2017 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare Day 1: Suresh Rana Trails

Nothing uplifts the spirits of off-road enthusiasts like monsoons. It’s a better love story than Twilight and everyone expected the rain gods to spice things up at the opening day of the 2017 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare. The cloudy conditions only offered the preliminary hope to an eventual disappointment, but the participants didn’t let us down.

A closely contested battle in the Ultimate Cars category had the most surprising results, with Samrat Yadav and S N Nizami, in their Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, leading the rally with a time of 02:45:26. Finishing at a close second position were Team Maruti Suzuki’s Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya, also aboard a Gypsy. Not many expected this result, with high hopes pinned on Maruti’s blue eyed boy Suresh Rana and his co-driver Ashwin Naik, who finished third with a time of 02:49:12. It is rumoured that Rana’s Grand Vitara suffered a puncture on two of the three runs today, slowing him down significantly.

Riding high on his recent win in the Sprint Fest 2017, Bengaluru boy Sanjay Kumar edged ahead in today’s proceedings with a time of 01:50:08. Nataraj R wasn’t too far behind either and finished second in 01:50:42. Clinching third spot wouldn’t have added much to the confidence of Abdul Wahid, who recently made it to the Sherco-TVS Factory rally team for the 2017 Merzouga Rally. 

In the Endurance category, Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta led the rally, followed by Ragu Nanadan and M Prakash. 

We have been told some interesting autocross-like test tracks await us on Day 2. Day 1 has set the bar high and there’s no room for any participant to take their foot off the gas. Stay tuned as we bring you all the action from ground zero tomorrow. Do follow our Instagram and Twitter handles for live updates as the action unfolds.