Jaisalmer, April 8, 2017: Northern Motorsport organized India Baja 2017 – Dakar Challenge Series saw an exciting day of action, which started at 6:00 AM in the morning with 32 Moto and 32 Xtreme (car category) riders. The day ended with completion of four stages with Joaquim Rodrigues leading in the Moto category followed by Aravind KP and Abdul Tanveer stood third at the end of the day.
Raj Singh Rathore lead the Xtreme category with a one-minute lead over second place Gaurav Chiripal followed by Himanshu Arora in the third place.
The stages included some really harsh terrains where the riders covered a total distance of 289.56 Km over four special stages. The s first stage that started at Majid ki Basti ended at Bandha followed by stage 2, which was held in the sand dunes of Asu Tar testing the endurance of the competitors. The action in the second stage was really heated as there were many crashes and many riders making up for lost time in the first stage. The third stage proved be rather pivotal in the context of the rally which started from Banda ended with only 15 Moto and 18 Xtreme (car participants) participants.
As eventful was the action on the Day 2 of the race there were some unfortunate results as well. The biggest upset of the day came in the form TVS racing rider and Dakar Star Adrien Metge who had a vehicle failure making him unable to complete the fourth stage of the rally and excluding him from the race. One of the other upsets was Sunny Sidhu losing his way in stage 2 leading to his exclusion as well from the race. One of India’s bright women riders in the form of Sarah Kashyap who was 20th in the start order also couldn’t make it past the third stage. The women contingent all over had a bad outing with Baishali Nath couldn’t make it past the first stage and the sister duo of Anu and Poonam Rana who started was 26th on the start order lost their way after a bad crash at a stiff turn in stage 1 of the rally.
The rally will again restart with 13 participants in Moto and 14 in Xtreme category with everyone looking to build on a great performance in the first four stages of the first ever Dakar Challenge Series event in India.The fifth stage of the race will begin at Bhuwana stretching up to Mangaliyawas with almost a distance of 88.53 Km and the sixth stage will begin at Turkon ki Basti and end at Majid Ki Basti with a distance of 52.21 Km. The two stages for the day will cover a distance of approximately 141 Km to mark the end of the first ever Dakar Challenge Series in India.
About India Baja 2017:
Northern Motorsports created India Baja in 2016 with the aim of giving Indian riders a chance to compete at the international level. The race was conceived on the lines of the Baja races that is extremely popular in Europe. The Baja format involves racing from dawn to dusk. The tight schedule of stages and long competitive distances make it an extremely challenging format.
This year, the second edition of India Baja will run as Dakar Challenge event, which the property of ASO. India Baja 2017 will be run in the mighty Thar Desert on the outskirts of the golden city of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, which has some of the biggest dunes in the country. This year, with a competitive distance of 430 km and demanding conditions in the desert with temperatures reaching in the high 40s, it will be a test of mental and physical endurance for the participants.
About Northern Motorsport India:
In 2001 a team of experienced motorsport enthusiasts came together with the objective of revitalising motorsport in the region by conceiving and curating some innovative events. Today, with more than 50 events later, Northern Motorsport is considered a pioneer in its field. The club has successfully devised and conducted a wide range of events, from Sunday navigation fun rallies like the Maruti Suzuki Women’s Power Drive, Nautica Navigators and the Ford Family Challenge to extremely technical National Championship Rallies like the Rally of the North and Rally Desert Storm, which is India’s first international cross-country rally and the Indian National Autocross Championship.
Northern Motorsport has worked closely with and successfully executed tailormade events for Indian corporate entities such as Maruti Udyog, Mahindra, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, JK Tyres, Apollo tyres, Mobil, Fosters, Lease Plan, Ford, Nautica and MRF. The organisation is also credited with being the Indian partners for the globally acclaimed overland expedition ‘PETRONAS SOUTH ASIA EXPEDITION ‘ from KL, Malaysia through Thailand, Vietnam, China, Tibet and then into India, as well as the ‘ HIMALAYAN TRAIL 08’ driving in from Europe to Bhutan.
Given the nature of the events organised by Northern Motorsports, which also promotes tourism, various state governments have actively supported the club’s endeavour.
Northern Motorsport the infrastructure and manpower to design and execute most motorsport format events as well as provide backend assistance to other clubs for conducting such events. Members of the organization are formally accredited to provide technical support to the ASN of the country. Teams supported by Northern Motorsport have successfully competed in the international motorsport arena.
