On a day that saw some heavy rain, reigning champion Suresh Rana forced his way into the lead at the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare.
At the end of the opening leg in the Ultimate Car category, he was placed third but moved to the second slot after the second. Samrat Yadav, who was in the lead after both these legs, had to make way for the driver from Manali.
Rana and co-driver Ashwin Naik have clocked 6:59.02 on a Grand Vitara, while Samrat and S.N. Nizami are at 7:00.15. Former champion Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya, driving a Maruti Gypsy, have retained the third place with a timing of 7:05.46.
The action on the third day was mostly on the dirt tracks around Aimangala, a village near Chitradurga. “It was a tough track, but I enjoyed the challenge and am delighted that I have finally taken the lead,” Rana said.
“My car had suffered as many as three punctures in the first two legs that had slowed me down a bit. Now I want to retain the lead for the last two legs.”
Samrat would want to assure him that it would not be easy. “My car had stuck in the third stage today and that proved me costly. But I feel I am in a position to catch up with Rana.”
To do that, he would have to be at his best in the fourth leg, to be held here on Thursday. The rally concludes at Pune on July 21.
In the Ultimate Bike category, T. Natraj (4:29.30) is still in the lead, followed by Abdul Wahid (4:31.26) and Sanjay Kumar (4:35.57).
At the end of the second leg of the Endurance (TSD) Car category, Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta were on top, ahead of Karthik Maruthi and S. Sankar Anand and Raghu Nandan and M. Prakash.
