Rana, Naik forge ahead in motor rally

COIMBATORE - Raid-de-Himalaya and Desert Storm winner Suresh Rana (co-driver Ashwin Naik), driving a Gypsy took the lead in the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare rally on the conclusion of the third leg here Thursday night.

With overnight leader Niaz Ali (co-driver Kim Epton) from Australia losing time due to a shattered windshield after the bonnet clips came away, Rana surged ahead to take the lead with a timing of 44 minutes, 28 seconds.

Ali was placed second and Shafiqur Rehman (co-driver George) was third in the “Ultimate” category.

The third leg commenced from Ooty with the famous 45 km tarmac stretch of Kundha. The stage started off with straight and sharp turns, with almost 70 hair-pin bends, to end at Manjoor.

While Ali suffered a misfortune to slip to second place, Rana benefitted to move into front, but the day’s fastest time was recorded by Prithvi Dominic (co-driver Jeevrathnam) who clocked 40.41 min.

In the two-wheeler section, M.S. Ravindra continued to expand his lead over rivals Uday Kumar and Nataraj with a timing of 41.58 min. Nataraj, who was running in the third place, moved up one place, pushing Uday Kumar to the third spot. The two clocked 42.21 min and 44.02 min, respectively.

On the penultimate day of the rally, the vehicles will travel to Munnar, the famous hill-station of Kerala, covering a distance of 380 kms. The competitors will then head to Ernakulam on the concluding day (290 kms).