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Tag: Harith Noah
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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 -
I will be riding a nimble, lighter machine, says Harith Noah
Jeddah, 28 Dec 2022: The 44th edition of lthe Dakar will double as the opening round of the FIA and FIM World Rally-rid Championships for Cross-Country Rallying. India will be represented by a lone rider Harith Noah who says: “I will be riding a nimble, lighter machine.”
The inclusion of the crown jewel of rally raids in a season-long competition offers a historic opportunity to unify the regulations of the sport an rise the profile year-round. ASO will be the Promoter of these Championships with the ambition to meet the high expectations of riders, co-drivers, and constructors, as well as viewers and fans who follow their exploits on screen.
Round 1: Dakar, Saudi Arabia 1 to 14 Jan 2022;
Round 2: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, 5 to 10 March, 2022;
Round 3: Rally Kazakhstan 25 to 30 April, 2022;
Round 4: Andalucia Rally, 7 to 12 June 2022;
Round 5 Rallye du Maroc 7 to 12 October 2022;
Harith Noah – An interview from Dakar.com
It took him 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 the footsteps of pioneers Santosh CS and Aravind Prabhakar, the young man from Shoranur in Kerala 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 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 third attempt, the 28-year old will again be alongside his team mates Lorenzo Santolino and Rui Gonçalves with the simple goal to once again finish whatever his previous performance.
“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,” says Harith Noah, the five-time Indian Supercross champion.
“My focus was really on supercross, not the Dakar and then TVS got involved. Concerning last year’s Dakar: at the end of the day I can only ride as well as I can. I was actually surprised I was 20th. I am the same guy I was before 20th position. This one result doesn’t mean it is always going to be like this. So many things can go wrong. There are always going to be problems. It’s about how you overcome them.
“I am in the best shape physically after over six months of training and riding at the beach in my hometown in Kerala post last Dakar. Since September, I have been in Europe to focus more on roadbooks and navigation training. Two weeks ago, the team went to Morocco again as it is a good place to train with the long roadbooks similar to the Dakar.
“The bike is brand new and I will be riding a nimble, lighter machine that is easier to ride and much more comfortable in technical sections,” Noah concluded.
The 12 Stages (SS) and distances at Dakar 2022 in Saudi Arabia -
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.”
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Harith Noah begins Dakar prep with Rallye du Maroc
Zagora, 7 October 2021: Five-time Indian National Champion, Harith Noah, who completed a tremendously successful Dakar 2021, will begin his preparations with the Rallye du Maroc for the next six days. The ace Indian champion, backed by TVS, has left India a fortnight ago to acclimatise and is raring to go. Last Dakar, his brilliant riding and navigation saw him become the first Indian to finish in the top-20 of the toughest cross-country rally in the world.
“I am back on the rally bike after a long and time and all-set in competition mode. Looking forward for a week of racing in Morocco. It has not been the best of places for me. Let us see how it goes this time around. It is basically to shrug off the lethargy and switch gears in preparation for the Dakar,” said India’s youngest and best finisher at Dakar, Harith Noah, talking to this website.
Action in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies resumes this week with the fourth event in this year’s series, Rallye du Maroc scheduled to run from October 7 to 13. Based around a central bivouac in Zagora, south of Ouarzazate, the five legs take in a wide range of technical, fast and sandy tracks, as well as dunes, and will be the setting for world-class action on the 21st anniversary event running in the Draa River valley in the southeast of Morocco.
Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov head an impressive entry list in their MINI John Cooper Works Rally. The Russians, leading the series with two second positions overall this season, are however in the thick of a battle with Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel who are just half a point adrift in the FIA World Cup standings. The Qatari/French Toyota pairing, returning to action in the series for the first since the opening round in Spain, are not only multiple champions in the discipline, but have an imposing history of five victories on Rallye du Maroc (2014-2018).
Lucio Alvarez and Armand Monleon hold joint third in the series alongside Mattias Ekström, the Argentine/Spanish pairing having claimed the win in Kazakhstan. Ekström and Emil Bergkvist will also be fighting hard for top honours and, on equal points and with just two separating them and Al Attiyah/Baumel, the Swedes will be looking to close the gap and better their third-place finish on Rally Kazakhstan in June. Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Michael Orr also return to action in their Toyota Hilux Overdrive. The Saudi Arabian/British duo have had a fine run on recent events in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, with Al-Rajhi leading the series with one round remaining. With a fifth place finish in Morocco in 2019, when the event last ran due to the pandemic, they need to capitalise on the momentum to reduce the eight point deficit to the lead in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.
The French crew of Ronan Chabot and Gilles Pillot have one fourth place finish to their names this season, and the Polish/German pairing of Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk join the contenders for the first time this year. They finished third on the event in 2019. A host of other top cross-country drivers also join the action in Morocco, including Paulo Ferreira, Sebastian Halpern and Mathieu Serradori, who so nearly claimed a maiden victory with the Century CR6 in Kazakhstan.
The 13-strong field of T3 contenders is headed by Cristina Gutierrez, who is co-driven by Frenchman François Cazalet. The Spanish OT3 driver is leading the category by 20.5 points after winning in Spain and Kazakhstan and her nearest rival, Fernando Alvarez, will again be pushing hard after claiming two second positions in T3 this season.
No fewer than 25 crews have entered in T4 with the top three series rivals going head to head. American, Austin Jones, leads the category with a 27.5 point advantage over Dutchman Kees Koolen, while Eugenio Amos trails by a further seven points. All three will be fielding Can-Am Mavericks with the chasing pack looking to topple their top results.
RALLY DATA
Total distance 2,686.80 km Selective section distance: 1,633.52 km (60.8 %) Number of selective sections: 6 LEADING ENTRIES
Denis Krotov/Konstantin Zhiltsov MINI John Cooper Works Rally Nasser Al Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel Toyota Hilux Overdrive Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist MINI John Cooper Works Rally Yazeed Al Rajhi/Michael Orr Toyota Hilux Overdrive Ronan Chabot/Gilles Pillot Toyota Hilux Overdrive Jakub Przygonski/Timo Gottschalk MINI John Cooper Works Buggy Paulo Rui Ferreira/David Monteiro Toyota Hilux Overdrive Sebastian Halpern/Bernardo Graue MINI John Cooper Works Buggy Mathieu Serradori/Loic Minaudier Century CR6 Lucio Alvarez/Armand Monleon Toyota Hilux Overdrive RALLYE DU MAROC – TIMETABLE & MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
Thursday October 7 Scrutineering From 09:00 hrs Pre-event press conference 19:00 hrs Friday October 8 – Leg 1/Section 1 Start of the rally/SS1A (10 km) 16:42 hrs Saturday October 9 – Leg 1/Section 2 Start of SS1B (288.24 kilometres) 11:33 hrs First car arrives bivouac 15:48 hrs Sunday October 10 – Leg 2 Start of SS2 (334.66 kilometres) 11:48 hrs First car arrives bivouac 17:05 hrs Monday October 11 – Leg 3 Start of SS3 (342 kilometres) 11:08 hrs First car arrives bivouac 18:01 hrs Tuesday October 12 – Leg 4 Start of SS4 (367.43 kilometres) 11:03 hrs First car arrives bivouac 16:57hrs Wednesday October 13 – Leg 5 Start of SS5 (291.19 kilometres) 10:58 hrs First car arrives Parc Fermé 15:12 hrs Podium/Prize-Giving 20:30 hrs FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – Classifications:
https://www.fia.com/events/world-cup-cross-country-rallies/season-2021/classifications-2 -
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
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#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.” -
Lorenzo podium for Sherco TVS team; Santosh finishes 23rd
Andalucia, 10 October 2020: Consistently fast on these Spanish pistes and navigating superbly, overall victory on the Andalucía Rally 2020 went to the Argentinian Kevin Benavides (Monster Energy Honda Rally). Second (at 7’42) was Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Yamaha Rally), a remarkable comeback for the Frenchman after his big Dakar crash.Just seconds behind him in third (at 7’54) was an impressive Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco TVS Rally Factory), achieving his first major rally podium.
Both the Indian rally riders, who took part in the rally finished the event. Hero’s CS Santosh finished a creditable 23rd while Harith Noah of Sherco TVS managed to complete the rally in 43rd place. Santosh’s teammate Joaquim Rodriques finished 11th.
In the cars, the favorite going into this rally didn’t disappoint, with Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) taking a hard earned victory. Much to his surprise, Carlos Sainz (X-Raid Mini JCW) managed to get his 2-wheel drive buggy into second place 3’14 behind the winner, with Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive) third at 10’31.
Holding the overall lead since the start of this Andalucía Rally 2020, Kevin Benavides was the man on form here in Spain, aboard his Monster Energy Honda, and delighted to take this victory in the run up to the Dakar. Commented the Argentinian: “Obviously we haven’t been doing a lot of racing since the Dakar but I have been training hard and working with a sports psychologist to maximize my performance. I live near Salta and the tracks there aren’t dissimilar to what we discovered here in Andalusia so that helps. I didn’t really have a strategy I just took each day at a time. The bike went really well and the team did a great job.”
If Kevin Benavides started this morning with a relatively comfortable margin, the same couldn’t be said for second placed man overall Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Yamaha Rally). Indeed, at km 152 his challenger for the second step on the podium Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco TVS Rally) was 3 seconds in the virtual lead. Said Adrien at the finish line: “After my crash on the Dakar, for the first time in my career, I wondered if I really wanted to continue racing. I thought about it a lot and in the end I decided to continue for myself, for my personal satisfaction. That’s not to say I’m not grateful to my team and my sponsors, but it was an important shift in mentality for me. So, to come back here and prove to myself that I am capable of running at the top of the pack is a grand satisfaction. Many thanks to David Castera and his team for making this race possible.”
In third place, taking his first podium racing against the cream of rally-raid riders, was the Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco TVS Factory): “Yes, super happy to finish third here. Maybe, the fact that I am Spanish and we were racing on Spanish soil was good for me but it is nevertheless important for my confidence going into the Dakar. The team has been working hard to develop the bike and it went really well here, so many thanks to them.”
Lorenzo Santolino in action on the final day. Photos by ODC Away from the podium there were noteworthy performances from the rookie Australian Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory) who showed right from the start that he had the speed, by finishing ex aequo with teammate Toby Price on the Super Special, and that he’d made spectacular progress with the navigation by winning today’s last stage, just 7 seconds ahead of his countryman Toby Price. Special mention also to Monster Energy Yamaha Rally’s new recruit Ross Branch who won a special and was in the hunt overall until he ran into problems on yesterday’s stage. Clearly, he has the right pace and the right attitude to achieve great things.
In Rally 2 victory went to multi world enduro champion David Knight (HT Rally) ahead of Czech freestyler Libor Podmol with Camille Chapeliere (KTM Baines Motos) third. Commented the big bloke from the Isle of Man: “The main thing here for me was to finish the race to validate my 2021 Dakar entry, so that’s mission accomplished. To win the Rally 2 class is obviously a big bonus. Having done this rally I’m actually looking forward to the Dakar more than before I started it. It’s a really interesting sport and you learn something every day. Today for example, over the second part, I calmed down a little and really concentrated on the navigation to avoid any penalties and I actually rode much better. But for sure when I get to Dakar it will be an even bigger learning curve.” Finally, in the Road to Dakar challenge victory goes to the Spaniard Tosha Schareina (450 HVA) with David Knight’s world enduro championship victories making him ineligible for the category. Tosha also wins the Enduro Cup category ahead of the Frenchman Matthieu Doveze (KTM) and another Spaniard Ruben Saldaña Goñi, also riding a 450 HVA.
In the quads victory goes to Jerôme Connart ahead of fellow Frenchman Alexandre Giroud with the Pole Kamil Wisniewski third.
In the cars, Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) might have come here to prepare for the next Dakar, but consummate competitor that he is, he also came to win. Job done for the popular driver who adds this first Andalucía Rally 2020 to his already very impressive tally. Al Attiyah: “I’m so happy to win here. Thank you to Toyota Gazoo Racing, thank you to Overdrive, really this was an amazing race for us. Not easy because everybody coming here to win and show that they are ready for the next Dakar. Thanks to the organization, ODC Events for putting on this rally and also to the region, Andalusia. The landscape is so beautiful.”
If Nasser Al Attiyah came here with high hopes, his rival Carlos Sainz (Mini X-Raid JCW), by his own admission, really wasn’t expecting to achieve much in his ‘unsuitably’ big 2 wheel drive buggy, that he opted to race so as to continue to develop it for the next Dakar. Sainz: “It was a good decision to come here, even with the 2 wheel drive, to get kilometres in the car. I’m happy with the result. If, before the rally, you asked me if I could take second overall with this car I would reply to you that it would be difficult. Given the time the organisers had to put this race together it was successful and I congratulate everybody involved.”
Despite the disappointment of going out of contention for victory after yesterday’s 10 minute time penalty, Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive) was happy with his pace on the rally and even happier to be once again reunited with his co-driver Dirk Von Zitzewitz. Al Rajhi: “For sure I’m very happy. We enjoyed it and Dirk did a great job. It is very tricky driving here but we reached our target of having a good rhythm and good speed. Now we have the training to get ready for January.”
Joaquim Rodriques of Hero Rally team finished 11th. In the T2 class for series, 4×4 Akira Miura (Land Cruiser Toyota AutoBody) wins in front of his teammate Ronald Basso with Cristina Giampaoli (4WD Jaton Racing).
In T3 it is Mitch Guthrie (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team) ahead of his teammate Kevin Hansen with Jean Luc Pisson third (Zephyr PH Sport).
In the SSV T4 class, it is Aron Domzala (Monster Energy Can-Am) ahead of his teammate Gerard Farrés with the Portuguese driver Rui Carneiro (MMP Can-Am T4) third and winner of the Road to Dakar challenge. Aron Domzala: “We were really nervous on the last part. We had a good lead and I think we have a win. In two and a half years in the car with Maciej, we did a lot of strong results but this is our first win together, so a special race for us. First time with the Monster Energy Can-Am, a great car and a great team – a great combination.”
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Harith Noah completes Dakar Rally 2020 in Dakar Experience class
Haradh (Saudi Arabia) 17 Jan 2020: Indian rider and Dakar debutante Harith Noah completed the Dakar Rally, albeit in a lesser Dakar Experience class for those who have not finished a stage, as the Keralite finished the 12th and final stage in a noteworthy 27th place as the 42nd Dakar Rally which was held for the first time in Saudi Arabia came to a conclusion.
The Sherco TVS rookie was forced to switch on to the Dakar Experience category, a new class which was introduced this year to allow those who have not completed a stage to rejoin the rally and complete it. CS Santosh the first rider to take part in Dakar and who also became the first Indian to complete the Dakar Rally successfully had to withdraw from this year’s rally midway as his team Hero MotoSports took a decision to withdraw from the rally as a mark of respect to the Paulo Goncalves, who died following a crash in the 7th stage. KP Arvind of TVS Racing is the second Indian who has completed the Dakar Rally in 2019, in his third attempt, but had to pull out due to an injury, which gave Harith Noah a chance to make his debut.
Harith Noah action on Day 2 finishing overall 65th on Monday. Photo by Sherco TVS Rally team -
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 +23:5225. 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 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.
