INDIA in F1

Tag: Dakar Rally

  • The call of the Desert: Dakar 2022 route revealed

    The call of the Desert: Dakar 2022 route revealed

    Key points:

    *  For its 44th edition, which will run from 2-14 January, the Dakar will pay its third visit to Saudi Arabia. The rally will start in Ha’il and finish in Jeddah, after a rest day in Riyadh. With the route heading in a south-easterly direction, the organisers propose a sandier tone to the challenge. In the Empty Quarter, it’s “dunes galore”!

    *  The desire to take the discipline towards a virtuous operation in terms of carbon emissions will take concrete form from 2022 with the launch of a T1-E category reserved for prototypes engaged in this research. The end of the combustion engine era is planned for 2030 for cars.

    *  The popularity of vintage vehicles in the “Dakar Classic” regularity race has encouraged many enthusiasts of 1980′ and 90’s 4x4s to have a go in the adventure. The field could double in size at the start in Ha’il.

    *  During the Andalusia Rally, featuring some of the Dakar favourites, the contours of the 2022 edition and the debut of the registration period, which will begin on 17 May, were announced.

    In 2020 the Dakar competitors and teams discovered Saudi Arabia. In 2021 they familiarised themselves with its territories in unique conditions, and in 2022 they will continue their exploration. A glance at the map of the country invites those who love wide-open spaces to go into the Empty Quarter. This immense desert is as big as France and extends over the entire south-eastern region of the country. It is the challenge that David Castera has set for himself. The idea is to emphasise negotiating the sand with, for example, three stages exclusively in the dunes! The weeding-out process will come down to the crews’ ability to tackle the dunes and off-road navigation. The drop in the average time should not be the result of a series of punctures that several competitors have suffered on some of the rocky stages.

    In the continuity of the adjustments made to balance the playing field with navigation, the electronic roadbook will be generalised to all crews in the car, SSV and truck categories. A version for motorbikes and quads will also be available for elite riders. Above all, the 2022 edition will mark the starting point of the plan to host a field of cars powered solely by alternative energies by 2030. The disappearance of combustion engines will take place according to a progressive timetable subject to technological developments. Initially, this will involve the opening of a T1-E category for low-carbon emission prototypes. Constructors are currently developing these cars to make them as competitive as possible, starting with Audi, which plans to take on the challenge beginning in 2022. Electric powered cars will soon take on the Empty Quarter.

    For the second edition of the Dakar Classic, which caused a stir in the bivouacs, among television viewers and on social media last January, a few rule changes have been made. Regularity will no longer be the only evaluation criteria. On portions representing roughly 20% of the route, only navigation will be judged and not time, and each excess kilometre covered will cost points.

  • Harith Noah 27th; Hero MotoSports solid at half-way mark; J-Rod, 8th;

    Harith Noah 27th; Hero MotoSports solid at half-way mark; J-Rod, 8th;

    Stage 6: Al Qaisumah to Ha’il (Saudi Arabia) 618km: 8 Jan 2021: Keralite Harith Noah kept the Indian flag flying as he not only completed another stage but moved up 35th in General Ranking delivering a solid 27th position in a tough 618-km Stage 6 from Riyadh to Al Qaisumah on Friday.

    Taking part in his second Dakar, following his finish in Dakar Xperience Class in 2020, last January, the German born Indian, is fast becoming a top contender to be the third Indian to finish a Dakar rally in the footsteps of CS Santosh and teammate KP Aravind.

    Harith, supported by sponsors TVS, Sherco, Scott India and Camelbak India entered as a privateer but with full support from Sherco and part support from TVS Racing, who moulded his career and provided him an op to realise the Dakar dream last year. The 26-year old, 5.8 feet tall rider is a sports science nut and despite a fall in Stage 5, where he lost considerable time and lack of sleep, he managed to gain positions and keep the fight on.

    The other Indian in the field is Mumbai Mariner Ashish Raorane, whose struggles began three months earlier, even before the Dakar began as he has to assist himself. But the Man with a solid will, like any mariner who conquers the sea, he prepared with grit and determination and believes in “Self Help is the Best Help”. No Assistance from anyone, not enough money to hire a team, nor to get all the equipment, still the dream continues. He dares to dream and by registering for the G2.2 Marathon class, popularly known as Malle Moto, he is halfway through achieving his goal, To FINISH DAKAR on DEBUT! Malle is nothing but `BOX’ in French language. No wonder Ashish carries his own box, that contains tools, one set of extra tyres and other paraphernalia that is allowed according to rules. In this class, he cannot take any assistance from others, and while all other competitors are sleeping after the stage, you can find Ashsish struggling to do the mechanic job, repairing his KTM 450RR’s `leaking tube’ or assisting a fellow competitor. Unlike any other class, the camaraderie in this Malle group is balle, balle' . You help me, I help you’, attitude as only riders can touch their bikes builds team spirits and help them fight the dunes rather than themselves like other motorsports events. That is the special nature of Dakar, the mother of all motorsports cross country events.

    In the first place, it is like piloting a plane after entering the cockpit for only the second time. Yes, his only preparation for Dakar and similar experience is last years Africa Eco race which he completed against all odds.

    Pooling in different sponsors like Klim, Slipstream Performance, Dosmoto, Leatt, EBC Brakes, Gaerne, Hellraiser motorwear and Goodwill Enterprises, he did his own marketing and managed to go after his dream, with the support of his biker wife and a few friends. If any Indian corporate sponsor ever has an ear, sponsor him and you will mint gold in terms of publicity for your brand. Trust us, we have seen this die hard motorsport nut!

    The KTM biker on a 450RR model has a performance tuner in Bigrock Spain, the only thing that is a necessity and he has done it. With only `Assistance'' coming from Original by Motul, provided by the organisers to 9 bikers in his class, Ashish is pushing on, and we at INDIAinF1 assure him that the whole motorsports fraternity is behind him. Go for it, Ashish! We are proud of you!

    For the record, Ashish clocked 72 hours, 14 minutes and 33 seconds, which means that after almost completing all the competitive sections he was held up. INDIAinF1 is yet to get confirmation, but the Mumbaikar finished the stage is a big relief, just like Stage 5. Astride a No.#82 KTM, he took 85th position for an overall General Ranking of 81, the last man still hanging on to Dakar dream. Already more than 25 riders dropped out. However, the Dakar Rookie is 6th among the rookies and 24th in the Malle Moto class and is one among the 9 of them supported by `Original by Motul’ . (Editor’s note 9 Jan 2021: Later, Ashish was hospitalised. He had a fall, got up and continued. But due to a headache, he called for medical help and was hospitalised, according to late news from Dakar sources.

    In Stage 6, he finished 23rd in his class Malle Moto, the G2.2 Marathon class. Now for a well-deserved REST? No not at all, Dreams don’t come in sleep, they give sleepless nightmares until the dream is achieved, yes, Ashish is in that State right now, and it is WORK in PROGRESS! Power to #AR2Dakar

    ONLY INDIAN TEAM – Hero MotoSports

    The only Indian team left after the tough outing of Thursday, is Hero MotoSports. Joaquim Rodrigues, popularly known as J-Rod, struck form once again and achieved an 8th place finish in the stage. Sebastian Buhler continued to hold his position steady with a 21st place finish for the only Indian team at Dakar Rally 2021, the mother of cross country rallies and the toughest in the world. Hero MotoSports Team Rally fielded one Indian and two other riders as part of their Mission Dakar 2021 campaign. Ace Indian rider and first to complete a Dakar, CS Santosh, in his seventh Dakar, crashed in the 5th stage and is currently hospitalised and is said to be stable. Joaquim Rodriques and Sebastian Buhler are the other members o Hero team that are keeping the flag flying.

    With this steady run onFriday, Hero MotoSports Team Rally finds its riders in good positions at the halfway mark with JRod at the 17th position and Sebastian Buhler just shy of the Top 20 at 21st position in the overall rankings.

    Considering the difficult Stage 5 that led to several competitors arriving in the bivouac very late in the evening, the organizers earlier today decided to shorten Stage 6 by 100 kms and also deferred the start by almost 90 minutes. However, the stage still challenged the competitors with 348 kms of special, featuring dunes of all shapes and colors, which proved physically demanding on the competitors.

    REST DAY on Jan 9

    The participants will enjoy a well-deserved rest day tomorrow, giving them time to recover from the onslaught of a tough first half of the rally and reassess their strategy for the next half.

    Wolfgang Fischer says; “The participants will enjoy a well-deserved rest day tomorrow, giving them time to recover from the onslaught of a tough first half of the rally and reassess their strategy for the next half.”

    Joaquim Rodriques says: “It was a difficult stage today. It was all sand and dunes, so physically it was very demanding, and yet I was able to put in a good run and bring my Hero bike to the finish line. The bike has been performing really well and has been helping me to achieve these results. I thank Team Hero for providing us this great bike. It makes a big difference to have a really good and reliable bike in this kind of a terrain. It feels so good to finish the first week and I am looking forward to the rest day tomorrow.”

    Sebastian Buhler says: “Very hard stage today with riding all day in the sands. It was like 300 odd kms of motocross stage with not much of navigation, so it was very tough on the body. It’s good that we have a rest day tomorrow so we can recover a bit. The bike is performing very well, and I am happy to arrive at the half-way mark of the rally with no injuries and my bike in a very good condition.”

    Provisional Standings: After Stage 6

    POSNAMETEAMTIMING
    1JOAN BARREDA BORTMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM03H 45M 27S
    2ROSS BRANCHMONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA TEAM+13S
    3DANIEL SANDERSKTM FACTORY TEAM+53S
    8JOAQUIM RODRIGUESHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY+4M 35S
    21SEBASTIAN BUHLERHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY+20M 34S

    Overall Standings after Stage 6

    POSNAMETEAMTIMING
    1TOBY PRICEREDBULL KTM FACTORY TEAM24H 08M 43S
    2KEVIN BENAVIDESMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM+2M 16S
    3JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJOMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM+02M 57S
    17JOAQUIM RODRIGUESHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY+45M 01S
    21SEBASTIAN BUHLERHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY+01H26M45S
  • CS Santosh, Harith Noah and Ashish Raorane, 3 Indian musketeers at Dakar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Harith Noah – SHERCO FACTORY

    • Mark : SHERCO FACTORY
    • Model : 450 RTR
    • Performance tuner : Sherco TVS Rally Factory
    • Assistance : Sherco TVS Rally Factory
    • Class : G2.1 Super production

  • #33 Harith Noah better prepared in 2021

    Harith Noah’s journey to the 2021 Dakar started early. As soon as August he moved to the south of France, living with his former team mate Michael Metge to get ready for his second Dakar, fully focused on training and never actually returning to India. In the footsteps of pioneers Santosh CS and Aravind Prabhakar, the young man from Kerala, but born in Germany who conquered multiple national titles in motocross and supercross was last year the latest Indian to take on the Dakar. His path to the rally was however a long one. 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 2020 Dakar. Part of the Sherco TVS factory team, Noah’s first encounter with the race was a hard one. He was indeed forced to retire from the rally as soon as day 3 due to technical issues. But thanks to the new “Dakar Experience” that allows competitors to carry on while no longer being in the general classification, he was able to learn and gain experience. For his second attempt, his goal is simply to reach the finish and carry on enjoying the Dakar vibe, alongside his team mates Lorenzo Santolino and newcomer Rui Gonçalves.

    “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. My focus was really on supercross, not the Dakar and then TVS got involved.
    Honestly the Dakar 2020 was a really great experience. I had done some rallies before but the Dakar is another game. I fell in love with it. There’s such a vibe and I really enjoyed it. The Dakar is a small family but it’s like no other family. After being forced to retire for technical reasons which was unfortunate, I was able to carry on thanks to the Dakar Experience and I felt so grateful. I gained so much experience and learned. On the Dakar everything is tougher. It’s two weeks long. It was in a new country and you have to adapt to all the dunes and sand. My family was super stressed and they were calling me all the time.
    This year was full of question marks. I was stuck in one place, in Kerala, but I continued training and it was actually great. I then went to Europe in August and competed at the Andalucia Rally which was really nice with tricky navigation. It was important to get used to the bike again and it was great motivation.
    What I expect for the 2021Dakar? Well finishing is the number one priority. I just want to ride as well as I can. The plan isn’t to compare myself to others. I know I’ll make mistakes but I’m ready for that.”

  • Dakar rider Edwin Straver succumbs to his injuries

    Dakar rider Edwin Straver succumbs to his injuries

    Riyadh, 24 Jan 2020: The motorcycle rider Edwin Straver, who suffered a fall in pk 124 of the special of the 11th stage Shubaytah – Haradh on Thursday, January 16, 2020, has died as a result of these injuries, as reported by his family on Friday morning.

    Edwin was revived on the track by the medical team that came by helicopter and attended the pilot in a state of cardiac arrest. Transferred to the Riyadh hospital, he was treated by the center’s resuscitation team before being repatriated to the Netherlands last Wednesday.

    Former motocross rider, Edwin Straver – 48 years old – participated in his 3rd Dakar. He finished 30th in 2019, proclaiming himself winner of the Original by Motul category in which he enrolled again in 2020.

    The whole of the Dakar caravan presents its deepest condolences and its most sincere condolences to Edwin’s family, friends and relatives.

    File photo of Dakar rider Edwin Straver during Stage 10 in Saudi Arabia on Jan 10. May his soul rest in peace. DPPI image
  • Harith Noah finishes Stage 11 in 25th position in Dakar Experience category

    Harith Noah finishes Stage 11 in 25th position in Dakar Experience category

    File photo of Harith Noah on Day 2. Photo by Sherco TVS Rally team

    Quddiya (Saudi Arabia), 16 Jan 2020: Dakar debutante Harith Noah of Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team did a commendable job in the 744-km penultimate Stage 11 of the 42nd Dakar Rally in the Bike category finishing 25th in the 100-rider field. The Indian will be looking forward to complete the last stage on Friday to become the third Indian to compete the Dakar. However, he is taking part in the Dakar Experience category after failing to enter the third stage due to a bike issue.

    But the new rule allows him to complete the rally. Noah timed 4 hours 48 minutes and 12 seconds to complete the 379-km Special Stage on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, the Empty Quarter, a vast expanse almost as big as France, boasts long, unbroken successions of dunes stretching for 80 kilometres. In contrast with yesterday, when the prevailing winds messed with stage 10 for cars, the weather today made the terrain far more hospitable as the increased humidity meant fewer competitors got stuck. The return trip to Haradh was raced at a much higher pace. This area serves as the crossroads from which the Dakar will leave the Empty Quarter and set course for Riyadh and Qiddiya.

    In the Moto class, Pablo Quintanilla left nothing in the tank. The Chilean pulled out all the stops to topple Ricky Brabec, claiming his second stage in three days by a few seconds ahead of Matthias Walkner, who also threw caution to the wind. However, the overall leader will start the closing stage of the Rally with a healthy margin, as will Ignacio Casale, who left the win to Rafał Sonik in the quad category.

    In the Cars category, Carlos Sainz seems to have the race in the bag despite Stéphane Peterhansel and Nasser Al-Attiyah unleashing their full might in a last-ditch attempt to claw back some time. While the Frenchman beat the Qatari by just a few seconds in today’s stage, it is Al-Attiyah who holds the provisional second place overall by a mere six seconds. The SSV race saw bigger gaps. “Chaleco” López put in a stunning performance today, but the overall is Casey Currie’s to lose. Meanwhile, Andrey Karginov added a new stage win to his tally as Kamaz blew the opposition out of the water with a 1-2-3-4 in Haradh.

    Performance of the Day

    The 25-year-old Jamie McCanney, racing in his first Dakar and second rally altogether, did not want to put the cart before the horse. The up-and-coming Brit, who caught the attention of Yamaha when he became junior enduro world champion, is getting stronger as the Dakar goes on, scoring his first top 7 finish yesterday before going one better on the road to Haradh, finishing in sixth place at only six minutes behind the winner. It was an auspicious performance by the Manxman, who is sitting within the top 15 overall within striking distance of the “best rookie” distinction.

    Star of the day: 80

    The number of stage wins by Stéphane Peterhansel in the greatest rally on Earth following his fourth triumph in 2020 in Haradh. The Frenchman, a six-time champion on a bike and seven-time champion in a car, has won 33 and 47 specials in these classes, respectively. He is the most prolific competitor in Dakar history by far. Trucker Vladimir Chagin, with 63 stage wins, is a distant second.

    Woman rider of the Day

    GasGas Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz took an important step closer to achieving her goal of finishing a 10th Dakar by completing stage 11 from Shubaytah to Haradh. Despite coming close to a fall, Laia finished the penultimate 379-kilometre special in a time of just over four-and-a-half hours, placing 18th for the day on her GasGas RC 450F.

    The 12th and final stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally takes place tomorrow, with competitors departing Haradh and racing north-west to the finish line in Qiddya. With a strong result on the 374-kilometre special Laia can progress into the top 15 in the overall event classification.

    Provisional results: Dakar Rally 2020, stage 11
    1. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 4:09:22
    2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 4:09:31 +0:09
    3. Luciano Benavides (KTM) 4:12:10 +2:48
    18. Laia Sanz (GasGas) 4:33:14 +23:52

    25. Harith Noah (Sherco TVS) 4:48:12 +38.50

    Provisional standings: Dakar Rally 2020 (after stage 11)
    1. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 38:33:28
    2. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 38:47:24 +13:56
    3. Toby Price (KTM) 38:56:02 +22:34
    17. Laia Sanz (GasGas) 42:19:43 +3:46:15

  • Harith Noah finishes Stage 10, the first leg of the marathon stage in 32nd place: #Dakar2020

    Harith Noah finishes Stage 10, the first leg of the marathon stage in 32nd place: #Dakar2020

    Harith Noah of Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team on Wednesday. A DDPI image

    Shubaytah (Saudi Arabia), 115 Jan 2020: Indian rally-raid rider and Dakar debutant Harith Noah of Kerala garnered another stage successfully completing the Stage 10 in 32nd position on Wednesday in the Dakar Experience class of the Moto event.

    Completing the first leg of the Marathon stage without any hiccups, the 29-year-old Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team rider is on the way to become the third Indian to complete Dakar, thanks to the new Experience class, which allows riders to finish the rally without qualifying for a ranking. Noah has missed Stage 3 due to a technical issue with his bike and will not be eligible for an overall ranking but is allowed to complete the rally in Dakar Experience class.

    Sponsored by TVS, Sherco and Mountain Dew, Noah clocked 2 hours, 44 minutes and 41 seconds for the special stage today and is withing 33 minutes of the top riders.

    The other Indian at the Dakar, CS Santosh, of Hero MotoSports Team Rally has withdrawn from the competition following the death of his teammate Paulo Goncalves on Jan 12.

  • Harith Noah finishes Stage 9, a creditable 29th: Dakar Experience category

    Harith Noah finishes Stage 9, a creditable 29th: Dakar Experience category

    #83 Koitha Veettil Harith Noah of Sherco TVS, Sherco TVS Rally Factory team during the Stage 4 on January 8, 2020. Photo – DPPI Media

    Wadi al Dawasir (Saudi Arabia), 14 Jan 2020: The lone Indian rider left in Dakar Rally, Harith Noah of Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team, did a creditable job finishing 29 in the 9th stage as the 42nd Dakar Rally resumed here on Tuesday after the cancellation of the Monday’s Stage 8, mourning the death of Paulo Goncalves of Hero MotoSports, the other Indian team which withdrew from this year’s rally as a mark of respect and mourning for team member who died due to cardiac arrest on Sunday following a crash.

    The other Indian rider, the first from India to complete the Dakar, who was doing well in 35th place at the half-way stage will not be able to complete the rally due to the Team’s decision to withdraw.

    Harith Noah, who could not start on Day 3, due to some technical issue with the bike, will not be eligible for an overall ranking and he is taking part to complete the rally in the new `Dakar Experience’ category that was included this year to allow those who have failed a stage to rejoin from the next day but without any ranking. Noah, however, did a splendid job clocking 4hours, 2minutes and 33 seconds for the 410-km Special Stage of the 886-km Stage 9 from Wadi al Dawasir Haradh.

    The Rally was temporarily paused for all motorcycle class racers as a mark of respect to the deceased Portugese rider who tragically lost his life on Day 7.

     

     

  • Stage 8 cancelled for motorbikes and quads: Dakar2020

    Stage 8 cancelled for motorbikes and quads: Dakar2020

    File photo of Harith Noah from Day 2. Photo by Sherco TVS Rally team

    Wadi al Dawasir (Saudi Arabia), 12 Jan 2020: The decease of Paulo Gonçalves during today’s stage 7 between Riyadh and Wadi Al-Dawasir has left the entire Dakar, especially the bikers, in shock. Paulo, a beloved figure of the rally, was immensely respected by both veterans and less experienced competitors who admired and were inspired by him. After meeting the riders and making a decision together with the entire motorbike family, the organisers have decided to cancel stage 8 for the motorbikes and quads category, which was supposed to take place on a loop course around Wadi Al-Dawasir, in order to give the riders time to mourn their friend.

    The entire Dakar family came together to pay tribute to Paulo at the briefing this evening.

  • The Dakar mourns Indian Team Hero MotoSports’ Paulo Goncalves

    The Dakar mourns Indian Team Hero MotoSports’ Paulo Goncalves

    One of the last pictures of the Portugese rider who died during Stage 7 between Riyadh and Wadi Al-Dawasir, 741 km – SS 546 km, in Saudi Arabia, on January 12, 2020. Photo Eric Vargiolu/ DPPI

    Wadi al Dawasir (Saudi Arabia), 12 Jan 2020: Stage 7 was marked by a crash that claimed the life of Paulo Gonçalves, who was taking part in his 13th Dakar Rally. The victories of Kevin Benavides (motorbikes) and Carlos Sainz (cars) take second place, leaving the centre stage to a memorial to Indian Team, Hero MotoSport’s Portuguese rider to be held during the daily briefing with all competitors present.

    The Dakar mourns Paulo Gonçalves, one of the most experienced and beloved champions of the rally-raid family. The runner-up of the 2015 edition and 2013 cross-country rallies world champion crashed 276 km into a special that was ultimately won by his former teammate Kevin Benavides, who tried in vain to assist the Portuguese rider together with Toby Price, the first competitor to reach the scene of the accident.

    A shocked Indian rider CS Santosh, Goncalves’ Hero MotoSports’ teammate, said that he could not believe that Paulo is no more. Santosh finished the stage in 32nd for an overall ranking of 35. He clocked 5 hours, 13 minutes and 43 seconds for the 741-km stage 7.

    It was a nice tribute on the part of the Argentinian biker, who beat Joan Barreda and Matthias Walkner to claim his first stage win in 2020 after falling out of contention for the overall. Ricky Brabec remains in control of the general classification. In the quad category, Ignacio Casale also defended his lead in spite of Frenchman Simon Vitse’s second stage win in a row.

    The car race again boiled down to a three-way fight featuring Carlos Sainz, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Stéphane Peterhansel, with the Spanish leader of the general classification taking the spoils in Wadi Al-Dawasir thanks to a rock-solid performance. “Chaleco” López surrendered the lead in the SSV category to American Casey Currie, who finished second right behind Blade Hildebrand, now racing under Dakar Experience rules. Finally, Andrey Karginov won the battle of the juggernauts by a slim margin over teammate Dmitry Sotnikov and strengthened his grip on the overall.

    Performance of the Day

    After coming close to a top 10 finish in Wadi Al-Dawasir, Dakar first-timer Martin Michek continued his progression and wrested the position of top rookie in the general classification from Jaume Betriu with 14th place overall. The Czech, one of the rising stars of the sport after a long career in motocross at the global level, has made no mistakes so far. However, a meagre 37 seconds separate Michek from Betriu, promising a fierce battle between the two men for the title of best Dakar rookie.

    Start of the Day

    3 seconds. The difference between truck stage winner Andrey Karginov and runner-up Dmitry Sotnikov after 546 km of racing! A wafer-thin margin that amounts to a distance of just 90 metres between the two Kamaz trucks after completing the stage at an average speed of almost 109 km/h…

    More last photos of Goncalves by Florent Gooden/ DPPI

    Photo for A.S.O._DPPI by Florent Gooden