah who studied in a Kodaikanal boarding school began his motorsports career in 2009 as a 16 year old taking part in Dirt Track events in God’s Own Country. After his shift, he took part in Morocco rally in 2018 and finished 7th in Baja Aragon in 2019. He finished Dakar rally despite retiring in Stage 3 based on a new rule then, which allowed riders to completed the Dakar without ranking, in a special class called `Dakar Experience Category.’

    Meanwhile, the third Indian in the fray, Ashish Raorane, albeit in a lower tier Marathon class, clocked 6 hours, 1min, 05seconds to finish 20th in his class among 27 bikers for an overall 84th place after three days and 81st placing in Stage 3 timings. It is a vast improvement in performance from 86 on Monday in both the overall and Stage positions. Ashish is astride a 450RTR KTM with Performance Tuning done by Bigrock Spain and assistance from Original by MOTUL. He is in the G2.2 Marathon class which is also called the Motul class which means that riders who have no assistance. The 39-year old knows that the Dakar is not a walk in the park but want to prove that ordinary bikers too can take part in big-time events. Ashish was inspired by Santosh, who became the first Indian to finish Dakar in 2015. The Mumbai based rider travels with his rider wife and took part in African Eco Race last  year to prepare for Dakar this year. He was forced to start his Dakar on November 3 from Mumbai for an event that is starting on Jan 3 to get his bike to Saudi in the Covid times. So we at INDIAinF1 hope that his 3-month struggle will culminate in a debut finish at Dakar, the mecca of  cross country rallying and Daddy of all rallies in the world. The toughest of them all!

    Ashish Raorane’s dream of making adebut in the Dakar became a reality because of sponsors like Klim, Slipstream Performance, Dosmoto, Leatt, EBC Brakes, Gaerne, Hellraiser motorwear, Goodwill Enterprises. At INDIAinF1 we salute all the sponsors and provide as much publicity as possible in their endeavour to support the sport and the sportspersons.

    Ahsish Raorane said: Stage 3 was really good today! I started off really well and was enjoying the dunes! The sand plateaus were extremely beautiful. But, after the dune sections it got rocky and I had a crash. Hurt my thumb a little bit but nothing major really. I was hoping to get some rest today as tomorrow is a really long day, but this oil leak happened so I got busy fixing that. Still have to do the rest of the bike before I sleep!

    Provisional Results Stage Three – 2021 Dakar Rally

    1. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 3:33:23
    2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 3:36:39 +3:16
    3. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 3:37:59 +4:36
    INDIAN RIDERS

    27. Harith Noah Koitha Veettil (privateer supported by TVS Racing, service by Sherco Factory) INDIA ; 450 RTR

    31: CS Santosh (Hero MotoSport Team Rally ) 3hour, 56minutes and 41seconds,

    Marathon – Original by Motul category

    81. Ashish Raorane (Privateer) INDIA 450RTR KTM; 6hours; 1minute, 05sec.

    In Marathon class:

    20. Ashish Raorane (Privateer) INDIA 450RTR KTM; 6hours; 1minute, 05sec.

    Provisional Standings (after stage three) – 2021 Dakar Rally

    1. Skyler Howes (USA), KTM, 12:05:48
    2. Xavier de Soultrait (FRA), Husqvarna, 12:06:16 +0:28
    3. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 12:06:40 +0:52
    31. Harith Noah Koitha Veettil (privateer supported by TVS Racing, service by Sherco Factory) INDIA ; 450 RTR ; 13hr; 15.50.

    34. CS Santosh, (Hero MotoSport ) INDIA 13:42:40.

    84. Ashish Raorane (Privateer) INDIA 450RTR KTM; 20hours, 24minutes, 33sec. Bike number #82

    Harith Noah on Stage 3 in Dakar Rally on Tuesday. Courtesy Insta @HarithNoah8

    Hero MotoSportsTeam Rally CS Santosh riding with caution to preserve and sustain himself in the rocky second part of the Stage 3 on Tuesday in the Dakar Rally 2021. Image by Eric Vargiolu, DPPI
  • Mumbai to Dakar, the great escape by Ashish Raorane

    Mumbai to Dakar, the great escape by Ashish Raorane

    Ashish Raorane’s journey on the Dakar won’t just start on the 3rd of January in Jeddah for the launch of the 2021 edition, it actually kicked off way before, on the 3rd of November. Indeed, the current Covid pandemic situation in the world forced the Indian rider to leave Mumbai early, in order to reach Europe (Paris and then Barcelona) to ship his KTM on the boat to Saudi and mainly to be sure he wouldn’t be locked down at home when the Dakar starts. The 39-year-old knew the rally wouldn’t be a walk in the park, he probably hadn’t anticipated it would be so complicated before even day 1. But his passion for bikes and rallies seem to be far stronger than any outcome and he’ll certainly need that in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. 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. And that’s also why he’s decided to register in the Original by Motul class for riders with no assistance.

    “My first goal was to escape out of India to make sure I wouldn’t be stuck in India in case of a lockdown that would prevent me from doing the Dakar. My wife who rides bikes as well has been very supportive and helped me a lot. I started riding motorbikes as a kid when I would steal the old rusty bike of my father. But I only got interested in rallies six years ago. 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. My experience on the Africa Eco Race helped a lot, spending a night in the desert is a good preparation. 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 is to change that perspective and show that a privateer like me can do it. I want to show it’s possible. I decided to register in the Original by Motul class. As an engineer, I know how to deal with the bike, it’s easy for me, and of course there’s the financial aspect. My goal is to manage my race in a consistent way and of course make it to the finish. This Dakar is not a one-time thing and I want to build on that first experience.”

  • CS Santosh, Harith Noah and Ashish Raorane, 3 Indian musketeers at Dakar

    CS Santosh, Harith Noah and Ashish Raorane, 3 Indian musketeers at Dakar

    Jeddah, 2 Jan 2021: CS Santosh of Hero Motosports, TVS Racing’s Harith Noah, who will enter as a privateer with Sherco, last-year’s combo of Sherco TVS team, and another privateer Ashish Raorane will take part in the Malle Moto category of the 2021 Dakar Rally as a privateer, riding a KTM 450 Rally Replica.

    TVS Racing, the first Indian team in Dakar in 2015, despite not fielding the team this year due to the pandemic and the costs involved, is sponsoring Harith Noah on a TVS RTR 450 bike. However, the technical support from TVS Racing will not be there for the Kerala rider who made his debut in Dakar last year.

    Dakar rally kicks off on January 3 with a prorogue on Jan 2. And it will aired in India by Isport.

    Noah will have his Sherco Rally Factory Team riders Lorenzo Santolino and Rui Goncalves on a Sherco TVS RTR 450 Rally motorcycle.

    “TVS Racing, the factory racing team of TVS Motor Company, will not be participating in Dakar Rally 2021. Harith Noah, TVS Racing factory rider, will participate as a privateer in the Dakar Rally with Sherco Rally Factory Team and will be sponsored by TVS Racing. He will ride the Sherco TVS RTR 450 Rally motorcycle.  We would like to wish Harith and Sherco Factory team racers, technical team and support staff the very best for the Dakar Rally,” TVS said.

    A special rule introduced last year, helped Noah, who retired after stage 3, but continued and finished the rally with a superb performance that caught the eye of all. He clocked good time after good stage and in the later stages to finish 25 but was not ranked kdue to his Stage 3 retirement.

    The 2021 Dakar Rally will be the second edition of the event held entirely in Saudi Arabia, largely due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions. The rally will flag off on January 3 in Jeddah and cover varied terrain across the region before concluding in the same city on January 15.

    The route itself will be entirely new, and according to organisers, a lot more challenging compared to the 2020 edition. Participants will have to traverse a total of 7,646km, and 295 vehicles will compete across all classes – the lowest participation figure since the 1997 Dakar rally.

    The 2021 edition will also see the introduction of digital roadbooks along with a host of rule changes to improve safety.

    Harith Noah – SHERCO FACTORY

    • Mark : SHERCO FACTORY
    • Model : 450 RTR
    • Performance tuner : Sherco TVS Rally Factory
    • Assistance : Sherco TVS Rally Factory
    • Class : G2.1 Super production
  • Ashish Raorane completes Africa Eco Race against all odds

    Ashish Raorane completes Africa Eco Race against all odds

    Ashish Raorane after crossing the finish line on Sunday. Photo courtesy Ashish Raorane team

    Dakar, 20 Jan 2020: The daring adventure of 38-year old professional Indian rally-raid rider, Ashish Raorane, ended in a dream finish as he completed the tough Africa Eco Race on Sunday. After completing the ninth stage in 54th overall position, the Indian took the restart and managed to rejoin the last stage, the famous beach stage, as the Africa Eco race allows a restart.

    The non-factory rider is self-funded for almost all of the events he has taken part and is attempting the Africa Eco Race for the first time. The Pune-based marine engineer has caught the attention of Luminox last year by his rally-raid exploits and is supported for the rally by the Swiss watch brand. Ashish was greeted by his wife and a few others as he celebrated with the Indian flag at the finish line in Dakar. Ashish was supported by Nomadas Adventure Racing Team of Switzerland.

    The last stage offered a real driving treat but had no effect on the general classifications this year. There was, therefore, good humour and spirit on the finish line, situated at the edge of the Erg at the village of Teverit, around 30km from Nouakchott in Mauritania. For the record, there was no suspense in the motorcycle category, as the YAMAHA of Alessandro BOTTURI left two minutes behind the KTM of Pal Anders ULLEVALSETER and quickly caught the Norwegian. As a result, 1min 59sec was added to the Italian’s lead and BOTTURI therefore wins this 12th edition of the AFRICA ECO RACE by 3min 59sec from ULLEVALSETER.

    Coming back to the Indian’s rally, after doing a superb job in the first leg, Ashish caught up with the reality of his adventure with a bike that did not have enough capacity for fuel when compared to the advanced bikes, and paid the penalty after a navigation error in Stage 10. At the half-way mark, before the rest day Ashish rode to a stunning 17th Overall rank but the final week saw him nurture the fuel and reduce speeds. He was ranked 54th in the 9th stage before missing two stages as he ended taking almost 31 hours to reach the bivouac after he ran out of fuel. Ashish Raorane was classiefied 57th in bike category after the 12th and last stage, the Beach stage.

    Ashish Raorane explained his tryst with the Africa Eco Race, that ran over 6,500 km, with 12 stages across Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal. The rally concluded on Sunday, Jan 19. Four days before the start of the rally, Ashish was in hospital after being down with dengue. But the rider in him took over and he started the rally against all medical advice but did a splendid job finishing with aplomb.

    “It took me 31 hours to get back to the bivouac, and so I missed a couple of stages. The Africa Eco Race allows restarts and that’s a great thing. Of course I picked up a lot of penalties but at least I am not out of the race. So, eventually, I did get to the ride the famous Beach stage at the Lac Rose in Dakar and cross the finish line of the Africa Eco Race at P57,’’ said Ashish. The rally runs in the original route of Dakar when it was run in Africa.

    “To say that the past weeks have been a roller coaster both physically and emotionally would be an understatement. I was in the hospital, four days before the race, wondering if I could make it to the start line and against all medical advice decided to go give it a shot,’’ he continued.

    “Against all expectations, the race started out pretty well. Though, I was struggling physically after having spent 10 days in the hospital, going into the rest day, I had a good feeling on the bike,’’ he added. Ashish was ranked overall 17th before the rest day.

    Mauritania, is where it started unraveling for the Indian rider. The Indian and his team realised that the fuel consumption on the bike in the soft Mauritanian sand was pretty high and that the rally-modified Enduro bike did not have the required fuel autonomy unlike a full-fledged cross-country rally-raid bike. He was astride a KTM 450 EXC, a 4-stroke enduro off-road bike, which has its limitations during long-distance riding on terrain full of piste unlike a KTM 450 Rally Replica which will cost a whopping Rs.23 lakh or so.

    The first stage in Mauritania confirmed this weakness. From there on, Ashish did manage his speed admirably to save the fuel. “On Stage 8 of the race, I made a navigation mistake early on going the wrong way, which further reduced my fuel autonomy. The stage was tough and, I was struggling through the dunes. At km 175 of the stage, the bike was buried in the dune. I was out of water and food, clutch issues crept up and I did not have enough fuel to reach the refueling point. I had to make one of the most-difficult decisions to call the PC course. Little did I know at the time that I would be spending the night in the dunes all alone but that is another long story, for another day,’’ the brave rider concluded.

    Ashish Raorane with his wife at the finish lane of Africa Eco Race in Dakar on Sunday. Photo AER

  • Indian rally-raid rider Ashish Raorane 17th overall after Stage 5: Africa Eco Race

    Indian rally-raid rider Ashish Raorane 17th overall after Stage 5: Africa Eco Race

    Ashish Raorane during Stage 4 on Friday. Photo courtesy Africa Eco Race

    Smara, 11 Jan 2020: The 38-year old professionial Indian rally-raid rider, Ashish Raorane finished 14th in the fifth stage to improve his overall ranking to 17th in the 12th edition of the annual Africa Eco Race on Saturday. The rally runs in the original route of Dakar when it was run in Africa. The Africa Eco Race runs over 6,500km, with 12 stages across Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal. Seven more stages are left in the rally which runs till Jan 19.

    It was a long stage of 474 km today. “The stage was super fast and I got lost about 40km before refuel. Had complicated bits thrown in and navigation was extremely tricky but fortunately spotted some vehicle dust which I could follow and recovered in time. Good day of racing, after 210 km of liaison, we are at the Dakhla beach for a well-deserved rest day,’’ said Ashish, the marine engineer from Pune.

    You can watch the video clip on Ashish’s Instagram here.

    Riding a KTM 450, he improved his ranking from Friday’s 23rd. He began with a 33rd after the first stage for an overall ranking of 33 but has been steadily improving his riding. After second stage, he managed to climb to 23rd and further improved two places after Stage 3. But a 27th place finish on Thursday saw him slide back to 23rd on Friday but today was a good day in office as he finished 14th improving his overall ranking to 17th

    Ashish took part in the Indian National Rally Championship in Nashik in 2015 and also made his debut in the Raid-De-Himalaya astride a Triumph Tiger 800. Later, he took part in the Desert Storm (Yamaha 250) in 2016 and 2017 and also participated in the Pan Africa Rally in 2018, before the FIM Baja Word Championship in 2019, where he finished an overall 12th following his 7th place finish in the concluding Hungarian Baja as a privateer astride a KTM 450. After the Eco race this year, Ashish dreams to take part in the Dakar, the mother of all Rallies. Last year, the rally-raid rider attracted attention with his good performances to get sponsored by Swiss watch brand Luminox.

    The Stage 5 drive towards the great Moroccan south was done at express speed on good tracks traced in the heart of rather monotonous desert landscapes. After an extremely vigilant run today, in terms of navigation with many parallel tracks, the participants conclude the first week of racing before tackling the now traditional well-deserved rest day, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Dakhla.