Imran powers past Vaidya

Bangalore driver holds comfortable lead in Dakshin Dare rally

On a very cold Tuesday morning in Kodaikanal, drivers and riders prepped their automobiles and set off for a long day ahead after just a few hours of sleep, and the effect showed much sooner than expected.

In the Ultimate category, the participants had to travel down Kodaikanal for 76 km and head to the Pudumakkya canal and Pallaru Pulandur dam to complete four dirt stages, after which they travelled to Coimbatore for the night halt.

Whilst participants had a tough time coping with the terrain, the top two cars in the Ultimate category fought hard, even if only briefly.

Vaidya held off Imran’s challenge in stage one, but it was only a matter of time before the Bangalore lad, driving a candy blue Esteem, took charge in style.

Imran clocked a time of 1:33.42 at the end of the four stages and Vaidya, driving a Gypsy, finished second (1:35.00). Sunil Shetty (co-driver Darayash D) went about with absolute ease to stay third with a time of 1:44.17.

In the two-wheeler section, TVS Racing’s Pramod Joshua continued to blitz the dangerous terrain without an ounce of fear to remain in the lead for the second day in succession, completing the course in an impressive time of 1:21.03.

In the absence of TVS team-mate and tournament favourite KP Aravind, who chose to sit out the tournament after suffering a crash on day one, Joshua looked in control, opening up a big gap between him and second-placed Rohit Gowda (1:30.58). Venu Ramesh Kumar (1:31.25) finished third.

In the Endurance section, Bangalore was once again in the forefront as Sathish Gopalakrishnan (co-driver Savera D’Souza) jumped to the lead in the 450-km race, 23 seconds behind the TSD time.

Results: Ultimate category: Cars: Imran/ Rashid (1:33.42) 1; Manoj Vaidya/ Uday Kumar (1:35.00) 2; Sunil Shetty/ Darayash D (1:44.07) 3.
Bikes: Pramod Joshua (1:21.03) 1; Rohit Gowda (11:30.58) 2; Venu Ramesh Kumar (1:31.25) 3.

Endurance category: Sathish Gopalakrisnan/ Savera D’Souza (-23S) 1; Takale Sanjay Raj/ Rahul Sancheti (-42) 2; K Prasad/ Mustafa (-47) 3.