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Tag: Dakar Rally
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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.
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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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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.
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Harith Noah finishes Stage 5 in P20; gets P7 in Rally2 class
Shubaytah (Saudi Arabia), 10 January 2024: Sherco TVS Factory team rider Harith Noah, completed another strong run finishing Stage 5 in P20 and was in 18th place in the Provisional General Classification while taking the P7 slot in his class, the Rally2 category where he is currently in Overall P4 after six days (including the Prologue) and five stages at the Dakar Rally 2024 on Wednesday.
The fifth stage from Al-Hofuf to Shubaytah had a total distance of 645 km, including 118 km of special and 527 km of liaison consisting mainly of sandy dunes.
Earlier on Tuesday, Harith Noah continued his strong run with a P21 in Stage 4. He finished P5 in his class, the Rally2 category for bikes.
The Kerala rider is preparing for Stage 6, another marathon stage which will last for 48 hours. Tomorrow evening, the riders will not have any outside assistance, no internet connection, no news, no information. The sixth stage of the Dakar will be from Shubaytah to Shubaytah, 626 km of special and 209 km of liaison.
Harith Noah in action during the marathon Stage 5 on Wednesday. A Sherco team image Harith Noah said: “It was a short stage and only made up of dunes. I felt good, but I had a little problem, sand slipped into my fuel during refueling. I am very happy to cross the finish line today. Now it’s time to rest and recover well before the marathon stage that starts tomorrow!”
Noah’s teammate at Sherco, Rui Gonçalves rode in the top-10 for part of the special. He was however the victim of a fall in a dune, he left with pain in his thumb, had to reconnect the navigation system which had been moved out of position because of the fall. He lost contact with the race leaders and ended up finishing the day in 18th position. He managed the navigation well and found the right pace again from the start. He is 15th in the provisional general classification.
Brand new concept of 48hours
Thursday’s stage will be an unprecedented challenge that has the competitors quaking in their boots. While this is also a two-day stage, the experience of marathon stages will not be of much use in the new paradigm of the 48-hour chrono stage. Imagine the grandiose clang of a bell filling the twilight air in the Empty Quarter, ordering every single competitor to halt their vehicle and spend the night under the starry skies before getting back on the move at sunrise. This is how this new challenge will work. The time limit is 4pm. When the clock strikes four, the entrants will have to stop at the next of the six rest areas that punctuate the course of the special. Once they get there, the competitors will receive bare-bones camping material and just enough provisions to make it through the night in the desert, without any connection and, therefore, without any information on how their rivals are doing. Cut off from the rest of the world.
Never before have the title contenders in the motorbike category spent eight hours in a special. The Empty Quarter, with dunes as far as the eye can see, will set the scene for this historic first. The race is no stranger to this area, but the difficulty of this larger-than- life special has been kicked up a notch. Chotts will give the competitors some time to breathe between one dune chain and the next. However, the navigation will be fiendishly difficult, with hard-to-find courses and hidden WPs that will drive many entrants round the bend: “I won’t be winning any popularity contests,” sighs David Castera. In fact, his old brothers in arms in the car category will face the same challenge as the two-wheelers. The FIA and FIM entrants will follow separate courses, so the co-drivers will have to do without the motorbikes’ traces”.
Stage 5 Ranking
Rui Gonçalves: P18
Harith Noah: P20
Provisional general classification
Rui Gonçalves: P15
Harith Noah: P18
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Harith Noah finishes P6 in his class despite cramps; ends Stage 1 in Overall 21st
Al Henakiyah (Saudi Arabia) 6 Jan. 2024: Despite cramps and severe pain, TVS Racing product, Harith Noah, proved that he is made of sterner mettle and began his fifth Dakar cautiously but on a strong note, finishing Stage 1 at 21st place among 132 riders in the Moto class of the Dakar Rally after riding a tough 414-km terrain on Saturday.
“Saturday was a very hard day for me. After refuelling at kilometre 200 or so, I started getting cramps all over my body and then a very bad headache. This has never happened to me before. Quitting really crossed my mind a couple of times. Trying to figure out what could have caused this and hopping it won’t happen again,” said Harith Noah from Dakar and on a note of hope, continued… “On to tomorrow!”
The hiccups notwithstanding, the fastest rider at Dakar from India, Noah, posted his best Stage ranking in his class Rally2, with a commendable sixth position. He is supported by TVS company, Sherco, Scott India, Red Bull India, Stanley Tools India, 100%, Alpine Stars and Mobius Braces.
Harith Noah at Dakar 2024 in Saudi Arabia. A TVS photo Ashish Raorane crashes out with fractured collar bone
The other Indian at Dakar, privateer Ashish Raorane from Pune, crashed out after 168 km mark as he fractured his collar bone in two places. A disappointed Ashish, who was riding a a KTM 450 Rally Replica, said: “I am absolutely gutted. At KM169 of today’s stage, I had a crash and fractured my collar bone. I tried to ride on, but it was an impossible task. It’s a hard pill to swallow when you’ve spent a few years preparing to have all that hard work wiped off in seconds but I guess that’s the nature of off-road sport. I definitely was feeling great on the bike today, unfortunately a silly crash did me in. It’s definitely gonna take sometime to digest this.”
“For now, I’ve to head back to India to get a surgery done to fix me up. Thank you for the support and wishes, I wish there was a better outcome to this campaign,”he lamented.
The Indian rider supported by Xraids Experience team is in Rally2 class. He finished Dakar in the experience class in 2021 and this is his second attempt. He is supported by Rynox Gear, Reise Moto, Dosmoto Design, Slipstream Performance, Motousher, Bigbadbikes, Lazyassbikers, Eleven777, Wanderlooms, Baycity Powerparts.
Ashish Raorane in action on Stage 1, before he crashed out at 168-km point on 6 Jan. 2024. Harith Noah… on to tomorrow
Starting the Special between rocks and canyons on sand for the first 25km, similar to what he tackled in the prologue on Friday. While the sandy canyons are more open and faster till PK22, the later mountainous canyons with lots of eroded rocks offered more technical terrain that is difficult to navigate and easy to make mistakes. But the Kerala champion then navigated the terrain which was open alternating sections of wadis, off-piste and lots of changes of direction despite being wavy and winding. It went on to rough ground, rocks of volcanic lava for about another 130 km before finishing on the alternating tracks and wadis to end the day with an overall P21 finish. Towards the second half, he started getting cramps and had to ride with grit and will power, even though the route offered gravel tracks inside of narrow valleys surrounded by mountains and volcanic rivers of black stones and wide valleys on gravel. They had beautiful sectors of vegetation too but the TVS rider was struggling to continue. But with a determined focus on the finish line, Noah continued the tempo and never gave up to end overall 21st clocking, 5 hours, 33 minutes and 42 seconds astride his Sherco TVS 450 SEF Rally from AlUla to Al Henakiyah.
Indian Constructor Hero’s Ross Branch romped home with the fastest time in the special and scooped up his fourth career Dakar stage win. The Botswanan airline pilot who moonlights as a rally-raid racer also surged ahead in the overall, where he now holds a 12-minute margin over the 2020 Dakar champion, Ricky Brabec, and Mason Klein, who embraced the task of opening the road with panache and spent the entire stage alone at the front.
J-Rod crashes out
Rule number 1 in a motorbike race is to stay upright no matter how many pebbles, stones or rocks stand in the way. A couple of riders broke this cardinal rule this morning, as the seasoned Joaquim Rodrigues crashed out of the race at km 82 and the budding talent Tosha Schareina bowed out of his third Dakar at km 240 with a fractured arm. “J-Rod” had earned the Hero Motosport Rally team their maiden stage-win in 2022.
Performance of the Day
Mason Klein, once the training partner of Harith Noah, was not even sure that he would be able to start his third Dakar on his brand-new second-generation Kove, which got stuck in customs in Dubai, but his Chinese mount finally arrived a few hours before the gong rang on the technical scrutineering.
The American finished in the top-10 in the prologue and picked his starting order for Stage 1. The 22-year-old privateer chose to start first, a position typically avoided by Rally GP riders that would have usually gone to Skyler Howes, the worst performer in the opening romp.
“The idea of opening the first stage at the Dakar is really cool so, in the end, no regrets because now I can say I’ve done it.” Klein again showed that he is a box full of surprises, not just because he spent the 400-km long hard slog alone at the front, picking up 6 hours, 21min. in bonuses and third place at the finish, but also because he did it on a motorbike that he had barely even touched before, “This is my third time on the bike now and I couldn’t be happier.” Today, Klein proved two things to himself and the rest of the field. First, that China has what it takes to become a rally-raid superpower in the near future. And second, that the word “impossible” is just a challenge to the 22-year-old American.
Cox-Dumontier, a duel at the summit
Bradley Cox and Romain Dumontier finished third and first, respectively, in the 2023 FIM Rally-Raid World Cup in the Rally 2 class, the last rung on the ladder before Rally GP. The South African and the Frenchman make no secret of their common ambition in this edition of the Dakar: to show their faces in the top 10 of each stage to try and catch the eye of a factory team. Alfie Cox’s son, victorious in the last two Rally 2 rounds in 2023, finished the special in fourth place, within two minutes of the overall podium. “Dudu”, sixth today, is less than a minute behind his new arch-rival for the championship. The two Rally 2 riders outperformed as many as thirteen of the sixteen factory riders still in the Dakar. The Rally 2 scene is gaining depth. Take Mason Klein: a veteran of the Rally 2 class, which he won in 2022, he is now standing on the provisional podium of the Dakar.
On Sunday, 7th of January, the riders will set off for the 2nd stage of the Dakar, from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi, 655 km of racing.
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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.
