ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLING EXCELLENCE

The first Indian to win a stage at Dakar, the world’s toughest rally, Harith Noah knows how to keep his head down

- Sopan Joshi

First, the stereotype. He was 16 when his parents bought him a used motorcycle as a Christmas gift. Learning to ride in the paddy fields of Shoranur, his hometown in Kerala's Palakkad district, the teenager was impressed by a bunch of riders practising for a race on a dirt track. A week later, Harith Noah was competing in his first race. Despite a good start, he came last. But the plot had turned. Two years later, at 18, Noah had won the first of his five national supercross championships. On January 19, 2024, he finished the world's toughest rally raid, the Dakar, in 11th position, the highest-ever ranking by an Indian. He did not know that he had come first in the Rally2 category in which he was competing.

A Master's Mindset

Noah does not follow his timings or his daily positions when he is racing. "My mental trainer and I believe it is best for me to not know," he says, speaking to INDIA TODAY from Shoranur, two days after his 30th birthday. "The Dakar is such a long race, there are so many things that can go wrong.