Harith Noah survives a crash to retain finish 31st

Dakar India report: 707-km Stage 4

David Bodapati January 5, 2022

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Harith Noah action photo of Jan 5 by RUDY CAREZZEVOLI

Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), 5 Jan. 2022: TVS Racing factory team rider Harith Noah continued his exploits successfully finishing the long stage at the gruelling 2022 Dakar Rally here on Wednedsay. Taking part in the top RallyGP class in Moto section, the Kerala rider survived a crash and was in pain but finished 31st to retain his general ranking of 31.

The hard sands were to his liking and Noah, began today’s Stage 4 aggressively but lost pace after the fall at around 300-km point where he hit his shoulder first. But recovered and finished in the tougher part to clock 4 hours, 34 minutes and 14 seconds.

The Hero MotoSports Rally Team’s yesterday’s stage winner Joaquim Rodriques of Portugal slipped to 35th place today and his teammate South African Aaron Mare logged a penalty and finished the stage at 40th position. In the overall rankings, Aaron is in 15th place and JRod is at 19th.

The 707-km stage, including liaison, from Al Qaisumah to Riyadh, was won by Joan Barreda Bort of Spain. Noah’s teammates from Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team came out in flying colours and challenged for stage podium through out the 11 WayPoints. The youngster among the two, Rui Goncalves, finished third while Lorenzo Santolino, followed him in fourth. Spaniard Santolino is now in Overall 5th place while Goncalves is lying in 38th place behind Noah (31st).

Portuguese rider Rui Goncalves, who got his first stage podium in Dakar, said: “It was a long stage where you needed to stay focused and avoid mistakes. It went pretty well, I stayed positive throughout the stage. At first, I rode alongside Barreda and, after that, I spent most of the time with Quintanilla. They’re good companions, not least because I can learn a lot from them in my second Dakar.”

“It was a longer stage with less sand today and to my liking as the sand was hard like in India. I had good pace till I had a crash where I landed on my shoulder. Later, I took easy as I was in pain and just managed to finish the stage. Xray and ultrasound revealed no damage and yes, I am game to race tomorrow again,” said Noah, the 28-year Sports Science graduate and a five-time Indian National champion.

Astride a Sherco 450 SEF rally-prepared machine, the TVS rider from Kerala, shot into the top-16 after the first waypoint, gaining 13 places from his 29th position, but rode in pain after the fall and finished the course admirably and even managed to retain his position.

Dakar Rally 2022

Stage 4 Provisional Classification

1. Joan Barreda (Honda) 4:06:06;

2. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 4:10:43 + 0:04:37;

3. Rui Goncalves (Sherco) 4:14:05 + 0:07:59;

4. Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) 4:15:02 + 0:08:56;

5. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 4:16:01 + 0:09:55;

6. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 4:16:21 + 0:10:15;

31. Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Team) 4:34:14 + 0:27:08;

Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 4)

1. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 15:30:01;

2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 15:33:01 + 0:03:00;