The first leg of Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2018 covered a distance of 217km and culminated in Bikaner today. The participants had to endure the heat of the Thar desert and the tricky terrain as they headed to Bikaner in the first leg.
In the Xtreme category, Suresh Rana from Team Maruti Suzuki Motorsport was seen leading the rally by completing the leg first along with his navigator PVS Murthy in his Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara. Following their lead was Aabhishek Mishra and his navigator V Venu Rameshkumar and Gaurav Chiripal with navigator, Srikanth Gowda who finished third.
Commenting on their lead on Day 1, Suresh Rana said, “We are thrilled to be part of the 16th edition of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm. With new elements added to the rally such as Roadbook navigation and around 70% new tracks, the difficulty level of the rally has gone a notch higher. Our lead in the first leg will definitely act as a morale booster and we hope to replicate this in the coming legs of the rally.”
In the Moto category, CS Santosh took the lead in the first leg followed by Aaron Mare and Sanjay Kumar who came a close third.
Below are the times of the top three participants from the NDure and Xplore category, at the end of Day 1:
NDure category:
Xplore category