Rana-Ashwin, Nataraj win at Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare

The ninth edition of Maruti Suzukis annual southern motorsports rally, Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare concluded in a grand finale here on Saturday with Team Maruti Suzukis Suresh Rana and Ashwin Naik winning the Ultimate Cars category and T. Nataraj in Ultimate Bikes.

Rana-Naik completed the competition with the total timing of 10:11:26 hours in their Grand Vitara as they finished above Samrat Yadav and S.N. Nizami and Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya in the second and third spot respectively, according to a release.

Bringing in more challenges and a new route, the 9th edition of the rally witnessed participants traversing through the undulating terrains of Chitradurga and Belgaum in South India before finally entering Western India for the first time through Kolhapur and hitting the finish line in Pune.

 

Speaking on their win, Rana said: "This is our second consecutive win at Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare. With a new route this year, it was important to always keep your mind synced with the vehicle.

"The competition was tough with newer participants entering Dakshin Dare."

In the Ultimate bikes category, Nataraj ( 06:12:38 hours) kept the lead with Abdul Wahid and Sanjay Kumar coming second and third respectively.

In the Endurance category, Swift driven by Subir Roy & Nirav Mehta led the category followed by S-Cross driven by Karthick Maruthi & Sankar S. Anand.

The six-day event which was flagged off from Bengaluru last Sunday, saw over 180 participants competing with each other to win the coveted title covering about 2000 kms.

Final results (Top 3 in each category):

Ultimate Cars:

1.Suresh Rana & Ashwin Naik - 10:11:26

2.Samrat Yadav & S N Nizami - 10:14:52

3.Sandeep Sharma & Karan Arya - 10:24:17

Ultimate Bikes:

1.T Nataraj - 06:12:38

2.Abdul Wahid - 06:15:37

3.Sanjay Kumar - 06:26:53

Endurance Cars (TSD):

1.Subir Roy & Nirav Mehta - 00:12:20

2.Karthick Maruthi & Sankar S Anand - 00:12:45

3.Raghu Nandan & Prakash M - 00:12:49

--IANS

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