The second edition of the India Baja – an international motorsports event promoted by Northern Motorsports India – will be held from April 7-9, 2017, in the Golden City of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
The event this year will have the added attraction of being the third inclusion to the Dakar Challenge series, along with the Sonora Rally in South Africa and the Afriquia Merzouga Rally in Morocco.
India Baja 2017 will be the first motorsports event from the country to achieve this distinction. This means an opportunity to the moto winner in the two-wheeler category will be granted a free-entry at the 2018 Dakar Rally, which will begin from Peru in January 2018.
The moto winner will also get a free entry in the Afriquia Merzouga Rally in Morocco that will be held in May 2017 and is part of the Dakar Series of races. Both the Dakar Challenge and Dakar Series races are meant to unearth fresh talent to compete in the ultimate off-road race on the Planet – the Dakar Rally.
For the winning rider at the India Baja, the free entries in the two top-level global competitions translate into a prize worth in excess of € 20,000. Rajasthan Tourism is partnering Northern Motorsports India for smooth organisation of the India Baja 2017.
Raj Kapoor, co-founder – Northern Motorsports, said: “The 2017 edition of the India Baja has all the makings of an exciting motorsport event. We will see state-of-the-art competition machines fighting in the extreme heat and challenging terrain. India Baja will also pit India’s best riders against some most skillful riders in the world. All this makes for a compelling human interest story as the participants battle it out against the terrain and the conditions.”
Marc Coma, Sporting Director of the Dakar Rally and 5-time Dakar winner in the moto class said: “As a former rider, I'm very excited to see the promotion of the discipline in India. From now onwards, riders have a relevant platform to discover and practice road book and navigation, a stepping stone to attend Dakar Series events or even the Dakar itself.”
The 2017 India Baja will act as an ideal preparation ground for professional rallyists to test themselves in the most extreme driving conditions and under stringent international cross-country rallying rules and regulations.
The rally will be conducted over two legs, which is divided into six stages covering a total competitive distance of 430 km. With an additional 200 km as liaison, the competitors will be tackling a total distance in excess of 600 km.
Some of the prominent names that will be seen putting their skills to test in the dune countryside on the outskirts of Jaisalmer include Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodriguez representing Hero Motorsports Team Rally, French pilot Adrien Metge and Indian Aravind K.P., both representing TVS Racing.
Unfortunately, India’s top rally-raid rider, C.S. Santosh of Hero Motorsports and winner of the first edition of India Baja in 2016, has to sit out because he is still recovering from a neck injury that he suffered in a nasty crash in the Desert Storm rally in January.
In the 2017 Dakar Rally, Rodrigues brought home his Hero-Speedbrain 450 Rally in commendable 12th place in the overall general classifications in the moto class on his debut appearance in the 9,000-km cross-country race. Metge endured an extremely tough race in very demanding conditions to climb up the finish podium on his Sherco-TVS Racing 450 Rally bike in 22nd place.
Arvind became the second Indian to enter the iconic rally in the footsteps of Santosh. However, Arvind had to pull out after injuring himself on the third stage in the Dakar this year. For him, India Baja will mark a return to competitive racing after recovering from the shoulder injury he suffered in early January in Argentina.
The other notable names who will be testing their skill against some of the most accomplished riders on the rally-raid circuit will be national champions R. Nataraj and Abdul Wahid Tanveer of TVS Racing.
The rally will be flagged off from the Marriot Hotel in the heritage city of Jaisalmer on the April 7 and will conclude also at the same venue of 9th April 2017. India Baja 2017 will see the participation of 40 top riders in the bike category across different classes and more than 100 competitors in total.
In the four-wheeler category, the winner will get a free entry in the 2018 edition of MS Desert Storm.
India Baja 2017 is a result of over 150 days of preparation along with 50 days of field recce. The event will have over 50 official vehicles with a team of more than 100 volunteers. A total of 10 ambulances with life-saving equipment and more than 20 trained medics will be deputed to ensure the safety of the participants.
