Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm: Mishra, Mare in sight of titles after Leg 4

David Bodapati March 23, 2018

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Abhishek Mishra (co-driver Venu Ramesh Kumar) on a charge in the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm. Photo: Northern Motorsport

Jaisalmer, March 23: Overnight leaders Abhishek Mishra and co-driver Venu Ramesh Kumar (Xtreme) and Aaron Mare of Aga’nta Racing (Moto) moved closer to winning the titles in their respective categories at the end of Leg 4 of the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm cross-country rally, here on Thursday. With one short stage of 25 km to be run in the fifth leg, it is almost assured that the frontrunners will seal the titles.

According to the partial provisional standings, which might change after the calculation of the final penalties, Mishra, piloting the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, leads the field by more than 15 minutes with a total time of 11 hours, 15 minutes, 54 seconds.

Raj Singh Rathore (co-driver Sagar Mallappa) is currently lying in second place with a total time 11:30:57, ahead of Vinam Jain (Karan Malik) of Wanderers Adventure team (12:20:21).

The fourth leg turned out to be hard for Maruti Suzuki Motorsports as their last two remaining cars failed to make it home after the finish of Leg 4A. Sandeep Sharma, driving a prototype four-wheel drive S-Cross, ground to a halt in the morning stages with a damaged radiator.

Dharampal Jhangra, driving yet another prototype four-wheel drive, Vitara Brezza, suffered a turbo failure that forced him to stop in the middle of his run.

There was no such trouble for Mishra, as he won the two morning stages by a comfortable margin before repeating his show in the night stages that were part of Leg 4B.

In the Moto class, the night stages were canceled in the interest of rider safety. Instead, the organizers, Northern Motorsports, ran three stages in the morning to mark the completion of Leg 4 in the Moto class.

Though South African Mare, by the virtue of good show in the previous legs, maintained his overall lead according to the partial provisional standing, it was Spaniard Santalino Lorenzo of TVS Racing who was the star of the day as he won all the three stages to cut into Mare’s overnight lead.

Going into the final stage, Mare leads the timesheets with a total time of 07:44:22 while Lorenzo is in second place (07:49:43), while Sanjay Kumar, also of Ang’ata Racing, is (08:18:56).

But it’s still not over for Mare. It has been reported that his KTM 450 is suffering from an internal oil leak, while Kumar is dealing with gearbox issues with his bike stuck in third gear.

With just 25 kms left in the rally, the game is still wide open in the Moto class. The fourth leg turned out to be troublesome for TVS Racing as Tanveer Abdul Wahid was forced to retire with mechanical issues.