Hero MotoSports rider Ross Branch’s Dakar 2025 journey has come to an end after he suffered a crash early on in Stage 6. But it wasn’t all bad news for Hero, with Jose ‘Nacho’ Cornejo handing the team its third consecutive stage podium.
Stage 6 also marked the end of Jatin Jain’s Dakar debut. This leaves Sanjay Takale as the sole Indian still competing in the rally, and he’s currently 26th overall in the Dakar Classic class.
- Cornejo running P8 overall
- Takale P26 in Dakar Classic
Dakar 2025: Hero’s highs and lows
Branch was a strong favourite this year to finish on the Dakar podium again. However, he crashed 48km into Stage 6, while running on some fast plateaus. Following medical checks on site, he was airlifted to Ha’il hospital where his CT scan came out clear and revealed no major injuries.
He’s since been discharged from the hospital and will now focus on recovering to compete in the rest of the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship. “That's the end of the rally for me, and I'm really disappointed to say that,” said Branch. “We worked tirelessly all year, putting in countless hours of training and effort into the bike. The team did everything they could, and I'm grateful for that. Unfortunately, this is a part of the sport, and today it happened to me. I'm thankful to be in one piece and will focus on recovering and getting fit for the next race.”
This leaves Cornejo as Hero’s sole rider still in the running. The Chilean rider has found his rhythm in the rally and Stage 6 saw him secure his third consecutive P3 finish. This takes him up to eighth overall in the standings.
“I finished third in the stage and didn’t lose much time, so I am overall happy with the job done. I'm sad that my teammate Ross had a crash and is out of the race. I wish him a quick recovery and hope he's back on the bike soon. We will do our best to represent Basti and Ross in the rally and I want to have a good result for both of them,” Cornejo said.
Dakar 2025: Jatin Jain out
Unfortunately, Stage 6 also brought an end to Jatin Jain’s Dakar 2025 campaign. He was the only Indian rider still competing in the rally following Harith Noah and Ashish Raorane’s withdrawals.
This was Jain’s debut outing in the Dakar Rally and he was running P99 overall before his withdrawal.
Dakar 2025: Takale P26 in Dakar Classic
Sanjay Takale continues his charge in the Dakar Classic class, driving a Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ 78. Unlike the other classes, where the goal is to complete each stage with the fastest time, Dakar Classic follows a regularity rally (more commonly known as Time-Speed-Distance or TSD) format, where the goal is to complete each stage in a specified time and at a specified average speed.
Takale finished 28th in Stage 6, and stands 26th in the overall ranking. Watch this space for more updates from Dakar 2025.
Dipan Sur
