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.

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).