Sanjay Takale makes history, becomes first Indian to finish Dakar Rally

Riyadh: Top racer Sanjay Takale created history by becoming the first Indian to finish the prestigious Dakar Rally in the classic cars category.

Along with French co-driver Maxime Raud of the Compagnie Saharienne team, Takale showed exceptional consistency and skill throughout the gruelling competition of nearly 8000km, culminating in a remarkable debut at the world's toughest rally, where he finished 10th in his class.

Takale partnered with Compagnie Saharienne and raced in a Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ78 at the Classic cars class, a regulatory run.

He, thus, became the first Indian to race the Dakar Classic.

The 47th edition of the Dakar and the sixth in Saudi Arabia was completed in Shubaytah and reached the final finishing line after covering 7,453 km of the route.

Pune's Takale finished a stunning fifth in the final stage with zero penalty points.

His strong performances included an impressive P7 twice, in Stage 3 after the demanding 48-hour Chrono segment, and another seventh in Stage 7.

He also chalked out three top-11 finishes in Stages 8, 9 and 11. After 14 challenging stages, Takale completed the rally 10th in his class for an overall 18th position.