Motorsports: No stopping Sandeep, Arvind in Dakshin Dare Rally

Maintaining their dominance, Sandeep Sharma (co-driver Karan Arya) of Team Maruti and TVS' Arvind K.P. once again topped the charts in the four-wheelers (Ultimate Car) and the two-wheelers (Ultimate Bike) categories respectively after the fourth day of the seventh Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare Rally here on Thursday.

Defending champion Sandeep, driving a Gypsy, completed the fourth leg in an hour, eight minutes and 13 seconds, taking his overall time to four hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds in the off-road motorsport event.

Samrat Yadav (co-driver Gaurav) of PVT team came second as the Gypsy driver finished seven minutes and 41 seconds slower than overnight leader Sandeep.

Suresh Rana (co-driver Parminder Thakur) of Team Maruti also remained at third with an overall timing of four hours and 21 minutes and 57 seconds.

"I am thoroughly enjoying the healthy competition that the rally is witnessing at present. I am quite happy about my performance till now and confident about maintaining my position as well," nine-time Raid de Himalaya champion Rana said after the race.

"I really hope to surprise everyone by grabbing the first position at the end but that we will only know closer to the finale."

Only 17 out of 24 teams in the Ultimate Car category will compete on Friday.

In the two-wheelers competition, Arvind, riding on a TVS 450cc, took his overall time tally to three hours, 36 minutes and 56 seconds. R. Nataraj, with an overall time of three hours, 41 minutes and 50 seconds on a TVS 450cc bike, was second.

PVT's Abdul Wahid was distant third with an overall time of three hours, 54 minutes and 28 seconds.

During the early morning stage, Team Maruti's Bani Yadav (co-driver Sukhbaans Maan), in a Gypsy, and three bikers failed to manouever a fast left turn and all them landed near the rocks. Even though Bani and Sukhbaans returned to the competition unhurt, biker Sachin suffered forehead injuries and is currently being treated at a nearby hospital. Two other bikers also suffered minor injuries.

Only 21 out of 43 bikers will compete in Friday's competition. The contestants will on Friday morning move towards the finishing point near Hyderabad.

In the Endurance Car category, run on Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format, Jasmeet Gill (co-driver Chandan Sen) surprised everyone by grabbing the first place as he incurred a total penalty of five minutes and three seconds.

Ganesh Moorthy (co-driver Nagarajan) of Team Maruti jumped one spot to second with an overall penalty of five minutes and 12 seconds. Defending champion Karthick Maruti (co-driver S. Shanker Anand) was third following a penalty of five minutes and 27 seconds.

Asgar Ali (co-driver M. Mustafa) finished fourth with a total penalty of seven minutes.

Only 26 out of 38 competitors will start the final day of competition on Friday. The rally was flagged off in Bengaluru on Sunday.