His illustrious cabinet boasts of three Desert Storm, eight Raid-de-Himalaya and six INRC titles among others but the hunger to succeed has not died down in India's finest cross-country rallyist Suresh Rana, who has now set his sight on conquering the southern part of the country.
A jet-lagged Rana arrived today from hill-town Manali to the 'Garden City of India' for the fifth edition of the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare car rally, which will be flagged off from here tomorrow, to once again prove his rally prowess and stamp his dominance on the plains of Tamil Nadu, the Deccan Plateau, Nilgris and the Western Ghats.
"The aim is always to win. I will be driving a Grand Vitara along with my navigator Parminder Thakur. I had used the same set of vehicle for my successful campaign at the 2012 Raid-de-Himalaya and 2013 Desert Storm. I am confident of putting up a good show and win the only major trophy missing from my cabinet," Rana told PTI in an interview.
"This is my second time in Dakshin Dare (first being the 2010 edition where he had finished second behind Australians Niaz Ali and Kim Epton) and I am confident of doing well here. It has always been a challenging terrain for the drivers and you need to be on top of your game both physically and mentally to succeed in the rally," said Rana, who will be spearheading the challenge for Team Maruti.
Rana said a tricky weather and an unpredictable route will play a major role in deciding the outcome of the rally.
"I don't know about the route in terms of whether it's suited for Grand Vitara or 4x4 Gypsy. Also, I am unaware of the prevalent weather conditions in the other parts of the state. The rally takes place in the monsoon season so it would be very slippery terrain given the presence of the red soil.
"If the terrain is bumpy, it's fine with me but there shouldn't be narrow curves because then it would be tough to manoeuvre an SUV like Vitara. In the last Mughal rally, I had experience the same problem with my vehicle.
