Many competitors retired due to mechanical issues and extreme heat; Hero MotoSports’ CS Santosh is in the second position behind TVS
Racing’s Adrian Metge
One of the first images in the initial stages of the Desert
Storm 2019 was a rally spec Maruti Suzuki Vitara’s fiery end. According to
sources, the extreme heat coupled with some electrical issues resulted in a
fire in the car and soon, it was burning. The crew is okay and they have
escaped unhurt. Sanjay Agarwal (co-driver Smitha N) drove the car in question
and they were strong contenders in the Xtreme Category until this unfortunate
event took place. As many as eight competitors in the Moto and four competitors
in the Xtreme category could not complete the stages on the first day due to
the extreme conditions.
The second day of the rally saw the competitors cover a
distance of 560km in two stages in Bikaner and Jaisalmer. The competitors
covered a distance of 80km on the first day.
In the Xtreme class, Aabishek Mishra (co-driver Srikanth
Gowda) from Team Sparky Garage is leading after two days. Mahindra Adventure's Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sheriff) was in the fourth position after the
first day due to some navigational issues and technical snags. His rally
spec XUV500 was also stuck in the sand and he lost precious time. However, he
bounced back strongly and made his move the morning, jumping up two places in the
leader board with a time of 01:10:11 in SS4 for a cumulative
tally of 03:25:46, just three minutes off the leader. Privateer Samrat Yadav (co-driver
Kunal Kashyap) held on to his third position.
In the first day, it was Mahindra Adventure’s Sunny Siddhu
(co-driver Ashwin Naik), who was on top; but due to some issues with his car
after SS4, he dropped down the order and Aabhishek made most of the
opportunity to emerge as the new leader.
In the Moto category, TVS Racing’s Adrien Metge is leading
with a total time of 02:03:34 hours after SS4. This is his second rally in India. Eight minutes behind him was CS
Santosh with a total time of (02:11:20). In day 1, he lost a little over two
minutes and today, he lost some more time in the stages but overall, it was a
good second day according to him. AW Tanveer is in the third position. Rajendra RE and R Natraj are in P4 and P5 respectively. Aishwarya
Pissay from TVS Racing had a couple of falls (no injuries), a 20-minute penalty and is in 23rd
position. Hero MotoSports’ Sathyaraj A (Group B) also
suffered engine problems and is out of contention.
In the Ndure Category, Ankur Chauhan (co-driver Prakash M)
was in the lead with a cumulative leg penalty of just 13 minutes 38 seconds
after eight sections. Behind him were Deepak Sachdeva (co-driver Japjyot Singh
Dhingra) and Capt Abhilash Singh (co-driver Aashish Agarwal).
All the results mentioned above are provisional.
All the results mentioned above are provisional.
The Desert Storm rally is one of the toughest rallies in
India, looking at the challenges competitors have to face in this race of endurance
to test man and machine. Tomorrow is one of the longest stages in the rally and
the competitors are preparing to tackle the extreme conditions once again.
Images by Northern Motorsport and TVS Racing
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