Stunning Harith Noah posts Dakar’s top-5; Second Rally2 stage win in 3 days: Stage 10
The Keralite is hailed as the "Best performer of the Day"
Al Ula (Saudi Arabia), 17 January 2024: Ace rider from India, Harith Noah, dished out stunning stuff to not only claim a historic second stage win in three days in the Rally 2 class but achieved a mind-boggling Overall fifth in the general rankings of the Motorcycle class in the tenth stage that was shaped by tricky navigation on Wednesday.
Performance of the Day
The heroic show by the Sherco TVS Rally Factory rider was hailed at the “Performance of the Day” by the Dakar 2024 team.
“I can’t believe it!” It is how a visibly-pleased Harith Noah said after the stage. “I had almost perfect navigation and I felt good on the bike. There was a lot of dust today, and I had to be patient. I got a little lost at the end but overall, I did well. One more day is done and two to go. Tomorrow, it will be more complicated with more rocks. I have progressed since last year, but that is not my favourite terrain,” he concluded.
With only 106 of the 142 riders that took the start in the Prologue, surviving the 12 day, the 30-year Kerala rider took a historic fifth place among the 106 riders. He is only the second rider from Rally 2 class who cracked the tough top-5 in Dakar 2024. Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing) had already taken fourth place in Stage 1. On Wednesday, it was the Sherco factory rider Harith Noah, astride a 450 SEF Rally, the Sherco TVS Rally Factory rider came in fifth. It was a career-best performance for the Indian, who is racing in his fifth Dakar and has only managed to complete the rally once.
Third Indian to finish Dakar
Back in 2021, he became the third Indian to finish the race, which he did in 20th place. Indian pioneer CS Santosh became the first Indian to finish Dakar in 2015 when he toiled for two weeks and came in 36th place. In 2019, another Sherco TVS rider, Aravind KP, became the second Indian to finish Dakar in 37th place, in his third attempt.
First from India in top-5
In 2023, Noah hurt his back and escaped a serious injury to the spinal cord and returned to competition in the Baja Aragón last January. He is now second overall in his class, just 4min 31sec behind Romain Dumontier. The inclusion of a rider from India in the line-up of the French brand Sherco can be traced back to their rally-raid partnership with the Indian maker TVS. India, represented by Harith and the constructor Hero, is making its mark on the Dakar scene. None of its entrants had ever-finished so high up in a stage of the Dakar before.
Today’s loop – a tough one for navigation
Harith Noah prides himself in his navigation and loves when it is tough. Fresh memories never lie. Seeing the loop carved out near Al Ula, starting and finishing at the bivouac where he had gathered less than two weeks ago, it was a given that this special was going to be a wild ride. The timed sector stretched for 371 kilometres on sandy terrain with a need for speed, either on the track or off-track, sometimes through rocky areas, but almost invariably with nuances to decipher in the road book. The showdown among the leading competitors was shaped by tricky navigation in the motorbike race and Noah cracked it with ease before a small hiccup in the end, but managed to stay safe and stayed on the top. It was a very nice loop around Al ULa, and the route offered exceptional landscapes with huge rocks but the riders had no time to enjoy any of it. They had to slalom through these rock formations, searching for the right track through the middle of the canyons. It was a magnificent stage, including a special that was over 370 km, which was announced as being less technical.
His performance today was his best result in this most prestigious of rally-raids. He is now in second place in the provisional ranking of the Rally2 category and with two days remaining he is expected to do much better than his target – an Overall P15.
Sherco teammate Goncalves’ heroics
Noah’s teammate from Sherco, Rui Goncalves had bad visibility in the morning as it was greatly reduced by the presence of the sun. Gonçalves suffered a significant fall at kilometer 5, damaging his motorcycle and severely twisting the handlebars. He also suffered physical injuries, requiring stitches to his elbow and he received a large hematoma on the thigh. Despite these difficulties, he managed to accomplish an impressive special stage. After his fall, he was in 24th position, but he persevered and eventually finished in 11th place, covering 365 km with twisted handlebars. This result is remarkable considering the difficult conditions!
Rui Gonçalves said: “After my fall I knew that the day was going to be long and that I had to grit my teeth. This is what I tried to do throughout the whole day even though I was in a good amount of pain, I didn’t give up and we’re getting closer to a top-10 result. I went for a medical check-up at the end of the day. I will try to recover for tomorrow. The whole team is working to get prepared for the next stage. I want to thank everyone for all your encouraging messages which help me every day to get to the finish.”
Stage 10 ranking
Rui Gonçalves: P11
Harith Noah: P5 (P1 in Rally2 class)
Provisional general classification
Rui Gonçalves: P24
Harith Noah: P12
Tomorrow – Penultimate Stage 11
On Thursday, the riders will compete in the penultimate stage of the Dakar, from Alula to Yanbu, covering 527km, including 420km of special stages and 107km of liaison stages.
