India’s only privateer rally rider, Ashish Raorane is all set to compete at the famed and treacherous Baja Aragon rally starting today. Hailing from Pune, Ashish is a marine engineer who first tried his hand at rally at the 2015 INRC Pune round and from there continued to hone his skills at various local rally raids including Raid De Himalaya and Desert Storm.

On course to fulfil his dream of entering as a privateer in the 2021 Dakar Rally, Ashish is entering various international rallies including the Baja Aragon, which is one of the most noted events on the international rally calendar. He recently signed a sponsorship deal with noted watchmaker Luminox Watches, as their official brand ambassador for India. Important sponsorships like this and more shall only help him further fuel his racing ambitions. His other official sponsors include Klim, Leatt, EBC brakes as well as local motorcycle firms like Big Bad Bikes, Slipstream Performance and Lazy Ass Bikers, who support him with riding gear, motorcycle parts and maintenance.

The Baja Rally is a 1000-km non-stop race where the riders have to endure rising temperatures and conquer uncertain terrain full of sand, dirt and several challenging obstacles on the way. It is a highly competitive event with all major international riders and manufacturers battling for the top spots.

Ashish is the only Indian privateer entry at this year’s Baja Aragon, but joining him are some more Indian riders like CS Santosh for Hero Motorsports as well as Arvind KP, Harith Noah and Aishwarya Pissay representing the Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team.

We wish all the riders the very best for the Baja Aragon rally and wish luck to the Indian entrants to bag top honours. Godspeed.