Sandeep, Nataraj maintain lead in Dakshin Dare Rally

Sandeep Sharma (co-driver Varun Davessar) and Nataraj Rajanna remained at the top of the Overall classifications among four and two-wheelers, respectively at the end of Leg 3 in the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare Rally here Thursday.

One of the two Special Stages that were to be run twice each was cancelled due to flooding after massive amount of water was discharged from the nearby Tungabhadra dam.

Sandeep Sharma kept his foot down on the accelerator to maintain his first place ahead of Sanjay Agarwal (Venu Ramesh Kumar) by over a minute while nine times Raid de Himalaya champion and one of the hot favourites, Suresh Rana (Parminder Thakur) moved up a spot to third.

The positions in the two-wheeler category remained unchanged with defending champion Nataraj extending his lead over Mohit Sharma and Pramod Joshua.

Both the Special Stages were alongside canals and the competitors were made to wear life jackets as a precautionary measure over their regular racing suit.

The conditions claimed one victim when Bangalore's Shyam Gopinath (Lakshmikanth) crashed his Gypsy into a roadside barrier, but both were unhurt.

In the Endure category, run on Time-Speed-Distance format, Erode pair of Karthick Maruti and navigator Sankar Anand retained their top position while Sachin Singh (Pratima Naidu) and Ganesh Murthy (Nagarajan) completed the top three.

Provisional classification (after Leg 3):

Extreme - 4-wheelers: Sandeep Sharma / Varun Davessar (Maruti Gypsy) 1 (01hr, 57mins, 19secs); Sanjay Agarwal / Venu Rameshkumar (Maruti Gypsy) 2 (01:58:22); Suresh Rana / Parminder Thakur (Maruti Gypsy) 3 (01:59:23).

Two-wheelers: Nataraj Rajanna (Group A TVS 450) 1 (01:36:05); Mohit Verma (Group B KTM 390) 2 (01:40:04); Pramod Joshua (Group B TVS 260) 3 (01:44:28).

Endure (TSD): Karthick Maruti / Sankar Anand 1 (01min, 36secs); Sachin Singh / Prakash Pratima Naidu 2 (02:14); Ganesh Murthy / Nagarajan 3 (02:26).