Suresh Rana and his navigator Ashwin Naik bounced back into the lead in the Xtreme category at the end of the third leg of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Rally here on Thursday.
Rana, who slipped to third after the second leg, made up for the 15-minute penalty he incurred, by pacing his drive well on the longest stretch of the rally. He went at full throttle in the first 20 minutes and overtook the second-placed car and never looked back.
After taking the lead, Rana eased up in the final 50km as he wanted to save fuel.
“After getting the 15-minute penalty, my aim was to make up by covering each kilometre as quickly as I could. I went at full blast in the first 20 minutes and knew I was in the race. I was afraid that I would run out of fuel, so I reduced my speed and maintained the lead. In the end, I still had enough fuel,” Rana said.
The 200km stretch on sand dunes, rock, gravel and tarmac tested the skills of drivers and some of them got stuck in the sand and lost time. Overnight leader Sanjay Agarwal had problems with his car and dropped out of the race.
Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya made good headway in the third leg to finish in the second position. Niju Padia and navigator Nirav Mehta was third at end of the third leg.
For the third straight day, C.S. Santosh maintained his lead. He said he was lucky to be riding the event after his bike got entangled on a barbed wire during second leg, which saw him go down in a heap.
“I was feeling a bit stiff in the morning but my team helped me get fit for the event. The route was challenging and the other riders pushed me to give my best,” Santosh said.
R. Nataraj and Tanveer Abdul Waheed were second and third respectively at the end of the third leg.
Meanwhile, Ali Ajgar and Mohammed Musthafa, driving a Maruti Suzuki Swift, won the title in Xplore category. Karthick Maruthi and Sankar Anand, driving a Vitara Breeza, came second while the third spot went to Anupam Chandra and Adeesh Agarwal on a Swift.
The standings:
Xtreme: 1. Suresh Rana & Ashwin Naik (6:37.29); 2. Sandeep Sharama & Karan Arya (6:42:47); 3. Niju Padia & Nirav Mehtra (6:44.34).
Moto: 1. C.S. Santosh (5:26.00); 2. R. Nataraj (5:26.42); 3. Tanveer Abdul Wahid (5:46.36).
Xplore (final): 1. Ali Ajgar & Mohammed Musthafa (0:25:13); 2. Karthick Maruthi & Sankar Anand (0:37:16); 3. Anupam Chandra & Adheesh Agarwal (1:23.11).
