The six day Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm rally with over 280 participants traversing 3500 km concluded today at Delhi. Flagged off from Ahmedabad the 9th edition of the rally crossed the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, the deserts of Thar in Rajasthan and finally the Aravali ranges enroute. The unique multi terrain provided a proving ground and driving adventure for the participants.
For Maruti Suzuki it is yet again a winning moment with top 3 spots in the “Extreme category” being bagged by Maruti Suzuki vehicles. Out of the top 18 winners across the categories 11 winning teams drove their Maruti Suzuki vehicles, reinforcing the reliability of the vehicles.
Following are the winning positions in the various categories:
Xtreme T1:
Winner: Suzuki Grand Vitara driven by Sunny Sidhu with co driver Rohit Michael (14:35:06 hrs)
1st runners up: Maruti Suzuki Gypsy driven by Rai Virendra Singh with co driver Gunpreet (14:39:56 hrs)
2nd runners up: Suzuki Grand Vitara driven by Gaurav Chirpal with co driver Nikhil Pai (14:56:03 hrs)
Xtreme T2:
Winner: Maruti Suzuki Gypsy driven by Dharam Pal Jangra with co driver Vijuyrajan both Maruti Suzuki engineers (16:15:23 hrs)
1st runners up: Maruti Suzuki Gypsy driven by Manoj Vaidya with co driver Paritosh Kohok (16:15:45 hrs)
2nd runners up: Maruti Suzuki Gypsy driven by Afzal Zaheer with co driver Khan (16:52:09 hrs)
The event, often referred to as ‘Mini Dakar’, is amongst the toughest and most challenging motorsport events worldwide. The rally, spanning 6 days had 9 ‘high-speed’ competitive sections, with interesting names like Twilight Rann, Great Rann, Rann Déjà vu, Mad Max, Big Max, Thar Xpress, Twister, Twister Redux and The Sting. The rally, split into three categories – Xtreme, Xplore and Ndure – tested the nerve and grit of all participants and their machines.
After the flag off from Ahmedabad the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm traversed a grueling 3500 km through the arid Rann of Kutch, Bhuj, interiors of Rajasthan through Barmer, Jaisalmer, Pokhran, Thar, Bikaner, and Jaipur, before reaching Delhi today.
Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm was organized in partnership with Northern Motorsport for the 9th year in the running.
Source: Maruti Suzuki