[Haroon]

History has been made today. Harith Noah from India finishes 20th in Dakar 2021 in Saudi Arabia.
Heroes needn't always stand on a podium as 1-2-3

The Dakar Rally(formerly Paris-Dakar Rally) is undoubtedly one of the toughest & most dangerous races in the world. For the spectators and Dakar lovers its 12-14 days of following spectacular motor racing thru some absolutely jaw dropping rugged & unforgiving terrain, where the fortunes of the lead participants can change from day to day and even self funded small private participants still have a chance to beat some of the best funded/sponsored teams purely on riding skills and some bit of luck. In spite of the many dangers they face, its still a race they want to return to every year if their health and huge monetary backup all align together. Sadly today we got the bad news that a French rider Pierre Cherpin(111) passed away from the injuries he sustained on Stage 7. RIP

For the uninitiated, a 2-wheeler entry for the Dakar cost north of 1 Crore while for 4-wheelers it could be in the range of 20-30 crores depending on many conditions. A rally with close to 500 participants and about 1800 organizer/support staff is no mean event to organize.

Living in Jeddah I was fortunate to briefly watch in-person live at a distance of 10-20 meters the whole caravan pass on its prologue stage in spite of severe restrictions for spectators due to Covid. Nevertheless, I also had a wonderful fan moment when I was proudly waving out the Indian tricolor to cheer the 3 Indian riders C S Santosh(50), Ashish Raorane(82) and Harith Noah(33) and on a lonely mountain road where they all waved at me, while Santosh stopped and we had a brief chat and his wonderful words- So nice of you to bring the flag! I reciprocated - So nice of you to stop. I wished him and then he vroomed off.

As I was following the daily standings, it was heartwarming to see that all the 3 Indian riders were riding very well and advancing their rankings when disaster struck. First Santosh had a big crash and a concussion to his head and was put into an induced coma at the Saudi German Hospital in Riyadh. Security being tight, I was able to get daily updates thru some good friends connected with the hospital and got to know Santosh was doing well albeit under observation. I am sure the prayers of a whole nation was with him. Around the same time another brilliant rider Ashish also had a crash and he was also out of the race (subsequently this brave heart joined back the rally in the Experience category). And that left the Dakar 2021 with a lone Indian rider on his second outing in the Dakar- Harith Noah remaining in the race. On a lighter note how can you not find a malayalee even in the Dakar! I must admit I never knew of his personal or racing past till this Dakar. Every evening Saudi time around 5pm, I was scrolling down the daily ranking looking for that rider no 33 with the IND written next to him and I was amazed to see him consistently clocking in the mid-late 20s in daily standing which is a stupendous achievement in the Dakar especially for a guy on just his second outing in this Rally. He had a few bad crashes and small navigation errors but this guy seemed like one hard nut that was determined to give it the best shot he can.

And today Harith has created history by finishing a very respectable 20th in the Bike category, it makes every Indian proud and he owes a standing ovation. I know since he is not in the sport that holds an english willow bat, but the effort, pains and struggles is no less in this sport as well. And for those that think 1-2-3 is the ultimate result, we owe it to all such heroes who give it their everything including Santosh and Ashish who put our country on top there among the best in the world.

Congratulations to the young man from Shoranur in Kerala- Harith Noah and also wishing Santosh and Ashish for their untiring efforts and strong performance.
Jai Hind