The Sherco TVS Racing Team will, for a third year in a row, participate in one of the most extreme and dangerous motorsport events in the world – the fearsome, deathly Dakar Rally. This time around, its rider roster will consist of an Indian rider – Bengaluru-based Aravind KP, Joan Pedrero Garcia and another rider whose name will be announced at a later stage.
The Dakar Rally is one of the most brutal tests of man and machine. Every year, several hundred participants on motorbikes, quads, cars and trucks race over about 9,000km in South America, through terrains ranging from dunes and mud to camel grass and rocks.
In 2015, TVS, in partnership with French off-road motorcycle manufacturer Sherco, became the first Indian company to foray into the furious world of The Dakar. The 2015 Sherco TVS Factory Rally team consisted of two French riders – Alain Dulcos and Fabien Planet. The Sherco TVS Racing Team took part in The Dakar again in 2016, with riders Florent Vayssade, Alain Duclos and Joan Pedrero Garcia. In both years, the team managed to complete the race, which is a sort of victory in itself.
The 2017 Dakar Rally will also witness participation from a second Indian two-wheeler manufacturer – Hero MotoCorp. The world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers has announced its foray into motorcycle rallying with a strategic partnership with Speedbrain GmbH, a German off-road racing team. For The Dakar, Hero MotoCorp has signed on CS Santosh, who became the first Indian to participate in and complete The Dakar in 2015, as well as Joaquim Rodrigues, a Portuguese motocross and supercross factory rider.