South India’s longest motorsports rally, the 2000 km Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare, started from Bangalore for two super stages named the Windmill leg. Traversing a total of 400 kms during the day in the Extreme 4 Wheel category, last year Dakshin Dare winner, Amanpreet Ahluwalia along with his team mate Sudeep in his Maruti Gypsy led the pack clocking 30:35 in the first leg of this annual event. In second place, Team Maruti duo Sandeep Sharma and Varun Davessar driving a Maruti Gypsy clocked 30:42. Druva and Roopesh (31:03) grabbed the third position. With Suresh Rana driving a Maruti Gypsy from Team Maruti currently standing at the sixth spot (31:42), the stiff competition amongst the top 6 drivers is evident, as they all had a time difference of approximately one minute.
In the Extreme Bike category, defending champion of Dakshin Dare 2013, Natraj maintained his lead on day one of this year’s Dakshin Dare as well. He was followed by Mohit Verma (32:18) and Promod Joshua (32:22) who stood second and third respectively.
In the extreme category, vehicles covered a liaison distance of 250 kms North West of Bangalore to reach at the quaint region of Chithradurga. The stage was speckled with numerous windmill farms, tense cloud covers, bold rock hills, strong winds, and uneven roads across the mountainous region. The hairpin bends and gravel in the route made it tricky to traverse and maneuver through.
The Endurance category vehicles traversed 331 kms from Bangalore to Mysore via Tumkur and Nagamangala. The day witnessed a competition between top rally teams Satish Gopalakrishnan-Savera D’Souza, Karthik Maruti-Shankar Anand and Jagmeet Gill-Mustafa. As per latest results, Karthik Maruti-Shankar Anand of Team Maruti are leading on day one.
Tomorrow, the extreme category vehicles will move about 338 kms towards the charming little town of Hospet on the banks of Tungabhadra river by end of the day.
For more action from Day 2, CLICK HERE