KING OF THE SOUTH
All the action from the 2016 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare
ALL EYES WERE ON SURESH RANA, WHO HAS WON THE RAID NINE TIMES AND THE ’STORM FIVE TIMES
CCROSS -COUNTRY rallying is one of the most challenging forms of motorsport. Competitors cover insanely long distances, traverse ever-changing terrain and between driving and getting their cars prepped for the next day, barely get enough rest before heading out all over again. Sadly, these sportsmen, yes, sportsmen do not get even one per cent of the coverage of something like an India vs Azerbaijan test match would. And this is precisely what Maruti Suzuki’s Motorsport division is trying to change. Maruti Suzuki promotes three major cross-country rallies – the Raid-de-Himalaya, the Desert Storm and the Dakshin Dare – where amateurs and professionals alike can experience the thrill of rallying. Apart from these, Maruti Suzuki is all set to conduct the Maruti Suzuki FMSCI Indian National Autocross championship in eight cities bringing motorsport to the masses.
The 8th edition of the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare, kicked off with a ceremonial start from Orion mall in Bangalore on Sunday, July 31. Six gruelling days of rallying in the rain, through some of the toughest stages in South India saw only the bravest and most committed drivers and riders see the finish line.
All eyes were on Suresh Rana, who has won the Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya nine times and the ’Storm five times. However, the Dakshin Dare trophy has always eluded him. His best finish has been second and he was looking to change that. Sandeep Sharma was here too – he has won the Dakshin Dare for two successive seasons and was hoping for a hat-trick. The fight between the two Maruti Suzuki drivers was going to be really interesting. On the twowheeler front, defending winner Aravind K P was busy training for the Dakar in Europe, and that meant his TVS Racing teammates R Nataraj and Abdul Wahid would be fighting for the win on their TVS RTR 450s.
Leg 1 was scheduled to begin the night of the ceremonial start itself, with competitors driving 18km of stage, twice over in the night itself and then doing the same stages again the next morning. The stages were 30km away from Bangalore and starting with night stages would have separated the top teams from the rest of the pack. However, the son of the Chief Minister of Karnataka passed away around that time and at the last moment, due to security reasons, permissions were not given to carry out these stages. So instead, everyone drove to Coorg on Monday where the rally would begin with Leg 2.