Dakar 2022: Harith Noah survives crash, retains 31st place

As
per
a

Media
Release,
the
28-year-old,
who
competes
in
the
top
RallyGP
class
in
Moto
section,
retained
his
general
ranking
of
31
after
the
707kms
Stage
4
which
was
was
won
by
Spain’s
Joan
Barreda
Bort.

The
hard
sands
were
to
his
liking
and
Noah,
began
Stage
4
aggressively,
but
lost
pace
after
the
fall
at
around
300kms
point
where
he
hit
his
shoulder
first.

Dakar
2022:
Harith
Noah
continues
impressive
run

But
the
Kerala-based
rider
recovered
and
finished
in
the
tougher
part
to
clock
4hrs,
34
min
and
14sec.

“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.

Dakar
2022:
India’s
lone
rider
Harith
Noah
eyes
a
good
show
in
Saudi
Arabian
deserts

Noah,
the
Sports
Science
graduate
and
a
five-time
Indian
national
champion,
astride
a
Sherco
450
SEF
rally-prepared
machine,
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.

The
Hero
MotoSports
Rally
Team’s
Stage
3
winner
Joaquim
Rodriques
of
Portugal
slipped
to
35th.

His
team-mate
South
African
Aaron
Mare
logged
a
penalty
and
finished
the
stage
40th.
In
the
overall
rankings,
Aaron
is
in
15th
place
and
Rodrigues
is
19th.

Noah’s
team-mates
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.

Santolino
is
now
in
5th
overall
while
Goncalves
is
lying
38th.

Four
things
to
know
about
Dakar
Rally
2022

The
44th
Dakar
Rally
which
began
with
a
Prologue
on
the
New
Year’s
day
is
slated
to
conclude
on
January
14
after
12
stages.
The
rest
day
is
on
January
8
at
Riyadh.

Organised
by
Amaury
Sport
Organisation
(ASO),
it
is
the
third
year
that
the
most-demanding
off-road
rally
is
being
held
in
Saudi
Arabia.

The
special
stages
which
started
start
in
Ha’il
and
will
end
in
Jeddah,
is
slated
to
go
through
canyons
and
cliffs
in
the
Neom
region,
passing
by
the
Red
Sea
coastline,
into
stretches
of
dunes
surrounding
Riyadh,
with
a
lot
more
action
on
sand
dunes
in
the
Empty
Quarter.

The
total
distance
of
the
route
is
nearly
7,500
kms.
Only
an
elite
few,
who
were
successful
in
another
qualifier,
join
the
world’s
best
at
premier
break-or-make
event
in
the
cross-country
rally
world.

The
risks
for
the
most-demanding
off-road
races
get
bigger
every
year
as
the
talent
pool
also
gets
deeper,
with
organisers
ASO
out
to
contain
top
speeds
by
keeping
the
roadbooks
tight
and
tough,
meaning
navigation
is
crucial.

The
highly
competitive
field
will
try
their
hardest
to
complete
all
stages
from
Jeddah
to
Ha’il
and
Riyadh
then
back
again
with
a
slew
of
fascinating
stories
set
to
play
out
across
the
respective
vehicle
categories.