Most Awaited Motorsport Rally of South India - Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare is Back with its 9th Edition

It’s that time of the year when Indian Motorsport enthusiasts move to South or keep their eyes on one of the most popular Motorsports rallies in South India. You guessed it right; we are talking about the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare. This post talks about Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare in detail and I am sure that response will be overwhelming like what I have been observing about Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya posts along with other motorsports events. After this post and the rally we shall try to bring you some action shots, so stay tuned for that as well. For now, let me share some interesting facts about this rally.

The 9th edition of Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare flagged off on July 16, from Orion Mall, Rajaji Nagar, Bengaluru. With 180 participants, the MS Dakshin Dare hit the road for its first leg on 17^th July morning. The most interesting part for me is the terrain chosen this time. It will travel across Chitradurga, Belgaum and Kolhapur to hit Pune through some of the beautiful landscapes and equally challenging terrains on the way.

The participants will be covering a total of around 2,000 km divided in five legs. The first leg took the participants from Bengaluru to the historic district of Chitradurga where they trace its windmill laced landscape in the second leg as well. The third leg begins from Chitradurga to travel to Belgaum from where they proceed to Maharashtra as they enter Kolhapur in the fourth leg. The battle, henceforth, continues through the scenic Western Ghats as they traverse from Belgaum to Pune in the fifth leg. Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare concludes in Pune on July 22, 2017, with prize distribution ceremony.

There are two formats in Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare - Ultimate and Endurance.  While the Ultimate category is all about the fastest lap times and consistent performance, Endurance is more about precision and control.

The participants representing Team Maruti Suzuki at the rally this year are Suresh Rana along with navigator Ashwin Naik and Sandeep Sharma with navigator Karan Arya.

Suresh Rana (Driver) + Ashwin Naik (Navigator)

Suresh Rana AKA Rana is 44 years young star rallyist who started his rallying career 16 years back. His first Maruti Suzuki motosports event as a participant was Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya that he won multiple times over the years. The winner of the last year Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare is set to repeat the history in his Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara with co-driver Ashwin Naik.

Sandeep Sharma (Driver) + Karan Arya (Navigator)

Another key participant is Sandeep Sharma, who gave a close competition to Rana at the MS Dakshin Dare last year. The rally icon from Delhi has been rallying since 1992 and has won the national champion thrice! His favourite navigator is Karan Arya who also happens to be his Navigator in the 9^th Edition of Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare as well.

All these folks are very passionate about rallying and Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare is certainly very special for them. I wish them the best for this rally!