The action-packed Siruguppa leg saw the rallyists battling with the tricky stage and extreme weather conditions. Merin RebeccaBellary: Whilst geographers would encounter Siruguppa in Bellary as the land of paddy fields, it was something different altogether that the participants of Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare had to learn on Thursday; doglegs, hairpins and corners, a lot of them. It's not for nothing that this instalment of the rally has been christened as ‘the most challenging one so far’.
As ever, the rough terrain was just one factor as the weather too threw up no end of surprises to the motorists. And when sunny spells, low clouds and patchy drizzles played mind games with the speedsters, technique and experience came to the fore.
In the first leg at Jindal plant, crashes involving four bikes and a gypsy shut down the route for quite some time although none suffered major injuries.
The action-packed Siruguppa leg saw the rallyists battling with the tricky stage and the extreme weather conditions. Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya maintained their lead position in the Ultimate Cars category, completing the distance in 1:08:13, taking their overall time to 4:11:53.
Samrat Yadav, along with his navigator Gaurav, maintained their second position clocking 4:19:34. Giving a close competition was Suresh Rana and Parminder who clocked the distance in 4:21:57.
A bike rider in action on the fourth day of Dakshin Dare 2015. Merin RebeccaThe Ultimate Bikes category saw Arvind K.P, take the numero uno spot in 3:36:56. Natraj and Abdul Wahid raced towards the second and third position, respectively.
Manali man and rally champion, Suresh Rana who is now at the third position in the rally said, “I have been participating in the Dakshin Dare rally since the past four years and over the years, I have seen the increasing enthusiasm and passion for motorsport that has taken over the rally lovers. I am thoroughly enjoying the healthy competition that the rally is witnessing at present.
“I am quite happy about my performance till now and confident about maintaining my position as well. I really hope to surprise everyone by grabbing the first position at the end, but that we will only know closer to the finale.”
In the Endurance category, Jasmeet Gill and Chandan Sen grabbed the first position by making it to the finishing line with the least amount of penalty. Ganesh Moorthy and Nagarajan from Team Maruti followed suit at second position and Karthick Maruti and S. Shanker Anand stood third.
Dilip Jain and Chandra Shekhar slipped to the seventh position due to increase in the number of penalties. The couple competing in the rally, Minaxi Purohith along with her navigator Sagar M. managed to reach up to the fifth position by considerably reducing their penalties.
On Friday, action shifts to a rather rocky terrain at Siruguppa area before heading towards Hyderabad, panning a total distance 450 km.
Results (Day 4): Ultimate Cars: Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya (Team Maruti) 4:11:53; Samrat Yadav and Gaurav 4:19:34; Suresh Rana and Parminder 4:21:57.
Ultimate Bikes: Arvind K.P. 3:36:56; Natraj 3:41:50; Abdul Wahid 3:54:28.
Endurance Cars (TSD): Jasmeet Gill and Chandan Sen leading with a penalty of 5 minutes 3 seconds; Ganesh Moorthy and Nagarajan (Team Maruti) second with a penalty of 5 minutes 12 seconds; Karthick Maruti and S Shanker Anand in third place with a penalty of 5 minutes 27 seconds.
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