Sanjay Takale has become the first Indian to complete the grueling Dakar Rally in a four-wheel automobile on Friday. He drove a Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ78 in the Dakar Classic this year.
The Dakar Classic pans over 8,000 km, including 5,000 km of 12 special stages and is considered one of the worlds most unforgiving automobile rallies.
The 56-year-old Takale finished the two-week course at the 18th position overall along with France’s Maxime Raud.
A distinguished career
When the race began, the veteran had made the news for attaining the distinction of becoming the first-ever Indian to compete in the four-wheel section at the Dakar Classic.
Takale had started his career in motorsports back in 1987. He drove two wheelers until 2001 and then bid adieu to the segment after winning the bike National round in Nashik that year.
He then started competing in endurance rallies back in 2009 and became the first Indian to win the Asia Pacific Rally Championships in 2013.
Meanwhile, the other two Indians in action at the 2025 Dakar Rally – Harith Noah and Jatin Jain – failed to complete the race.
Competing in the two-wheeler section, Noah suffered a crash in the prologue stage whereas Jain suffered a crash due to low visibility in Stage 6 between Ha’il to Al Duwadimi.
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