KOCHI: Kerala rider Harith Noah created history on Monday by becoming the first Indian ever to win a stage at the iconic Dakar Rally. Noah, representing Sherco TVS Rally Factory squad, won Stage 8 in the Rally 2 class in his fifth Dakar.
Born in Germany and brought up in Shornur, the 30-year-old is only the third Indian after KP Aravind and CS Santosh to participate in the prestigious Dakar rally.
Despite suffering from a bout of cold, Harith had finished 16th overall in Stage 7. But on Monday, he posted the best in-class time at the first checkpoint itself.
Harith sits 13th in the overall standings after Stage 8 and third in Rally 2 class.
"P11 (overall standing) Stage 8, 458km. Felt good on the bike and my sickness is getting better too. I guess everything feels good when you do good. Focused on navigation and pushed when comfortable, lost some time trying to find the way in the second part. Tomorrow is another day and the Dakar is far from over," Noah posted on Facebook after the race on Monday.
Noah started his racing career in 2011 and has won seven national championships in the Supercross category. He was crowned champion in the MRF National Supercross Championship in Group A & B, consecutively in 2011 and 2012.
In 2014, he won the MRF National Supercross Championship in the Foreign Open class category.
His most challenging and successful year was 2017 when he won five out of six events he competed in, and a year later he added another National Supercross Championship to the kitty.
It was in 2018 that Noah made his international rally debut with the Rally of Morocco.
