Bottom ranked but top attitude
Dakar 2026 |
Stage 3 |
ALULA
> ALULA
January 6
th
2026
- 21:09
[GMT + 3]
After three stages, Jatin Jain lies in 105th and last place in the general rankings but is continuing to try and reach his goal of finishing the Dakar. He is the last Indian in the race and is proud of his status as flag-bearer.
He is not scared by overtime. Jatin Jain has started his second Dakar with full knowledge of what the rally-raid entails. Last year, he only spent six days on the race before being forced to make a premature exit after an endless night during which his bike gave up the ghost before he did. However, Jatin is obstinate character and therefore continued to push himself all year through the different legs of the W2RC. In doing so, he became a regular at the bottom of the rankings but also accumulated experience that could help him to become the 4th Indian rider to complete the Dakar after CS Santosh, Aravind Prabakhar and Harith Noah. It is already clear that he will not be able to measure up to his countrymen in terms of results because he has been navigating through the depths of the rankings since the start. However, he stands by his strategy, as he explained in the glow of his headlights at the finishing line in AlUla: “I’ve spent 11 hours in the saddle since this morning, maybe even 12. I wasn’t too tired at the refuelling point but afterwards with the dust it soon became harder… I have eaten more dust than food today”.
Jatin Jain is aware of the difficulties that await him but does not seem to be discouraged, quite the opposite, in fact: “This time, I’m here to finish, whatever happens. I’m the last Indian on the race after Harith Noah’s fall, so I’m duty bound to hang in there. I’m not exhausted yet, it’s just the routine of the Dakar: a short night’s sleep then you wake up at 5 o’clock and you start racing again for around ten hours”. When the situation gets tricky, the biker knows he cannot count on the technical skills of a champion, while his 1.65-metre stature is not exactly helpful in coping with difficulties: “Today it was tricky with all the rocks. I’m not very tall, so in the trial-like sections, I sometimes got off the bike to push it and it very likely cost me two hours. That said, I haven’t fallen once and I’ve not missed any of the way points”. Even at the bottom of the rankings, it is possible to achieve perfection too!
