Rana, Naik keep lead in Raid de Himalaya rally
October 14th, 2011 - 7:09 pm ICT by IANSSrinagar, Oct 14 (IANS) Suresh Rana and co-driver Ashwin Naik maintained their lead for the third consecutive day in the 13th edition of the world’s highest rally, the Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya that reached here Friday.The surprise has been the Austrian biking team participating for the first time that has three of its five participants in the top 5 in the two-wheeler section with Helmut Frauwallner in the lead.
From Leh, the rally looped through Karu, Shakti, Wari La, Khalsar, touched the highest point on the route at Khardung La and returned to Leh for the night halt. Two climbs, one up Wari la and the other up Khardung La were particularly demanding as also the unending descent into Nubra.
Rana, with his Bangalore based navigator Naik, had established an early lead on the first day and widened the gap on day 2 with a cumulative timing of 06.00.35 hrs. However, last year’s winner Major A.S. Brar (Nilesh Kumar) in a Maruti Gypsy was just 12 minutes behind. The two are being closely chased by Sandeep Sharma (Karan Arya).
In the Extreme Bikes segment, the Dakar Rally winner Frauwallner, riding a Husqvarna TE 449 clocked 05.05.37 hrs over last three days while last year’s winner Ashish Moudgil was about 12 minutes behind him on a Yamaha WR-450.
Another Austrian, Golfried Lehner on a KTM Enduro was third, followed by Suresh Babu, riding a Suzuki RMZ 450Z, and Austrians Lehner Gottfried and Lehner Johann.
In the Adventure Trial segment, Umesh Raheja (Yogesh Raheja), driving a Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, maintained their lead for a third consecutive day. Sanjay Takale (Chandrashekhar) in a Tata Safari retained his second spot, but six minutes behind the leaders.
Results (Cumulative - up to Leg 3):
Extreme (4WD): Suresh Rana / Ashwin Naik (Gypsy) 1 (06.00.35 hrs); Maj A S Brar / Swr Nilesh Kumar (Gypsy) 2 (06.12.34); Sandeep Sharma / Karan Arya (Gypsy) 3 (06.16.46).
Extreme (Bikes): Helmut Frauwallner (05.05.37) 1; Ashish Moudgill (05.17.11) 2; Suresh Babu (05.38.14) 3.
Adventure: Umesh Raheja / Yogesh Raheja (4.08 min) 1; Sanjay Takle / ChandraShekhar (10.24) 2; Girija Shankar Joshi / Chandramouli (10.40) 3.
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Tags: arya, ashish, ashwin, brar, chandrashekhar, co driver, dakar rally, extreme bikes, grand vitara, karu, ktm enduro, lehner, maruti suzuki grand vitara, nilesh, suzuki grand vitara, suzuki rmz, tata safari, two wheeler, yamaha wr 450, yogesh