Team Maruti`s Sandeep Sharma wins in Dakshin Rally

Panaji: The 6th Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare concluded its thrilling journey after covering over 2000kms in a span of five days, with Team Maruti`s Sandeep Sharma (Varun Davessar) winning in the extreme category.

The top honours for the entire rally went to Sharma and Davessar in the extreme category, registering a total time of 3:41:26, in their Maruti Gypsy. Sanjay Agarwal and Venu Ramesh Kumar, also from Team Maruti, driving a Maruti Gypsy, kept their momentum going to retain their second spot with a time of 3:42:49. Defending champion, Amanpreet Ahluwalia and Sudeep Halder displayed exemplary driving skills and determination to finish the rally at 3rd position with a time of 3:44:56, after being 8th on the second day. Suresh Rana continued to push his Maruti Gypsy, to finish fourth with a total time of 3:47:01. In the Extreme Bike category, Mohit Verma edged out Nataraj to grab the first place finishing the rally with the overall time of 3:29:15. The defending champion of 2013, Nataraj (3:33:30) and Pramod Joshua (3:35:37) stood second and third respectively. Team Maruti drivers Karthick Maruti and Sankar Anand, driving Maruti Suzuki`s latest hot seller, Ertiga, came first in Endurance category with a total penalty time of just 2:13. The second spot went to Sachin Singh and Prathima who finished with a penalty time of 2:51. Again in third place were Ganesh Moorthy and T Nagarajan of Team Maruti finishing at 3:10. Dakshin Dare, which is one of the most prominent events in the Indian motorsports circuit, made its way through northern Karnataka for the first time ever, traversing through exotic locations like Tumkur, Hiriyur, Chitradurga, Bellary, Hospet, Hampi, Koppal, Hubli and Karwar. Final Results: Extreme Cars: Sandeep Sharma/Varun Davessar (3:41:26), Sanjay Agarwal/Venu Ramesh Kumar (3:42:49), Aman Preeth/Sudeep Halder (3:44:56) Extreme Bikes: Mohit Verma (3:29:15) ,Nataraj (3:33:30),Pramod Joshua (3:35:37) Endurance: Karthick Maruthi/Shankar Anand (2:13), Sachin Singh/Pratima (2:51), Ganesh Moorthy/Nagarajan (3:10).