Mishra takes Desert Storm

AABHISHEK MISHRA (co-driver Venu Rameshkumar) won the 16th edition of the Maruti-Suzuki Desert Storm, which concluded in Jaisalmer. The 2,000km plus rally raid was flagged off in Noida and over the course of six days saw competitors battle it out in Rajasthan. Favourite in the Xtreme category, defending champion Suresh Rana with Maruti-Suzuki Motorsport had an unfortunate mechanical failure, in the third leg, effectively promoting Mishra to first. In second was Raj Singh Rathore (co-driver Sagar Mallappatime) with Niju Padia (co-driver Nirav Mehta) in third. In the Moto category, Aaron Mare of Angata Racing finished on the top step, with Santolino Lorenzo of TVS Racing in second, while Mare’s teammate Sanjay Kumar finished in third. CS Santosh suffered a crash early on and was forced to retire.