Indian rider Harith Noah set for seventh Dakar Rally outing

Yanbu (Saudi Arabia), Jan 2 (PTI) India's leading rally-raid rider Harith Noah is set to compete in his seventh Dakar Rally when the 48th edition of the world's toughest motorsport event gets underway here on Saturday.

The 32-year-old from Kerala will once again represent India at the Dakar Rally, scheduled from January 3 to 17, when the competition returns to Saudi Arabia for the sixth successive year.

A short prologue in Yanbu on January 3 will decide the start order for the main rally, followed by two punishing weeks of competition before the rally returns to the Red Sea on January 17.

The route spans nearly 8,000 kilometres, including approximately 4,800 kilometres of high-speed timed Selective Sections (SS) across dunes, rocky terrain, and unforgiving plateaus.

January 10 is a single rest day in Riyadh to recover and reset before the final week.

A five-time Indian National Supercross Champion, Noah last won a National crown in 2018 before committing himself fully to rally-raid preparation in 2019 and made his Dakar debut in 2020, the first time Dakar moved to Saudi Arabia.

Astride the TVS Sherco RTR 450, he will line up for his seventh start.

Noah has sharpened his race craft through three world rally-raid championship events in 2025, but his landmark Rally 2 class victory, the first-ever by an Indian rider at Dakar, remains a defining moment in his career.

However, Dakar is known for its unforgiving nature. In 2025, a crash during the prologue forced Noah out before the opening stage.

"Mistakes will happen. It's about how you deal with them. It's extremely hard mentally to go to Dakar and have it end before it even begins due to injury. That's not a nice feeling," he said.

"But I can't change what has already happened. Going forward, my focus is always on giving my best rather than chasing results. Giving 100 per cent and learning from mistakes is what matters most," he added. PTI ATK PM PM