Ahluwalia/Venuramesh on top at Maruti Dakshin Dare

The 5th Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare has concluded after five days of drive covering over 2000km.

In the 'Extreme' 4-wheeler category of rallying, all three winners were steering Maruti Suzuki vehicles. Two podium finishes in the Endurance category came on Maruti Suzuki vehicles as well. Amanpreet Ahluwalia/Venueramesh for Team Maruti, driving a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy won the title this year.

Suresh Rana/Parminder Thakur, from Team Maruti again, came second steering their Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara. Third position was bagged by Imran Khan/Gagan Vijay who had put his Maruti Suzuki Gypsy into the challenge. Amanpreet/Venuramesh had led the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare in leg 2, 3, 4 and 5, and managed a cumulative timing of 3 hours 45 minutes over five days to lift the title. Rana/Thakur, who kept themselves in contention by being the leader on day 1 and then maintaining the second slot thereafter, returned with a final overall timing of 3 hours 48 minutes, which fetched them the runners up trophy. Imran/Gagan broke into top three of leadership board and finally bagged the second runner up with a timing of 4 hours 42 minutes.

In the bikes category, R Nataraj won the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare crown for the second time in a row by a very comfortable margin. He completed the entire distance in a cumulative time of 4 hours 09 minutes. Saratha stood second with a cumulative timing of 4 hours 32 minutes while Akshay came in third with a cumulative timing of 4 hours 51 minutes. All three winners were riding bikes below 260cc. In the Endurance category, the top five on the leader board were within the penalty time of less than a minute throughout all stages. Kartik Maruti/Shankar Anand, who had earlier been the runners up in the Second and the Fourth edition of the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare, led all through the five days and earned an overall penalty of 1 minute 32 seconds. Bangalore couple Satish Gopalakrishnan/Savera D'Souza, who had won the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare in 2011, earned a penalty of 1 minute 32 seconds to secure the runners up title. Sudip Ghosh/Arindam Ghosh won the third spot on the podium with a cumulative penalty of 1 minute 50 seconds.

Felicitating the winners, Manohar Bhat, vice president, marketing, Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, "We are delighted to see the motorsport enthusiasts coming back to this flagship event of Southern India, with more energy and fervor, and brave the dirt and grime of relentless monsoons. Maruti Suzuki has a packed calendar of many more motorsports events across India and provide platform to the ever growing population of these enthusiasts realise their drive and dreams. These events not just provide excitement to motorsports lovers, but also help in promoting controlled and safe driving habits."

After the ceremonial flag off in Bangalore, Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare 2013 had special stages like 'Coconut Stage' on day 1 in Deccan Plateau at Titpur, the 'Coorg Stage' at Polibetta on the Eastern slopes of Western Ghats on day 2, 'Craig Valley' leg around Oooty in the Nilgiris, the Valparai Leg in Annamalai mountain range on penultimate day and the 'Satyamangala' leg on final day finishing at Bangalore. The Rally will have night halts at tourist hot spots like Mysore, Ooty and Coimbatore while it traverses through exotic locations like Chikmagalore, Waynad, Palani, Kodaikanal and Pollachi.

Final Results:
Extreme Cars: Amanpreet Ahluwalia/Venuramesh: 3 hours 45 minutes, Suresh Rana/Parminder Thakur: 3 hours 48 minutes, Imran Khan/Gagan: 4 hours 42 minutes Extreme Bikes: R Nataraj: 4 hours 09 minutes, Saratha: 4 hours 32 minutes, Akshay: 4 hours 51 minutes.

Endurance Cars: Karthik Maruti/Shankar Anand: 0.01.32 hours, Satish Gopalakrishnan/ Savera D'Souza: 0.01.46 hours, Sudip Ghosh/Amandeep Ghosh 0.01.50 hours

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