The most exciting development for Indian motorsports the second year of running the India Baja will begins in Jaisalmer on April 8, is part of the Dakar has been nominated as the one of the Dakar Challenge event. With this rally, the winner of the rally raid will get a free opportunity to participate in the 2017 Merzouga Rally followed by the 40th edition of the Dakar in 2018
The winner of this event will take home a cool 20000€ (₹ 14 lakh appx.)
For the first time saw two Indian teams competing in this event, Hero MotoSports Rally Team and Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team and each had an Indians at their machines.
Hero MotoSports Rally Team
Indian manufacturer Hero launched its own full-fledged rally team this year in cooperation with Germany’s Speedbrain and team was named as Hero Motorsports Team Rally, with Indian Dakar hero CS Santosh and Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodrigues representing the team. Santosh is the first Indian rider to take part in Dakar, having finished 36th in 2015
Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team
Aravind KP,Adrien Metge, R. Nataraj and Abdul Wahid Tanveer will represent Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team at the Indian Baja 2017
Aravind and Metge were part of the Sherco-TVS team at the Dakar this year, with the latter Metge finishing 22nd in the bike section. Nataraj won the Desert Storm earlier this year while Tanveer is the reigning National Supercross champion. All four will ride the RTR 450.
“We are thrilled to see our star rider Aravind KP back along with Tanveer and Nataraj, who are in top form in addition of Adrien Metge from Sherco is a big boost to the team as he brings considerable experience” said B. Selvaraj, Head, TVS Racing.
TVS Racing has just released a video showcasing their entry into this event
