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Tag: Dakar Rally
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Harith Noah suffers engine failure, moves into Dakar Experience class
Bisha (Saudi Arabia), 13 Jan 2022: TVS Racing Factory rider Harith Noah, who bravely pulled on for 11 days despite crashes and fractured ribs, suffered technical issues with the bike on Wednesday to be classified as 115th in the General Ranking of the Moto section of the 44th Dakar Rally here.
Noah, who was placed 124 after Stage 10, is expected to begin the penultimate stage in the ‘Dakar Experience’ class on Thursday, which provides a second chance for the riders to continue the gruelling 7000 km cross-country rally-raid and experience the finish. But he will not be classified any more in the elite RallyGP class.
Astride a Sherco 450 SEF Rally, the Kerala rider started his 12th day with a new engine at 10.38 am (IST) but was forced to stop within after 43 kilometres due to mechanical problems with the bike as his engine failed. He could not even reach the first WayPoint and later, he had to endure the heart-break of watching his bike craned away by a helicopter.
He clocked a total of 66 hours, 22 minutes and 42 seconds in the Overall timesheets after logging a penalty time of 21 hours and 45 minutes for a General Ranking of 115. After Stage 10, he was given a time of 33H 33min including a penalty of 21H 30min for a Stage ranking of 124.
The 28-year old TVS star became the fastest rider from India at Dakar last year after finishing in the 20th position. He made his debut in 2020 and finished in the Dakar Experience class. Bangalore’s CS Santosh became the first Indian at Dakar in 2015 and went on to ride many times at the pinnacle of the rallying world till his unfortunate accident last year. KP Arvind of TVS Racing and privateer Ashishrao Rane also took part in the Dakar. Santosh is yet to recover completely but is in Saudi Arabia to cheer the Hero team.
“It is a big disappointment. We changed the engine yesterday and I was hoping to make up the places we lost due to the penalty and push ahead the last two days. The terrain and the conditions are always challenging both for the man and machine and it is time to move on and finish the Dakar. I will take this experience to come back stronger,” promised Noah, who is in his third Dakar.
Despite the setback with Noah, the other two Sherco TVS Factory Rally team riders finished the day in top-10. Lorenzo Santolino of Spain continued to put in brilliant performance and finished the stage in P5 while the other Sherco TVS rider Rui Goncalves from Portugal, also did well, closing the day at P9. In the overall general ranking, Santolino is 11th while Goncalves is placed 24th.
The other Indian team of Hero MotoSports, too, continued to post good times to stay in the top-20. Lead Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodrigues finished a tough day in 24th place after a 15-min penalty while the second Hero rider Aaron Mare of South Africa finished Stage 10 in 14th place. In the Overall general rankings, JRod is in 15th position followed by Mare in 16th.
The 7000-plus km Dakar rally, being held for the third year in Saudi Arabian desert sands will conclude on January 14.
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Braving broken ribs Harith Noah conquers Stage 9
By David Bodapati
Wadi Ad Dawasir (Saudi Arabia), 11 Jan. 2022: Harith Noah of Sherco TVS Racing Factory team finished the tough Stage 9 in 31st position on the 11th day of the 44th Dakar Rally here on Tuesday before realising that he has broken ribs suffered on Sunday. The lone crusader from India, however, moved closer to the coveted goal of finishing his fourth Dakar Rally with a general ranking to 27th place among 130-plus. Noah crossed the chequered flag in 31st place but a late penalty of 15minutes saw him slip to 44th an hour after the stage closed.
For the performance of the other INDIAN Team, HERO MotoSports, read the report here.
Early into the timed stages, Noah, had issues with the rear brake, but still began well in the first 40 kms towards the first check point and stood at 16th place. Later on, he managed to nurture his bike with the handicap of having only the front brake and fell behind by about 12 minutes to the leader. But the ace rally-raid athlete completed the 200-km mark despite the obstacles, and lost a few positions. But later, he pushed with determination and recovered from 34th position to finish the stage at P31. Negotiating 491 km of sands, dunes and rocky terrain with the loss of rear brakes and painful ribs is a testimony to the courage and bravery of a professional motorsports endurance athlete.
His final time of 2hours, 46minutes, and 55seconds saw him move ahead in the general classification and improve by a place from yesterday’s 26th position before the penalty. The Stage was won by R Brabec of Monster Energy Honda from USA. Noah clocked a total time 32:37:42 after 10 days of gruelling sands. Today, Noah did a loop around Wadi ad-Dawasir where he faced mountains, followed by the tracks around the canyons. Although there were less sand sections, Noah managed to recover towards the end that required strong navigational skills, which is his forte, despite the pain.
Harith Noah conquers another stage full of sands and rocks. A flying rock also injured his ribs but the gritty TVS Factory rider slugged on with three stages to for the finish on Jan 14. Photo by Sherco Factory Team for Editoril Use Only Competing in RallyGP, the premier class of the Moto section, Harith Noah, is placed 23rd in this elite class. “Today was not an ideal day. I had a technical issue, a few kilometres into the timed stage. A stone hit it and I lost the rear brakes. I only had the front and it was not easy, but I tried to manage. I came to know that I broke two ribs on Stage 7 when a rock flew from another rider in the front and hit my chest when I was passing. It was hurting a lot and I got to know this morning. Now, I have to do a medical check,” said the TVS product after the stage.
“But that doesn’t change anything. I finished safe and sound and it is a long stage tomorrow with no dunes, so it is going to be fun,” concluded Noah.
Sherco TVS Racing’s teammater of Naoh, Rui Goncalves had a decent stage and completed it without any big errors. He finished two places down from where he started in P16 while Lorenzo Santolino was P25. Lorenzo Santolino remains the lead rider for TVS in P7 overall general ranking with Goncalves in P26 overall behind Harith Noah in P25.
Hero MotoSports, the other Indian team in Dakar, had a decent day. Lead rider Joaquim Rodrigues dropped a few places by the time he reached the first waypoint but improved on every section from there on and finsihed 11th in the stage and 15th overall in general classification. Hero teammate Aaron Mare finished 17th overall after his 21st in Stage 9.
Stage 10 on Wednesday offers a different terrain on the way to Bisha, with a rich variety of landscape and is considered to have one of the fastest timed stages in Dakar.
Dakar Rally 2022 (Stage 9) Provisional Classification:
1. #11 Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Chile) (Monster Energy Honda) 02H, 29’30”;
2. #1 Kevin Benavides (Argentina) (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 02H, 30’56”; +01′ 26″;
3. #2 Ricky Brabec (USA) (Monster Energy Honda) 02H, 31′ 17″; + 01’47”;
31. #20 Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Team) 2H 46’55”; +00H 17’25”; Plus 15′ penalty.
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 9)
1. #52 Mathias Walkner (Austria) (Red Bull KTM Factory Team); 30H 14’ 03”;
2. #3 Sam Sunderland (Britain) (Gas Gas Factory) 30H; 16′ 15″; +02′ 12″;
3. #42 Adrian van Beveren (France) (Monster Energy Yamaha Rally); 30H 17’ 59”;+3′ 56″;
25. #20 Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Team) 32H, 37’ 42”; +2H 23’ 39”. +15′ penalty (in Stage 9).
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TVS Racing Factory rider Harith Noah posts 26th rank with resilience
Wadi Ad Dawasir(Saudi Arabia), 10 Jan, 2022: TVS Racing Factory rider Harith Naoh pocketed another stage as he showed enough resilience after initial hiccups and conquered Stage 8 in his inimitable style pushing hard towards the end as he gained two more positions in the overall ranking. The Kerala ace is sitting pretty at 26th position in the general rankings after finishing 26thon Monday. The stage was won by Sam Sunderland of Great Britain. Noah clocked 4 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds to complete the timed special of almost 400 km.
Hero MotoSport, the other Indian team in the fray, had a good stage too. Read the Report here.
Sherco Rally team video only for Editorial use. @ShercoRallyFactory Watch the Day’s highlights here: Stage 8, Jan 10, 2022.
Starting at 22ndat 8 a.m. (IST) today and treading a cautious path for the first 86 km in the long liaisons, and action-packed dunes, the 5-time Indian National Supercross champion saw the trek to southern Saudi Arabia and its tough sands, drag on and lost about 10 places. Undaunted, he progressed later on, even as the minds and bodies of the competitors were put to a hard test. Noah, attacked the next 200 kms of the special, and by waypoint 6, he moved up and further improved thereafter as he jumped from one valley to another. Eventually, the landscapes changed and the tough negotiator ended up the day in a respectable 26th in the stage after traversing a distance of 820 km, that got him an overall 26th, two places better than the previous day.
Competing in RallyGP, the premier class of the Moto section in the 44th Dakar Rally, Harith Noah, who had a tough first week due to extreme cold conditions and a couple of falls, has come into his own and looking forward to the last four stages.
Astride a Sherco 450 SEF Rally Shoranur rider said: “I enjoyed the stage for the second day running and I am getting into my rhythm. It was a long and tough day but I like tricky navigation like this stage. I am still in the race and glad to fighting another stage tommorrow.”
Noah’s teammate at Sherco Rally Factory team Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino is in overall 7th place while other Sherco rider Rui Goncalves of Portugal is a position behind Noah in 27th. Meanwhile, Hero MotoSports, the other Indian two-wheeler manufacturer in the 140-plus Moto field, saw their lead rider Joaquim Rodrigues from Portugal in Overall 15th place while Aaron Mare of South Africa is place 17th in the General overall ranking.
Sherco story:
It was the second long day in this 2022 Dakar. The special was 395 km with a 435 km link that the riders had to race today on some difficult and fast terrain. All of them gave 100% in the dunes and on the fast tracks towards Wadi Ad Dawasir, and at the same time keeping a close eye on the roadbook. This evening they brought the motorcycles back to the bivouac in perfect condition, a luxury after such a day. Lorenzo Santolino started 5th this morning and was the author of some outstanding navigation on a particularly tricky special, between dunes and fast tracks. Following the prerace instructions, he actually backed off a little to preserve his motorcycle he did give up some time at the finish. He finished 20th today and is in 7th place in the general classification. ¡Vamos Santo!
Rui Goncalves had a good special. He finished 14th for the day, he is still fighting to move up in the general classification, he did manage to move up 3 places. He is now right behind Harith Noah in 27th place.
After his great performance yesterday, Harith Noah really switched to rally mode. He rode clean and consistent and finished the day in 26th place. He is also in this position in the general classification. The top 20 is getting closer!
After a perfect day yesterday, our 3 riders faced a very complicated program today. Lorenzo lost a few minutes overall, but the days go by and are not the same every day in the Dakar. Our riders followed the instructions of the team manager David Casteu, the riders and mechanics know how to preserve and maintain the machines perfectly. And they still have all 3 bikes in the race. Everyone in the Sherco camp is at the dawn of the second week of racing which still has some great stages in store.Dakar Rally 2022 (Stage 8) Provisional Classification:
1. #3 Sam Sunderland (Britain) (Gas Gas Factory) 03Hours 48min 02seconds;
2. #7 Pablo Quintanilla (Chile) (Monster Energy Honda); 03H 50’ 55”; +02’ 53”;
3. #52 Mathias Walkner (Austria) (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing); 03H 52′ 13″; +4′ 11″;
26. #20 Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Team) 4H 12’30”; +00H 24’28”;
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 8)
1. #3 Sam Sunderland (Britain) (Gas Gas Factory) 27Hours 38min 42seconds;
2. #52 Mathias Walkner (Austria) (Red Bull KTM Factory Team); 27H 42’ 27”; +03’ 45”;
3. #42 Adrian van Beveren (France) (Monster Energy Yamaha Rally); 27H 43’ 25”;+4′ 43″;
26. #20 Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Team) 29H, 50’ 47”; +2H 12’ 05”.
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Dakar Stage 3, Overall report: JRod, Nasser Al-Attiyah shine
The Focus
Al Artawiyah (Saudi Arabia), 4 Jan 2022: The focus on Tuesday, the third day of the race, the competitors had to tackle a special that was shortened due to the heavy rain that soaked a part of the region of Al Artawiyah. The stage began at the point which should originally have hosted CP1, reducing the timed section by approximately one hundred kilometres.
On a loop around Al Qaysumah, the riders and drivers started with a 214-km link section, before 255 km of special, followed by a 166-km return route to the starting bivouac for the second looped stage on the rally.
On the menu, there was sand which, thanks to the rain, was heavier and provided better carry. However, there were also chains of dunes through which the competitors had to wind as well as climb, over a distance of 30 km, classed as level 2 difficulty. From the top of these first large dunes, the elite competitors could already start to scrutinize the route of the long stage in store for tomorrow: Nasser Al-Attiyah and Daniel Sanders, through managing their race on the day’s special, look well prepared to affront it.
OUTLINES
The story of David against Goliath is mythical and can sometimes be repeated on the Dakar. Such thumbing of the nose was carried out today in the bike category by Portugal’s Joaquim Rodrigues, who achieved a certain form of consecration by winning a special on his 6th Dakar (see “Performance of the day”).
His feat did not perturb the leaders of the overall classification, though the gaps between them narrowed before the major battle which is expected on Wednesday, the 5th of January, on the way to Riyadh.
For his 31st birthday, Adrien Van Beveren was within 4 seconds of deposing his rival Sam Sunderland from the top of the race hierarchy, on which Matthias Walkner (3rd) and Skyler Howes (4th) also closed in.
In total, five brands were represented in the top 6, with the Sherco ridden by Lorenzo Santolino in 6th place. A first victory was also not very far off for Henk Lategan, who was the fastest driver at the intermediate check points. However, he came up against a very imposing stage win collector at the end of the special in the form of Carlos Sainz, who crossed the finishing line with the best time for the 40th occasion in his career on the Dakar (see “Stat of the day”).
Nonetheless, the Spaniard denied himself the pleasure of celebrating, such was his frustration at falling out of the reckoning two days ago in the fight for the title, which chiefly concerns Nasser Al-Attiyah… and increasingly less Sebastien Loeb.
The Frenchman and his BRX Hunter remain in 2nd position, but the breakage of his prop shaft after 10 km of racing forced him to drive conservatively (well, as much as that is possible for a driver like Loeb!) and he finished the day more than 37 minutes behind the Qatari race leader.
In the T3 class, Seth Quintero tried to drown his disappointment at Monday’s display (when he lost several hours due to a mechanical problem) by grabbing his third special after a short night’s sleep, though “Chaleco” López now leads the overall classification, with Sebastian Eriksson 9 minutes behind in his rear-view mirror.
The Poles continued their stage win domination in the SSV category, with another special success picked up by Marek Goczał but American Austin Jones is still in command in the overall classification. In the truck race, in his Kamaz number 500, Dmitry Sotnikov consolidated his position as leader by obtaining his 2nd stage win of the year, climbing onto the top step of the day’s podium onto which also clambered Janus Van Kasteren from Team De Rooy behind the wheel of his Iveco.
Performance of the Day
Joaquim Rodrigues was not aware of the fact this morning at the start, but he set off with the costume of a superhero! Featuring on the virtual podium at each check point, he won the special to obtain his first victory on the Dakar. He also offered the same distinction to Hero Motorsport, the Indian brand for whom he made his debut in 2017.
“J-Rod” has endured the worst of experiences, with the death of his team-mate Paulo Gonçalves on 12th January 2020, but today enjoyed one of the best, thanks in part to his former countryman and teammate: “It’s my first stage victory on the Dakar and its historical for the team, I’m really, really happy. I was riding well and so fast that I even said to myself, ‘Paulo is riding with me here’. I think he and I won here today”.
The Portuguese rider’s performance is a reward for the unrelenting work of Wolfgang Fischer’s team, which has cast off the curse that seems to have affected the red and whites: “J-Rod was there with Santosh when we began the project, which has obviously experienced highs and lows. Returning last year with the construction of a new bike following Paulo’s death was not easy. We took part in as many races as possible and organised as much testing and training as we could in order to be ready for the Dakar, but we ran into bad luck in the weeks leading up to the race with injuries to Sebastian Buhler and Franco Caimí. In the end, we are here with Aaron Mare and only have two riders, but Joaquim has won for him and for Hero. It is a very emotional moment for us”.
Crushing Blow
Last year, for his first participation on the Dakar, Laisvydas Kancius finished in seventh place, which is a perfectly respectable performance for a rookie. For this 44th edition of the Dakar, the Lithuanian was simply hoping to go one place better in the overall classification. “Finishing sixth would be good, but of course everybody dreams of a podium finish,” he admitted. He looked to have the capabilities of achieving this goal with ninth place on the opening special. The following day witnessed consecration with no less than victory on stage 1B, more than ten minutes ahead of Pablo Copetti and Giovanni Enrico, who were on the Dakar 2021 podium behind Manuel Andújar. This display enabled him to tackle Monday’s special with the status of category leader. Although he had lost a few minutes by the time he reached the finishing line, he completed the third stage still on top of the overall classification. “Easy does it, we’re sticking to the plan,” he cheerfully commented yesterday evening on Facebook. But, as a famous poet once said, the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry: his adventure unfortunately ground to a standstill after the first check point due to a mechanical problem. As if that was not enough, his quad also got stuck in the sand, leaving him to admit that even if he managed to dig it out, he would not be able to resume racing. This forced withdrawal is a major blow for the Lithuanian. Nevertheless, he can play his trump card and return to action tomorrow. With 14 quads at the start this morning, Kancius, even with the significant penalty he will receive, could still be in with a shout of making an impact on certain stages.
Stat of the Day
Back to the future! Today, Carlos Sainz took us on a journey back in time through the history of the Dakar… In fact, you need to go back to 1985 to find the most recent victory by an Audi on the Dakar. At the time, it was a Quattro belonging to the French privateer team Malardeau, driven by Bernard Darniche. In obtaining the 40th success of his career on the Dakar, “El Matador” put the Audi RS Q e-tron on the highest step of the podium for the very first time on the world’s most prestigious rally-raid. The icing on the cake was that it was also the first victory achieved by a car enrolled in the T1-Ulimate class, a brand-new category introduced this year, reserved for alternatively powered vehicles. The introduction of this class is part of the first act in the #DakarFuture plan and it is a safe bet that this first triumph by a hybrid vehicle will lead to many more. In any event, all the signals are on green…
World Rally-Raid Championship
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb were neck-and-neck yesterday, but today that is no longer the case. The Frenchman who broke his transmission, drew a blank on completion of stage 3 and stays on a total of nine points. However, by finishing eighth on the stage but third amongst the world championship protagonists, his Qatari rival has added three points to his total and is the same number of units ahead of Loeb. “Nani” Roma enjoyed a profitable day in W2RC terms because he is now only one point behind his BRX clan team-mate. In the T3 class, Seth Quintero, who was unlucky on Monday, came up trumps today and climbs to within two points of “Chaleco” López. As regards their T4 class colleagues, Michał Goczał got the upper hand over Austin Jones and the two Can-Am drivers are respectively on 11 and 10 points before the fourth special. In the truck race, Martin Macík opened up the gap a little further, with 15 points as opposed to the 12 possessed by his team-mate Martin Šoltys.
Classic Freeze-Frame
For the provisional classification in the H3 class, which is for the Dakar Classic’s best performing historical vehicles with a high average constant speed, there is a whiff of a family affair! In the first three places, there are two crews of spouses and one father and son duo. Mr. and Mrs. Panagiotis lead, followed by their FJ team-mates, namely the Galpins. Two Protrucks formerly driven by Saby and Pescarolo occupy the first two places and are followed, as if it was necessary to drape the French control of this class in a blue, white and red flag, by Philippe and Kevin Grandjean from the Ralliart Off Road Classic team, who are driving their Mitsubishi Pajero dating from 1988. And it is not just any old car, because it is a veritably historical vehicle: a prototype produced at the time by the Maingret factory, painted in Nikon’s colours, a replica of the car that was the star of the Paris-Cape Town rally in 1992. Thirty years ago, Hubert Auriol was behind its wheel, escorted on the South African podium by his two team-mates from Ralliart. It is a fine homage to the first biker to win the Dakar on four wheels, who passed away almost one year ago. As if that was not enough, the spectre of one of the discipline’s giants looms in the rear-view mirror of our French friends: Vatanen, in the form of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Grand Raid from 1987, the year of the Sochaux based constructor’s debut on the Dakar. It is driven by a lady driver, Fanny Jacquot, who has just entered the top 10 of the H3 class behind the wheel of one of the stars in the Dakar Classic field, prepared and entrusted to her at the last minute by her father. It is enough to make those who are lucky enough to attend the start of the fourth stage to Riyadh pure with pleasure.
Quote of the Day
Ignacio Casale: “I can fight with the top drivers.”
The Chilean driver and two-time Dakar winner in the Quad category is starting to flourish in his reconversion with increasingly-impressive performances in the truck category: On Tuesday, he achieved the 6th-best time on the special.
“Today was a very funny stage for me. It was very speedy and fast. I think we finished in sixth position and that’s good for me because I can fight with the top drivers.”
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TVS talent Harith Noah completes Dakar Stage 3 successfully; Hero’s JRod wins maiden stage
Al Qaisumah (Saudi Arabia), 4 Jan. 2022: Harith Noah KV of Sherco TVS Rally Factory team finished another day successfully at the gruelling Dakar 2022 with a creditable 29th position completing the shortened Stage 3 at Al Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The steady ride today helped him improve his Overall ranking to 31st in RallyGP class, the premier category in the Moto section, where 142 bikes took the start.
Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodriques of Hero MotoSports Team Rally won his maiden Dakar stage. Noah, the lone rider representing India, clocked 12 hours, 29 min. and 46 seconds.
“It was a technically tough ride and I am happy to have finished it. After the crash on the first day, it was pretty cool with navigation yesterday and I finished safe and sound. The marathon stage was cancelled today, and it was a good day for me. I did the shorter special section without any hiccups and I am taking it day by day,” said Noah on Tuesday in a voice message from Saudi Arabia.
Starting on a loop around Al Qaysumah, the TVS talent initially took the 214-km link section to take the start of the 255-km special but lost a few minutes after the first way point. However, astride a Sherco 450 SEF rally, he made up many places with steady navigation in the next Special Sections, and consolidated his position before returning along a 166-km link route for a respectable 29th.
Nine more stages will be run with a rest day on Jan 8. In Dakar, every finisher is a winner and Noah, who became the fastest rider at Dakar from India, is looking for a safe finish. The 28-year Sports Science graduate from Kerala, who made his debut in 2020, is on his third Dakar campaign. His best, an Overall 20th, came last January.
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Harith Noah finishes Stage2 in 27th for an Overall 32 rank; Hero’s JRod 6th today
Ha’il to Qaisumah (Saudi Arabia), 3 Jan. 2022: Sherco TVS Rally Factory team rider Harith Noah KV passed another tough test admirably to successfully complete Stage 2 improving his performance on the day to finish in the top-30 and improved his Overall ranking to 32 in the Moto RallyGP class of Dakar 2022 on Monday. The day also saw superb performance by Hero MotoSport Team Rally riders Aaron Mare of South Africa and Joaquim Rodriques of Portugal, who finished in the top-10 today. Mare took an Overall 11th and JRod 18th while Sherco TVS Factory Rally team’s rider Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino ended the day with a brilliant overall sixth position despite a 16th today. Rui Goncalves of Portugal, the third Sherco rider was 12th after leading the rally today for a while.
The 28-year Kerala rider, went steady with his navigation and completed the tough course which had chips underneath the vast sands, and kept up tempo clocking 4hours, 3min, 15sconds on Day 3, which meant that he is behind the leader Joan Barreda Bort of Monster Energy Honda by 31min, 55sec. In the overall ranking, he is placed 32nd after three days and two stages. The Shoranur star is backed by TVS, Sherco, Scott India and CamelBak, India. He took 9:40:35 for the total Special Section distance of two stages and is behind by 1:09:06 to the leader Sam Sunderland, who came second today. Overnight leader Australian Daniel Sanders, who finished 23rd today, however, will continue with a ranking of Overall third behind Adrien Van Beveren of France.
Joaquim Rodriques: Photo by Hero MotoSports Team Rally Meanshile, Noah’s teammate Lorenzo Santolino who finished 16th today clocking 3:46:50 took an overall ranking of sixth, the best at this stage by a rider associated with Indian name, the Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team. The third Sherco member 36-year Rui Goncalves did a brilliant job leading the pact at one point, but ultimately lost the way with a penalty and finished Day 3 at 12th position, taking an Overall ranking of 48th.
Harith Noah, who trained for three months in Europe to fine tune his navigational and road book skills arrived in Saudi Arabia with his engineer Prakasam and both after two COVID19 tests settled down without any quarantine requirements and Harith Noah is pooled with Goncalves in the same truck for service by Sherco.
Astride a brand new Sherco 450 SEF Rally bike, the Indian suffered initial glitches in the short qualifying stage 1A, where a navigational error and a fall cost him precious time but he recovered in time and pulled on bravely to finish a creditable 36th. That meant that he is not in the top-15, who selected their start order for the actual long-distance Specials that began on Jan 2 with a 333-km tough section. He kept up the tempo and finished 27th to improve his overall ranking to 34. Today he again did well to finish 27th and an overall 32nd ranking.
Aaron Mare: Photo by Hero MotoSports Team Rally POS. N° EXP. DRIVE-TEAM MARK-MODEL TIME VARIATION PENALITY 1 88 (ESP) JOAN BARREDA BORT MONSTER ENERGY HONDA 03H 31′ 20” 2 3 (GBR) SAM SUNDERLAND GASGAS FACTORY RACING 03H 36′ 53” + 00H 05′ 33” 3 1 (ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 03H 37′ 14” + 00H 05′ 54” 4 5 (USA) SKYLER HOWES HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING 03H 37′ 36” + 00H 06′ 16” 5 18 (AUS) TOBY PRICE RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 03H 38′ 20” + 00H 07′ 00” 6 27 (PRT) JOAQUIM RODRIGUES HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY 03H 41′ 38” + 00H 10′ 18” 7 142 (SVK) STEFAN SVITKO SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM 03H 41′ 52” + 00H 10′ 32” 8 42 (FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM 03H 42′ 54” + 00H 11′ 34” 9 29 (USA) ANDREW SHORT MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM 03H 43′ 22” + 00H 12′ 02” 10 6 (ZAF) AARON MARE HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY 03H 43′ 57” + 00H 12′ 37” 11 10 (CZE) MARTIN MICHEK ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP 03H 44′ 38” + 00H 13′ 18” 12 19 (PRT) RUI GONÇALVES SHERCO TVS RALLY FACTORY 03H 45′ 08” + 00H 13′ 48” 13 11 (CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO MONSTER ENERGY HONDA 03H 45′ 46” + 00H 14′ 26” 14 52 (AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNER RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 03H 45′ 51” + 00H 14′ 31” 15 2 (USA) RICKY BRABEC MONSTER ENERGY HONDA 03H 46′ 24” + 00H 15′ 04” 16 15 (ESP) LORENZO SANTOLINO SHERCO TVS RALLY FACTORY 03H 46′ 50” + 00H 15′ 30” 17 77 (ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING 03H 52′ 41” + 00H 21′ 21” 18 24 (FRA) CAMILLE CHAPELIERE TEAM BAINES RALLY 03H 52′ 54” + 00H 21′ 34” 19 17 (ESP) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIA RIEJU – FN SPEED TEAM 03H 53′ 51” + 00H 22′ 31” 20 22 (POL) MACIEJ GIEMZA ORLEN TEAM 03H 54′ 29” + 00H 23′ 09” 21 54 (BOL) DANIEL NOSIGLIA JAGER RIEJU – FN SPEED TEAM 03H 55′ 08” + 00H 23′ 48” 22 16 (BWA) ROSS BRANCH MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM 03H 55′ 49” + 00H 24′ 29” 23 4 (AUS) DANIEL SANDERS GASGAS FACTORY RACING 03H 56′ 18” + 00H 24′ 58” 24 23 (CZE) JAN BRABEC STROJRENT RACING 03H 59′ 49” + 00H 28′ 29” 25 49 (ZAF) BRADLEY COX BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM 04H 00′ 55” + 00H 29′ 35” 26 7 (CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA MONSTER ENERGY HONDA 04H 02′ 13” + 00H 30′ 53” 27 20 (IND) HARITH NOAH KOITHA VEETTIL SHERCO TVS RALLY FACTORY 04H 03′ 15” + 00H 31′ 55” A total of 144 riders completed the course on Jan 3. -
Day 2: The complete Dakar 2022 story; Mason Klein, Nasser Al-Attiyah shine
Ha’il (Saudi Arabia) 2 Jan. 2022: Lone rider representing INDIA successfully completed Day 2. Read Harith Noah story here.
Focus
After the overnight rain over Ha’il and northern Saudi Arabia, mist enveloped the area as the first competitors departed the bivouac in the wee hours. The second day’s programme of the 44th Dakar Rally gave pride of place to sand amid mountains reaching up to 1,500 masl and famous around the globe for their rock art. While there were parts with stones, sandy tracks made up 85% of the special, including 4% of dunes.
Transposed to the 333 km timed sector, these figures packed a real punch! As David Castera, Clerk of the Course, had underlined at the previous day’s briefing, the competitors had to be ready for the chips to come down. Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz can only agree (see A crushing blow). The two Audi stars got a rude awakening.
Outlines
Daniel Sanders just had to hold his own today —easier said than done, even from the advantageous starting position that he had earned with yesterday’s tour de force. The man from Down Under logically decided to start in 15th place and make full use of the benefits of the new Dakar regulations. He surged past the 14 riders ahead of him to cross the finish line of the special in first place. It will come as no surprise that the GasGas biker posted the best time, 2′07″ faster than Pablo Quintanilla’s. Honda’s Chilean rider is also second in the general standings, where he trails the two-time stage winner by 3′07″.
Further back, Matthias Walkner conceded over 10 minutes as many other favourites made mistakes fatal to their title prospects: Kevin Benavides lost 36 minutes, Joan Barreda, 41, Toby Price, 47 and “Nacho” Cornejo, 53.
Nasser Al-Attiyah crushed the opposition after starting in tenth place, blasting past nine other cars along the way.
The only driver who was able to match his pace, Sébastien Loeb, made the sensible choice to stick to Al-Attiyah and Baumel’s slipstream and benefit from their flawless navigation. The Qatari leader has already built up a 12-minute margin over Loeb and, while Martin Prokop managed to limit the damage, the rest of the field were left licking their wounds. Audi’s Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz are no longer even in contention (see A crushing blow).
The lightweight prototype category saw a new episode of the Seth Quintero Show, but things are still pretty close, with “Chaleco” López just 1′58″ behind the young American in the general standings. The SSV lead went from Pole to Pole as Aron Domżała won the stage and took over the pole position from Marek Goczał. Blue remains the colour of the week in the truck category, in which title holder Dmitry Sotnikov regained the upper hand over Eduard Nikolaev, but Aleš Loprais placed himself in third place to inject some contrast into the picture.
Performance of the Day
His surname may mean “small” in German, but Mason Klein is one of the greats! The Austrians at KTM have already added his name to their watch list in bold. The American, who celebrated his twentieth birthday by winning the Rally2 category in Morocco last October, his first overseas campaign, joined the big league today after finishing fourth, ahead of many big names.
Ecstatic at the “awesome” experience he had just gone through, once at the finish line, the rookie even explained how he had noticed some navigation errors by the bikers ahead of him and decided not to follow them in a show of exceptional maturity and audacity. The rider now sitting in fifth place overall has been surfing the deserts back home in California since he was twelve.
The desert is his stomping ground. Finishing as the top rookie in 2020 changed his life. His friend, countryman and training buddy, Skyler Howes, was signed by Husqvarna shortly afterwards. He names him his “mentor” without a second thought. Despite his performance today, he revealed a chink in his armour: “I’m definitely not in my element on the dunes”. It’s just a matter of time, kid!
Star of the Day
Third in the SSV standings and winner of a stage last year, Aron Domżała climbed back on top of the podium at the end of stage 1B of the 44th Dakar. As well as claiming his third career win in the most prestigious rally raid on Earth, the Can-Am driver pulled level with Łukasz Łaskawiec as the joint-second most prolific Polish Dakar stage winner, for a total of 15 Polish victories. Quad rider Rafał Sonik (6 stages), the only Polish Dakar champion to date, tops the record table. Krzysztof Hołowczyc (1), who finished on the bottom step of the car podium in 2015, is also a member of this select group.
World RallyRaid Championship
Nasser Al-Attiyah has an insatiable appetite in winter as in summer. His competitive spirit has catapulted him to five victories in the World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies (2008, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021), of which he is the joint record holder with Jean-Louis Schlesser.
He is tackling the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship with the same panache. In Ha’il, he became the first competitor to score points in the competition. His tally of 5 points give him a razor-thin margin on Sébastien Loeb. At the same time, history may remember that two Argentinian racers, both of which are making their Dakar comeback in the first year of the W2RC after four years on the sidelines, are also among the first point scorers: Lucio Álvarez, with 3, and Sebastián Halpern, with 1.
Classic Freeze Frame
The France-Spain derby is under way! The two most numerous contingents in the Dakar Classic, with 44 French vehicles and 37 from the other side of the Pyrenees, are firmly ensconced in the top 10 and tied 1 for 1 after the first stage. Xavier Pina Garnatcha and Sergi Giralt Valero’s HDJ 80, one of 41 in the field, which opened their account in Ha’il, with the same points as the French Panagiotis couple’s Protruck, which conquered the first half of the stage between Jeddah and Ha’il yesterday.
Stéphane Lamarre, tenth in the inaugural edition of the Dakar Classic, let his Porsche 911 East Africa’s acceleration do the talking by entering the repair area. He climbed from sixth to third place, on the same points as another French couple in a Protruck, the Galpins, racing for Team FJ, the importer of Nascar to Europe, in fourth place. Also tied on points, but in fifth place, their compatriots Jean-Michel Gayte and Maxime Vial are ready to pounce in their Mitsubishi Pajero. Follow the return leg on the Saudi sand tomorrow!
Quote of Day 2 – Jan 2
Sébastien Loeb: “Everything turned out fine”
Loeb’s wide tyres did not save him from two punctures, but he put in a solid performance in second place.
“It really wasn’t simple, we messed up and started with two punctures before the neutralisation. There was no room for error in the second part. Then Nasser caught up with us, I was keeping it cool behind him. It was a bit easier with fewer rocks, so I thought we could keep going at a high pace and we made it to the finish in much better shape than at the neutralisation. Both Nasser and Matthieu are strong. You can see it from behind them….”
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Amidst sands & Red Sea, when Dakar begins, India will be cheering for Harith Noah
Jeddah, 31 Dec 2021: The Indian fans will be cheering for Harith Noah, the fastest in Dakar from India last year. The last preparatory phase for the Dakar is taking place for the third consecutive year in Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea and the lone rider representing India in the 44th edition of the toughest rally in the world, the Dakar, is Harith Noah of Sherco TVS team. He will be cheered by thousands of fans from India. He completed his shakedown on Thursday and is raring to go wit the Prologue on Saturday, the New Year’s Day. Another Indian team, the highest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the World, Hero MotoCorp, will field a two-member Hero MotoSports Team Rally, led by J Rod and the first Indian to complete Dakar, CS Santosh, will be cheering them from the Bivouacs and sands in Saudi Arabia. Joaquim Rodriques will have Aaron Mare as his teammate who replaced an injured Franco Caimi.
This will be the sixth time at the Dakar for Joaquim who finished fourth in the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. The duo of Joaquim and Aaron will take on the challenges of the Dakar astride the powerful Hero 450 Rally and an expert team beside them.
Key points:
Aaron Marè from South Africa replaces injured Caimi. However, no Indian rider represents Hero for one more year. A Hero Photo Ø Whilst the King Abdallah Stadium has been taken over by the race officials responsible for the rally’s administrative checks and technical scrutineering, the doctors and their teams have also been busy in light of the COVID pandemic context in which the race is taking place. A campaign of 3,500 PCR tests has been organised for all people with a pass for the event. Indeed, the protocol implemented required a negative test to be able to travel to Saudi Arabia.
Ø After having satisfied the health requirements, the riders, drivers and crews summoned got to grips with the scrutineering circuit in order to be ready for the first stage to Ha’il on 1st January. The BRX team’s Sébastien Loeb and “Nani” Roma were able to give voice to their ambitions in the car category, just like the riders of the Honda team, who have won the last two editions on two wheels. However, their rivals at Yamaha have a new trump card in their pack in Andrea Peterhansel, charged with striving in the wings of the blue team to try and bring back the title that her husband won for the constructor in 1998.
Ø In an atmosphere of renewed acquaintances, many riders and drivers’ thoughts were with the six times winner of the truck category Karel Loprais, who died this morning in the Czech Republic.
SÉBASTIEN LOEB: “FIND THE RIGHT PACE AND REMAIN HUMBLE”
The French driver and nine-times world rally champion is making his 6th attempt at the Dakar on a race that has withstood his efforts since his first participation in 2016. Loeb will be racing for the second time in the colours of Team BRX, but in a car that has been significantly reworked since the previous edition, accompanied by a new co-pilot, Fabian Lurquin, with whom he has only competed in one race, on the Baja Aragon: “It hasn’t been one year without racing for me, but rather one year without a rally-raid. We’ve carried out tests, but perhaps not over as many kilometres as we would have liked to because we’ve had setbacks. However, the car is running really well and the feeling is very good with my new co-pilot. We’ve only just started competing together, so now we will have to make sure everything clicks into place: the Dakar is a complicated race and we will have to find the right pace and remain humble. What’s most important is that we have a reliable car. At any rate, we are fairly well prepared”.
PETERHANSEL BACK AT YAMAHA!
501 Shibalov Anton (rus), Nikitin Dmitrii (rus), Tatarinov Ivan (rus), Kamaz-Master, Kamaz 43509, T5 FIA Camion, action during the Dakar 2022’s Administrative and Technical scrutineering, from December 29 to 31, 2022 in Jeddah. Photo: Gigi Soldano / DPPI The Dakar 2021 was not a fondly remembered rally for Yamaha. None of the “Blues” managed to reach the finish. The brand with the tuning fork logo reacted by a hard turn. The first act was to reduce the team to three riders, followed by the second in which the figureheads in the management were changed and replaced by a… Peterhansel. This may seem like a joke, but Andrea Peterhansel, the new Yamaha sporting manager, is not the type to joke around about the Dakar. Under the name of Andrea Mayer, she even finished 5th on a bike in 2000 for KTM, before repeating this feat on four wheels in 2004 for Mitsubishi. Her knowledge of the event naturally made the difference when Yamaha were choosing the right person to get to grips with the situation: “Marc Bourgeois contacted me to help restructure the team. It’s not my prime occupation, but I do have 25 years of experience. We have made our decisions and will have to stick by them, but that’s just part of the job,” she explains. The third act in this sea-change was that Branch, Short and Van Beveren all took part in four legs of the world championship with a machine now under the technical supervision of Stéphane Peterhansel’s former mechanic, leading to a victory for the man from Botswana in Kazakhstan, a second place in Abu Dhabi for the Frenchman and a runner-up place in the world championship for VBA as well as in the constructors’ championship. So far, so good for the troop leader, who has been able to identify everybody’s qualities and limits before tackling the Dakar: “There is a great atmosphere and they’ve made progress throughout the year. Adrien has regained confidence and speed as well, Ross has learned to ride more calmly, whilst Andrew is already a very complete rider with excellent strategic qualities, a safe bet”.
DEATH OF KAREL LOPRAIS: THE CZECHS IN SHOCK
On the day when scrutineering started, the truck category has lost one of its leading historical figures. Beset by ill health for the last few weeks, Karel Loprais passed away this morning in the Czech Republic, where he became a veritable hero after triumphing on the Dakar six times behind the wheel of his Tatra truck (in 1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2001). The driver from Ostrava was the pride of his country, where he was named road safety ambassador, and could also lay claim to a prestigious place in the history of the Dakar.
Only Vladimir Chagin (with 7 titles) and Stéphane Peterhansel (with 14 titles) lie ahead of him on the roll of honour. Following his success on the tracks and dunes, he retained close links with the discipline, passing on his passion to all his family, especially his nephew Aleš, who is present today to undergo the checks prior to his 15th Dakar as a driver. The man who discovered the Dakar as navigator in his uncle’s crew emotionally explained: “He was an icon for us. He was the figurehead for motorsport and the truck category in the Czech Republic. We were constantly in touch because we build the trucks together. He would come and see us each morning to have a coffee and see how our “ladies” are doing, that’s what we call them. So, it’s a loss that can’t be described… but he will be here in our hearts with us on this rally. He was always positive about our chances, without giving me advice but simply telling me, ‘You know what you need to do’”. The Dakar organisation teams would like to present their sincere condolences to the family, friends and all those close to Karel Loprais, starting with the members of the Instaforex Loprais Praga Team.
Czech Dakar hero Karol Loprais dead 30dec2021. Photo courtesy YouTube @WorldNewsAgency -
First FIA-FIM Worlds begin at Dakar 2022; Rally-raids reach its apogee
Ø The Harith Noah of Kerala will be the only rider representing Indian in Dakar 2022. CS Santosh, the first Indian to compete and finish Dakar, in 2015 will be in Saudi Arabia to cheer up the Hero MotoSports team of three foreign riders.
Ø 2022 season marks a turning point for rally-raids with the inception of World Championships consisting of the same five races for the FIA and FIM. After the show gets on the road with the start of the Dakar in Jeddah, the competition will head to Abu Dhabi in March, Kazakhstan in April, Andalusia in June and for the final round at Morocco in October.
Ø As soon as the news came out, the constructors with skin in the game jumped in to set the stage for this melodrama and a clash featuring the greatest champions. Expect to see a close-run and unpredictable competition in both the car and the motorbike categories.
Ø A total of 53 crews representing 6 constructors have already signed up for the FIA World Championship, while 15 bikers riding for 6 constructors have thrown their hats into the ring for the FIM World Championship.
Jeddah, 30 Dec 2021: The stage is set for a mammoth battle. Most of the contenders on the start line of the 44th edition of the Dakar are taking up a challenge for the entire 2022 season in the hopes of claiming the world champion title at the end of the five rounds on the programme. In the car category, the four main teams will fight for the crown while some independent teams could manage to get some interesting results. The leading Dakar constructors are banking on their champions, starting with Nasser Al-Attiyah, who has won the competition five times in the “World Cup” format. Remarkably consistent throughout the season, the Qatari will face stiff competition from the likes of Sébastien Loeb, who has a shot at what would be his tenth FIA world championship after racking up nine consecutive WRC titles between 2004 and 2012. The concept of this serialised competition has also convinced his BRX teammate Joan “Nani” Roma to give it a go. Other rock-solid candidates such as Toyota’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and X-Raid’s Jakub Przygoński have also picked up the gauntlet. Certain outsiders unused to shining throughout the season will now be in a position to take the fight to the favourites. This role is the perfect fit for drivers such as Mathieu Serradori and his SRT Racing buggies, as well as MD Rallye Sport’s Jean-Rémy Bergounhe and Guerlain Chicherit, who is back behind the wheel and, perhaps, back in business.
Dakar2022 beckons. All the participants pose for a freeze and Harith Noah, will keep the Indian flag flying. An ASO image from DPPI / Julien Delfosse A look at the start list for the motorbike category also promises full-blown battles packed with emotions. Basking in the glow of his 2021 Dakar victory, KTM’s Kevin Benavides will be a man to watch, but his favourite status could be put in doubt as soon as January, not least by his teammate Matthias Walkner, the 2015 and 2021 world champion, but also by the other former Dakar winners riding Austrian motorbikes, Toby Price and Sam Sunderland. It goes without saying that Honda will also be in the mix, with Ricky Brabec as a dependable asset, but also with his new stablemate at the Japanese constructor, Pablo Quintanilla, who already tasted glory in 2016 and 2017. A strong performance on the Saudi tracks and dunes will be required to avoid being knocked out of contention in the first round. Harith Noah, who churned in a stunning performance in January 2021, in his second Dakar, finished Overall 20th, and it become the best-ever performance in the Indian Dakar history.
The desire to hold jousts year-round has a lot to do with the champions, but rally raids also whet the appetite of private structures that race on the same terrain and also come out all guns blazing. The T3 and T4 categories have all the ingredients for a competition in which amateurs sometimes carry the day. For example, among the lightweight prototypes, Cristina Gutiérrez (OT3-Red Bull) and “Chaleco” López (CanAm-South Racing) will have to keep a close eye on candidates such as Jean-Luc Pisson (PH-Sport) and Annett Fisher (Yamaha), who intend to go the distance for all 5 rounds. Among the SSVs, Austin Jones (CanAm-South Racing) will also have his work cut out for him, with drivers such as the Italian Eugenio Amos and the young Lithuanian Rokas Baciuska snapping at his heels in equivalent machines.
Finally, the launch of this new formula has given FIA the opportunity to create a separate category for trucks, for which new regulations have been devised. Two teams will be leading the charge and building momentum for the competition: Big Shock Racing Team, spearheaded by Czech Martin Macík, and Fesh-Fesh Team, with Albert Llovera at the helm.
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Harith Noah successfully completes Rally of Morocco
Zagora, 13 October 2021: Ace Indian rider KN Harith Noah successfully completed the tough Rallye du Maroc after finishing the last stage 23rd, for a creditable overall 20th to brush aside his rustiness and start preparations for Dakar 2022 in right earnest. The Kerala rider, who became the top-Indian finisher in Dakar, is backed by Sherco TVS factory team. Noah clocked 19hours, 05minutes and 31seconds for the overall timing with a 1:52:11sec in the shortened fifth stage, just 12:59sec off the leader P Quintanilla of Monster Energy Honda team.
Meanwhile, despite this last stage being shortened for logistical reasons, it was no stroll in park ! The profile of this final loop resembled that of the first stage with the same start and finishing point. However the route through the Chegaga Erg was all new. Warned rally boss David Castera: “The rally’s not over yet. Save some strength for the end”.
ROAD BOOK
Stage 5
Distances : L1: 142 / SS: 166 / L2 : 143 – Total : 412
ON TRACK
In the bikes, the last 166 kms of the 2021 Rallye du Maroc went more or less as anticipated. Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda) started third on the road this morning to win the special and with it the rally, second time out with his new team. Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Factory) started 2nd kept his podium position and win the FIM World Championship. And opening the piste this morning Daniel Sanders (Gas Gas Factory) managed to limit the damage to an absolute minimum to finish third on the special and overall. All of course much easier said than done, when you have riders of the calibre of Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda) ready to pounce at the slightest opportunity. In Rally2 Bradley Cox (BAS Dakar KTM) confirmed all the promise he has shown this week by winning his first ever rally raid special just 1:20 ahead of fellow rookie Mason Klein (BAS Dakar KTM) who wins the class by a more than comfortable 54:58 ahead of the Italian Paolo Lucci. In Enduro Cup Afriquia the Moroccan Amine Echiguer (KTM OCP) took yet another stage victory to win is class. Fastest Rally2 quad was Manuel Andújar (Team 7240) while in Enduro Cup Afriquia it was Axel Dutrie (Yamaha Drag’on) who takes the honours.
In the cars Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) took his 6th Rallye du Maroc victory and with it the lead in the FIA World Cup Championship. In the T3 class for lightweight prototypes the win went to the Russian Pavel Lebedev (Moscow Rally Team). In T4, contender Michal Goczal (Energylandia) woke up to a surprise this morning, rival Aron Domzala’s CanAm (Monster Energy Can-Am) stripped down to its bare bones. Psychological warfare that appears to have paid off with, Goczal breaking his rear suspension and ‘gifting’ Domzala the class win (7th overall at 2h20:02). In Open Patrick Prot (Revival Aventures) takes the top spot while in the trucks victory goes to Gerrit Zuumond (Man TGA).
RADIO BIVOUAC
The Toyota Auto Body entered the Open class for this edition of the Rallye du Maroc to prepare for the future and carry out tyre tests under race conditions before the next Dakar. This will be the last appearance in Morocco for the two diesel powered Land Cruiser VDJ 200 Auto Body cars. They will race in T2 in Saudi Arabia in a few week’s time before retiring and giving way to the new Land Cruiser 300. Farewell to the V8 diesel.
STAT OF THE DAY : 1506
That’s the number of special stage kilometres that the FIM and FIA drivers covered on this edition of the Rallye du Maroc. In all those kilometres the new Toyota Hilux Gazoo Racing T1+ that was being tested by Erik Van Loon suffered zero puintures! Equipped with new 37-inch wheels, the four future official Toyota Gazoo Racing cars for the next Dakar should spend much less time stopped by the side of the track.
THE RALLY DU MAROC AND ME
Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda)
Where ?
“It was here in Zagora.”
When ?
“2015, my first season with KTM, it was my 5th rally-raid. I was doing all the world championship rounds.”
How ?
“I broke my wrist on the last special. It was my second crash in my rally-raid career, my first in the world championship, Since then I’ve come here every year. My best result up until today was 2nd in 2019.”
QUOTES
Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda) : 1st
“It feels really nice to win. It was a tough race for everybody with difficult navigation. This is my second race with the Monster Energy Honda team and I’d like to thank them for doing a great job. We know we are in a good way for the Dakar in January.”
Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Factory) : 2nd and FIM World Champion
“Feels amazing to win the world championship. I always liked racing here. The track is good and the organisation is super cool. It is a tough and tricky rally so to finish 2nd here and win the world championship is super cool. As you get old you think more about the danger but you compensate with navigation and I think the key is I really like to be on the bike.”
Mason Klein (BAS Dakar KTM) : 1st overall in Rally2
“Coming out here for my first rally I didn’t have big expectations. That changed a little after day 1 and there was a bit more pressure to do good. It has definitely been hard but I’ve been learning patience, to take your time. Slow and steady wins the race and that’s what I’ve been doing this whole week and its worked out pretty good.”
Bradley Cox (BAS Dakar KTM) : 3rd overall Rally3
“To finish off the week with a stage win on my first rally is just awesome. So excited now for Dakar. I learnt so much. The most important lesson was it doesn’t matter how fast you go if you can’t navigate you lose so much time. Great to have my Dad here. He’s so knowledgeable.”
Amine Echiguer (KTM OCP) : 1st Enduro Cup Afriquia
“It’s thanks to my mental attitude that I made it to the end. From the second stage onwards I thought about quitting. Cyril Despres had warned us, but I didn’t think it would be so hard. Yet I do sport: cycling, swimming, I often go running in the morning before going to work and in the afternoon. What reassures me is that I heard the pro riders also complain about the difficulty of this edition. But despite that, I found myself thinking that now I would like to be a Dakar finisher !”
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) : 1st
“Toyota Gazoo Racing have done an amazing job. We was winning the race since the beginning. Today I enjoy a lot this 166 kms because we take really good time from everybody and now we are the leaders of the championship. This is our last race in the T1. It has been an amazing car and we’ve won a lot of races with it including the 2019 Dakar. Now we’re looking forward to racing the T1+ and I think the team have built us an amazing car.”
