Pune: Sanjay Takale gets Special Trophy for fightback drive
Pune: Sanjay Takale gets Special Trophy for fightback drive
Pune, August 19, 2025: Seasoned Pune-based rally driver SanjayTakale, India’s flagbearer in the world of endurance motorsport, was accorded special trophy for showing his amazing rallying skills despite suffering tyre blast leading to a big tyre puncture but still steered his Team Toyota to overall second finish in the 30th edition of the Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR)___Asia’s most enduring cross-country rally, also known as the “Asian Dakar in the rally circles.
“The special trophy was given for my fight back performance as school-going children cheered Sanjay, Sanjay, Sanjay, during the prize distribution ceremony”, said a beaming Takale from Pattaya at the end of the eighth and and final leg on Sunday. ”I am happy that My performance helped our Team Toyota finish overall 2nd at the Asia Cross Country Rally in Thailand,‘ is how Takale described his performance.
Ominous start
When Takale tried to gain time on the Second day, he hit a big ditch at high speed and picked up a tyre blast and a big puncture. In trying to change the wheel, Takale and his co-driver keerati Noijard lost more than two hours as one of the wheel nut broke due to impact. As a result, the two failed to finish the second leg and picked up penalties totalling 9 hours.
Fightback begins
Following the huge time penalty, Takale immediately began the long fightback as he climbed up from last position to give himself a pragmatic ending to the rally and his team a reasonable finish.
Show of Camaraderie
On day 5 Takale’s Team Toyota teammate’s car got stuck in mud in the swamp so he decided to wait for him, not before pulling him out with the help of winch, even as he lost more than one hour in the process.
TheAsia cross country Rally had started on August 8 and concluded on Sunday, August 16 after covering over 3,300 km through some of the region’s most challenging terrain.
Rich legacy
Takale, the champion of Asia Cross Country Rally in 2011, drove Car #117 in Class T1D, returned to the AXCR grid having completed the world’s most iconic rally, the Dakar rally in which he became the first Indian to complete the rally in a car (Classic Category)
The 57-year old Takale has 42 podiums from 48 rallies, which includes championships across Europe and Asia, an APRC title (2012), and WRC outings in Finland.
