Dakshin Dare, Leg 4: Rana holds on top spot, Nataraj extends advantage

Rana (co-driver Parminder Thakur) arrived on the penultimate day of Dakshin Dare with a comfortable seven minute buffer over nearest rival and last year’s winner Sandeep Sharma (co-driver Karan Arya).

But the Manali-born driver appeared to struggle in SS12, giving the initiative to Sharma, who subsequently set the fastest time in the stage to reduce the overall gap to 3m35s.

Behind, Jasmohan Saini (co-driver Vikram Thakur) controlled the pace behind to keep third place, with Samrat Yadav (co-driver Kunal) jumping four positions to move up to fourth.

G Sidhu (co-driver Karanpreet Mattu) was fifth but with Harpeet Bawa (co-driver Varender) close on his heels as a mere 0.22s separate the two.

Nataraj extends lead in bikes

In the Extreme Bikes category, TVS rider Nataraj extended his advantage to a mammoth 41 minutes over Febin Jose, who moved up to second place after Sanjay Kumar retired from the rally.

The battle for the final podium spot is close with Akash Aital in front chased by Eshank Rudrappa and Vishwas S D, the trio separated by just three minutes heading into the final leg on Friday.

Extreme Cars Standings (Top 10)

Extreme Bikes Standings (Top 10)