India solo rider Harith Noah finished 28th after stage 6 – The New Indian Express

Through PTI

RIYAD: The only Indian driver in this year’s Dakar rally, Harith Noah of Sherco TVS Racing Factory survived some dangerous terrain and a few crashes to place 28th overall after stage 6 of the Motorcycle section of the off-road rally most difficult in the world here.

Five-time national champion from Bangalore, Noah fell in the first stage and finished 36th out of 145 riders but continued to improve his ranking to the 31st after the 4th stage and the 30th after the 5th stage. He continued his progress admirably on Friday, despite a painful shoulder, and finished 28th overall, with a time of 21: 47.07s.

The motorcycles and quads special was stopped at the first neutralization zone after 101 km on Friday. The degradation of the tracks due to the passage of cars and trucks from the previous stage in the opposite direction, combined with recent heavy rains, made the route impractical.

The classification of stage 6 was established at the bar of 101 km. Noah’s teammate, Lorenzo Santolino, is in sixth position overall after stage 6 while Rui Gonçalves is ranked 32nd. Joaquim Rodriques of Hero MotoSports Team Rally is ranked 18th overall, while his South African teammate Aaron Mare slipped to 16th position.

The Briton Sam Sunderland of Gasgas Factory Racing is the leader of the general classification after stage 6 with a time of 19: 55.59s, while the Austrian Matthias Walkner (19: 58.38s) of Redbull KTM Factory Racing and the Australian Daniel Sanders (20: 01.34s) of Gasgas Factory Racing finished second and third respectively.