2017 Dakshin Dare: Rana and Nataraj are crowned champions

It is simply unbelievable how Suresh Rana keeps on churning out the goods when called upon as he wins the 2017 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare for a second year running. Rana went into the day’s stage with a lead of 38 seconds over Samrat Yadav. He powered his Grand Vitara across the finish line to take home the crown.

The day did not begin positively for all participants as a landslide had blocked the route, 5km from the start line. The start was delayed by over an hour. When it did finally get going Rana was simply unstoppable. Things went in the Manali man’s favour as Samrat’s Gypsy suffered a differential failure. Nevertheless Samrat managed to drive his car to the finish and seal second position. The gap between the two at the end was close to three and a half minutes.

Sandeep Sharma finished a comfortable third. Harvinder Singh Bhola driver the wheels off his Gypsy to jump two spots on the final day with Gaurav Chiripal slipping down a spot to fifth.

Over in the Ultimate Bikes category, TVS Racing made a 1-2 as R Nataraj won his second Dakshin Dare by beating teammate Abdul Wahid Tanveer. Nataraj sailed past the final stage to win the rally by nearly three minutes. Sanjay Kumar claimed the final spot on the podium. TVS Racing’s RE Rajendra and Srinivasa completed the top five.