Sanjay Takale heads to land of Mecca to become first Indian in cars at iconic Dakar Rally

Pune: Sanjay Takale had done everything in the world of car rallying: from Asia Pacific rally championship, Asia cross-country rally to the World rally championship on the super-fast gravel terrain in Jyväskylä, Finland. Only goal remaining in his bucket list was the most challenging–Dakar Rally. And, he is realizing it come January 2025 in the land of Mecca over 14 days from January 3.

It couldn’t have come at a better time than now. The desert of Saudi Arabia will be his stage from January 3 to 17. Unlike other Dakar venues in the past, from the rugged Chilean outback to mix terrain of Peru, the desert of Saudi Arabia may be safer, but car getting stuck is the most demanding task to overcome. Also, there is desert wildlife to navigate.

“My goal is to simply experience the might of Dakar and have fun driving in the dunes. It is a long journey and will be a good learning experience. I am also very proud to be the first Indian to get this opportunity to drive on a four-wheeler at Dakar,” said Takale. Some regions of the route have been a nostalgic experience for this Pune driver, who as a backpacker, visited more than 100 countries from 2001 to 2007.

Pune’s Aerpace racer Takale, the first Indian to win an Asia Pacific Rally Championship title in the production class, has partnered with Compagnie Saharienne, a French Historic Rally Team, to race a Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ78 at the 2025 Dakar Classic. He will be the first Indian to race the Dakar Classic, as a car driver with Maxime Raud, as his co-driver.

The 2025 Dakar Classic runs along with the main Dakar Rally from January 3 to 17 in its 47th edition, the sixth in Saudi Arabia. The route starts at Bisha, crosses the Empty Quarter, and will finish in Shubaytah on Jan 17.

The Race format consists of 14 days of racing, divided into 12 stages. The marathon 48-hour “chrono” stage will be 950km long. Five stages will feature separate routes for cars and bikes and there will be one mass start stage. This Dakar promises more navigation and Classic run with 94 cars in the fray with 36 rookies, is being treated as a learning debut for the Indian speed maestro from Pune, who intends to make a mark among the rookies. The ‘86 to 98 low average class’ driver will be on a 722 number car, the only car from India in Dakar 2025.

The motorsport addict began his career with motocross races in June 1987 and won over 100 trophies till 2001 and bid good bye with a big win at the bike National round at Nashik as a TVS factory rider before he drifted into endurance rallies in 2009. A veteran in the Indian National Rally Championship and the Malaysian Rally Championship, he is a regular in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. After many more laurels in the four-wheel section, he became the first Indian to get glory for India at the APRC, winning the Production class title in 2013. In 2018, he switched up gears and made his Rally3 debut at the World Rally Championship3 at Rally Finland. He bagged a creditable 14th in his class behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R2, despite virtually no seat time, along with co-driver Darren Garrod, and repeated it at the 2019 edition. In 2022, he represented Team India at the FIA Motorsport Games and finished eighth, along with co-driver Mike Young, in his first tarmac rally in a Peugeot 208 Rally4.

Takale is also a regular at the Asia Cross-Country Rally, winning the T2 category in an Isuzu D-Max in 2011. In August 2024, he drove his Toyota Hilux Revo to a 13th place in the T1D class, for an overall 23rd.

Born on February 2, 1968 in Manjri village, the chief advisory officer of aerpace, an Indian transportation company, will have Frenchman Maxime Raud as the co-driver and the duo will be piloting a Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ78.

Rally Highlights: –

Total Days: 14

Total Stages: 12

Total Distance: 7805

Distance of Special Stages: –

1st Stage:5

2nd Stage: 7 days