February 24, 2013
Suresh Rana of Team Maruti Suzuki wins the 11th Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm
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The 11th edition of Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm flagged off in style
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Maruti Suzuki sales in February 2013
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Suresh Rana of Team Maruti Suzuki wins the 11th Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm

The 11th Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm came to an exciting culmination today with Suresh Rana of Team Maruti winning the overall rally championship. Driving a Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara along with his navigator Parminder Thakur emerged winner in the XTREME category. Sanjay Takale with his Maruti Suzuki SX4 took away the winning position in the XPLORE category, and Sombed Chanda won the NDURE category with his Maruti Suzuki Gypsy. The six-day rally saw seasoned participants as well as amateurs traverse through hostile desert terrain, withstanding the test of time and unreceptive conditions.

In every category first place was taken by Maruti Suzuki vehicles, which dominated the podium finish.
The winners:
Category Position I Position II Position III
Xtreme Suresh Rana Sunny Sidhu Lohit Urs
Xplore Sanjay Takale Satish Gopalkrishnan Rajesh Chalana
Ndure Somdeb Chanda Jagmeet Gill Parth Beniwal
MotoQuad overall Mohit Verma Vijay Parmar Stephan Raush

In the last and deciding leg of the rally, the finalists underwent a neck to neck competition to grab the top spot. The sand-dunes of the formidable Thar Desert in the final lap from Bikaner to Jaisalmer to Jaipur provided an apt crescendo to the 6-day annual event that crisscrosses the dry West-Indian terrain.

Congratulating the winners Mr. Manohar Bhat, Vice President, Marketing of Maruti Suzuki India said, “Each year we have seen an increase in the popularity of motorsports in India. For Maruti Suzuki, the rally is a platform to provide excitement to the motorsport lovers and also promote controlled and safe driving habits. It is heartening to see the nerve and grit of all participants to complete this rally overcoming the challenges of the harsh sandy landscapes of the desert. Maruti Suzuki cars performed well. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the participants and Maruti Suzuki customers to make this a success. We hope to see more intense rally in 2014”

After the flag off from New Delhi the 11th edition of Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm traversed a grueling distance of over 2200 km. The rally crossed through the tough and undulating interiors of Rajasthan, yet were some of the most scenic and picturesque areas. The rally on its way crossed the cities of Bikaner, Chattargarh, Jaisalmer, Pokharn Gajnaur, Lakshmangarh, etc. Today the rally culminated at Jaipur. This year the rally had 5 competitive legs of this two are night stages. The participants had to prove their night rallying capability twice unlike last year.

The first leg from Sardarshahar at midnight of 18th Feb 013 and entered Bikaner during the day on 19th Feb. The second leg on 20th Feb covered the sandy topography of the Thar from Bikaner to Jaisalmer before finally entering the third leg of the rally back to Jaisalmer and finally to Jaipur on 23rd Feb. The rally which started off with over 152 vehicles saw only 86 vehicles successfully complete the rally.

Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm is being organized with the help of Northern Motorsports for the 11th year in the running. Northern Motorsport is one of the leading motorsport organisations India. It organises a series of challenging motorsport events including the Maruti Suzuki Autocross.


Visit the website: http://www.marutisuzukimotorsport.com/
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