Harith Noah becomes first Indian to win at Dakar Rally

Harith Noah on Friday made history on Friday as he became the first Indian ever to win at the Dakar Rally in the Rally 2 class.

After 2 gruelling weeks in the Saudi Arabian desert, TVS-backed Harith crossed the finish line in 11th place overall. This is the best ranking achieved by an Indian at the rally that’s often referred to as the “toughest race in the world”.

Stage 6 saw him jump from P18 to P13 overall. The Indian set the fastest Rally 2 time in two stages – Stage 8 and Stage 10.

Speaking to Autocar India ahead of his 5th attempt at the Dakar Rally, Noah, who had to overcome 2 major injuries, said that he was determined to improve on his previous best finish of 20th place. Interestingly, that also happened to be the best Dakar result achieved by an Indian.