Dakshin Dare is back for its 10th season
2018 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare – A week full of rally action
One of the biggest cross country rallies in the country, the Dakshin Dare, was introduced back in 2009 and this year marks the 10th edition. It will be flagged off from Bengaluru and culminate in Goa. The week long event is known to pose a serious challenge for the participants in the form of rough terrains and unpredictable weather, for a distance of more than 2,000km including the transport stages. A total of five stages will be held spanning the distance from Bengaluru to Goa.
Last year, the event saw 180 participants including the Maruti Suzuki factory team. Suresh Rana and Ashwin Naik from Team Maruti Suzuki took the top honours in the Ultimate Cars category while R. Nataraj took the win for TVS Racing in the Ultimate Bikes category. Abdul Wahid Tanveer grabbed the second spot for TVS Racing, making it a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing.
This year, Team Maruti Suzuki has four teams including two rally-prepped AWD cars that ran the Desert Storm this year. Seven time Dakshin Dare champ Suresh Rana with co-driver Chirag Thakur will pilot the trusty maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara in the T1 class. Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Anmol Ramapl will pilot a 2WD Viatara Brezza in the T2 class. Five time Dakshin Dare podium winner, Samrat Yadav with co-driver Karan Aukta will participate in a all-grip Maruti Suzuki S-Cross in the T1 class. Maruti Suzuki has also entered their all-grip Vitara Brezza in the T1 class. The car will be driven by Dharampal Jangra along with co-driver Chandrashekar Rana, and will be assisted by the Maruti Suzuki R&D crew.
Route
The rally will be flagged off from the IT city of Bengaluru today 2018. Leg 1 of the rally kicks off from the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Bengaluru at dawn after which the participants travel to Davangere. The second leg will see the lot traversing different pre-determined stages within the city of Davangere, after which they head off to Belgaum for the third leg of the rally. The stages get tougher day by day, as they will travel from Karnataka into the state of Maharashtra. The participants will reach Kolhapur on September 6, 2018 ending the fourth leg of the rally. They will then travel from Kolhapur to the city of Canacona in the Southern district of Goa on September 7 to mark the end of the fifth and final leg of the rally. Here is a break up of the stages:
- Leg 1: Bengaluru to Davangere (September 3rd, 2018)
- Leg 2: Stages in the city of Davangere (September 4th, 2018)
- Leg 3: Davangere to Belgaum (September 5th, 2018)
- Leg 4: Belgaum to Kolhapur (September 6th, 2018)
- Leg 5: Kolhapur to Goa (September 7th, 2018)
- Final Scrutineering (Canacona, Goa on September 7th, 2018)
- Prize Ceremony (Canacona, Goa on September 8th, 2018)
The rally features four categories, each having three sub categories:
Watch this space and our social media handles for more updates on the Dakshin Dare 2018!
