Kurt Morris
The 7th Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare, one of the popular rallies of South India, concluded in the City of Pearls - Hyderabad. The 105 teams with 170 participants covered a distance of 2000 km as they passed through some of the picturesque locations of Bangalore, Hampi, Bellary and Shimoga.
The last day of the rally crossed the beautiful settings of Siruguppa in the area of Bellary as it ended in Hyderabad. The route filled with winding turns, rock-strewn surface and immense amount of dirt ensured an adrenaline pumping finale. The rally participants covered a total distance of around 450 km on the last day.
The top slot was grabbed by Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya in their Maruti Suzuki Gypsy who completed the leg in 4:31:31. Sandeep Sharma who has already won the previous Dakshin Dare maintained his first position this year also till the end of the rally. The second spot was taken by Samrat Yadav and his navigator Gaurav followed by Suresh Rana and Parminder Thakur.
In the Bike category, Arvind K P stood first finishing the rally with a record-breaking time of 3:54:51. Natraj and Abdul Wahid stood second and third respectively covering the given distance in 4:00:10 and 4:14:15.Den Thimmaiah, winner of Autocross 2015 held in Bangalore stood fifth in his first cross country rally along with his navigator Venu Ramesh in their Maruti Suzuki Swift. The women participants including Bani Yadav along with her navigator Sukhbann Manns and Harshita Gowda with Rajshekhar Gowda from the Extreme category managed to complete the rally in the end even though they witnessed great challenges throughout the rally.
In the Endurance category, Jagdeep Gill and Chandan Sen grabbed the first position by making it to the finishing line with the least amount of penalty. Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta followed suit at second position and Asgar Ali stood third along with his navigator M Musthafa. Minaxi Purohith along with her navigator Sagar M managed to reach up to the fifth position in the Endurance category. This year, 9 teams in Dakshin Dare have been sponsored by Maruti Suzuki along with 8 teams consisting of Maruti Suzuki employees. This year’s edition also included teams with corporates.
Speaking on the successful completion of the rally Mr. R S Kalsi, Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., said, “Dakshin Dare as a rally is extremely close to our hearts. It is overwhelming to see increasing participation every passing year from rally lovers across the country – be it professional rallyists, motoring enthusiasts and even corporates. The spirit of motorsport is unparalleled and we are thrilled to be pioneering the same. We are happy to see Maruti Suzuki teams performing so well, bearing testimony to the fact our vehicles are capable of reigning over all terrains. With every edition, we work towards bettering the experience for motorsport enthusiasts through Dakshin Dare by offering newer routes and tougher competition; next year too we will introduce greater experiences for motorsport enthusiasts.”
On winning this year’s Dakshin Dare title, champion Sandeep Sharma from Team Maruti said, “We are thrilled to have won Dakshin Dare this year too, especially representing Team Maruti. After pushing ourselves to be on the top throughout the rally and ensuring our car performs well, we feel that our hard work and dedication has paid off. Look forward to more rallying in the coming year and participating in the next edition of Dakshin Dare.”
After a display of sheer grit, passion and talent by all participants, the final winners were announced during the closing ceremony held in Hyderabad on Saturday, 8th August.
