Why Ashish Raorane quit his job to compete in the 2024 Dakar Rally
At 42, Indian motorcycle rider Ashish Roarane is rewriting off-road history. Lost in the desert for 12 hours, suffered concussions, and quit his merchant navy job to open a rally-raid academy.
Ashish Raorane was 35 years old when he first got on an off-road rally-raid motorcycle. Seven years later, at the age of 42, the Indian rider has got one Dakar Rally behind him and is training hard for his second tryst at the grueling desert event. Along the way, Ashish has been lost in the desert for 12 hours, had a concussion or two, suffered a slew of other injuries, quit his job in the merchant navy, and opened his own off-road rally-raid academy. His goal - train the next batch of Indian motorsport athletes, and push himself in his quest for excellence in the sport he's become obsessed with. Completing the event's Malle Moto class remains his white whale.
Report: Vaishali Dinakaran
Camera: Arjun Dhavale
Editing: Kirsten Jungclaus
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00:00 Ashish Raorane: Rally Maverick
00:31 Dakar Challenge: Ashish Raorane's Journey
00:48 Overcoming Barriers: Ashish Raorane's Insight
01:10 Ashish Raorane's Motorsport Odyssey
02:09 Sand Lessons: Ashish Raorane's Adventure
02:25 Ashish Raorane: Off-Road to Pro
03:03 Focus and Departure: Ashish Raorane's Drive
03:14 Building Resilience: Ashish Raorane's Story
03:24 No Turning Back: Ashish Raorane's Pursuit
03:44 Tanya Almeida's View: Supporting Rally Dreams
04:56 Unplanned Ordeal: Africa Eco Race
05:36 Persistence Philosophy: Ashish Raorane's Rally
06:20 Solo Survival: Ashish Raorane's Desert Night
07:46 12-Hour Solo: Ashish Raorane's Struggle
08:55 Malle Moto Challenge: Ashish Raorane's Journey
09:30 CS Santosh Crash
10:32 Confronting Risks
11:07 Stage 5 Unraveling: Ashish Raorane's Dakar
12:16 Injury Battle: Ashish Raorane's Rally Toll
13:02 Financial Struggles: Ashish Raorane's Pursuit
15:23 Dakar Shift: Ashish Raorane's Moto Class Change
16:32 Tanya Almeida's Support: Rally Passion
17:07 Thriving Odyssey: Ashish Raorane's Rally
17:54 Emotional Rollercoaster: Ashish Raorane's Journey
Wow what an inspiration Ashish is, the dream is Dakar. Godspeed for 2024 raid
I wrote all about Ashish's '21 Dakar campaign for evo So it feels nostalgic seeing the photos here 😢
This guy is amazing!
Thank you @zambam3
Massive support and success to you. ❤️ All the very best for the next Dakar, rooting for you 🫡
great to see...
Inspiring
Good luck to him.
Lovely video!! "5 am on a Friday, too early for most people but not for Ashish Raorane" . Uff too good😍
A really amazing and more importantly super inspiring story. Explaining very nicely the passion and hunger for that Dakar Adventure. For sure on Motorcycles and in this class probably one of the most challenging Kategories in Motosport overall. Really big amount of respect for you Ashish.
Thank you Ronny🙌🏼
All the best 👍
Thanks for watching the video, and for cheering Ashish on. Unfortunately, his Dakar 2024 campaign came to a premature end, when he crashed on the 1st stage, and broke his collarbone (clavicle). He still managed to ride on until the end of the stage, broken bones and all, before he was airlifted for surgery. But he's already focussed on next year!
It would be worth it if you reached Dakar, Senegal, by overpassing the Sahara Desert. That's what Thierry Sabine would think.
A lot of motorsport enthusiasts wish the Dakar still ran the original route. Unfortunately it doesn't. However, if you watched the video, you'd have noticed that Ashish took part in the Africa Eco Race in 2019, which runs the original Dakar route, just as good old Thierry Sabine envisioned. Complete with racing at Lac Rose!
One in a billion guy 🫡 All the best to you 👍
Thanks for watching!