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Tag: Maruti Suzuki
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Rare op for sponsors to identify with iconic Dakshin Dare which starts on Easter Day, April 4
Bengaluru, 21 March 2021: The iconic Dakshin Dare is back with a bang. Despite finding it difficult to bag the title sponsor, Motorsport Inc is making all efforts to make the event a grand spectacle for one more year. A novelty is being introduced this year by bringing in the concept of Navigation to the Indian riders. The 5-day 12th edition will begin on April 4 in Bengaluru and it also presents a rare opportunity for a title-sponsor to identify itself with the iconic brand.
The man behind Motorsport Inc, the organisers of the event, Jaidas Menon said: “Dakshin Dare Rally will become the first-ever rally in India to introduce the concept of navigation to the Indian riders in association with Hero MotoSports. The intend to introduce the basics of navigation to all the riders expose them to this very important skill that is essential to succeed at the international rallies.”
Coming back to Dakshin Dare, the only such event in the south, saw the last edition held in 2019 crown Gaurav Gill as the champion. The three-time Asia Pacific Rally Championship winner and Team Mahindra Adventure entry are yet to confirm their entries. The regular sponsor has shied away this year and with the dwindling number of entries one is tempted to approach Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) promoters Champions Yacht Club (CYC) which has done a good job of roping in many entries by providing free transportation of vehicles and sponsored teams besides waiver of entry fees, to replenish the Arunachal rounds of INRC last December with many goodies.
When queried if they would be interested in supporting the iconic event in the absence of Maruti Suzuki, the regular sponsor, Vamsi Merla of CYC said: “Yes, Dakshin Dare has chalked out a name for itself as a historic event with popular support. Definitely we would be interested in supporting teams for the event as we usually do for INRC. I am in touch with the organisers and let us see how we can go about it.”
The Dare begins with a Super Special at the Unite Off-road Park, near Gunjur, after the Ceremonial Start and the next day, participants will travel to Chitradurga and some special stages nearby. They will return to Bengaluru on March 8 where the Closing Ceremony and Prize Distribution (PD) is scheduled to be held at Fairfield Marriott, Rajajinagar at 6 pm.
The four Categories will be T1 2wd, T2 4wd, for Modified Cross-country vehicles and T2 2wd and T2 4wd for Series Cross-country vehicles. There will be three classes in each category as follows: Class 1 over 1001cc Up to1400cc; Class 2 over 1401cc Up to 1850cc and Class 3 over 1851cc and above.
The entry with late fee will be March 31 at 5pm. Admin checks, documentation and scrutiny will be held on March 3 at Unite Off-road Park.
Navigation Bootcamp: “Hero MotoSports team will be conducting an exclusive bootcamp in Bengaluru on March 27 and 28 for anyone interested in learning the navigation basics. The bootcamp will be conducted by Jordi Grau, who is a part of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally and is a Navigation expert of international reputation. Many of our own stars like CS Santosh and other international top riders have trained with him in Spain,” a Hero statement said.
“The bootcamp will cover some theory aspects of Navigation followed by a practical session where one can learn reading a roadbook and ride, using it under the guidance of the Hero MotoSports team.”
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn navigation from the best in the business. So I would strongly recommend all of you to attend the same,” concluded Jaidas Menon, a former National Champion navigator in the Indian National Rally Championship for many years.
Riders can register for the bootcamp here.
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Bengaluru girl Aishwarya fourth in Raid de Himalaya: Xtreme category Group B bikes
Photos courtesy Aishwarya Pissay Aishwarya in action at Raid de Himalaya 2017 in Group B Xtreme class. Leh (J & K), 13 Oct 2017: Aishwarya Pissay, riding a factory-supported TVS Apache RTR 200, endured the grueling 19th Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya Rally to finish a creditable fourth in the “Xtreme” category for Group B bikes here on Friday.
She is the only female rider to complete the course in the week-long event in her second attempt this year.
The Raid, which has earned notoriety for breaking the hardiest of men and machines, is considered to be among the toughest rallies in the World as the participants have to negotiate treacherous terrain and high altitude mountain passes.
Aishwarya, the 21-year old from Bengaluru and first-ever National champion among girls in both racing and rallying, was in line for a podium finish, but a couple of crashes cost her precious time.
Reflecting on her performance, Aishwarya said: “I am delighted to have finished such a grueling rally, and it was an improvement over my debut last year when I had to retire on the very first day. Today, the gap was too much to make up and I focused on finishing the course, though fourth in Group B.
“It was a very challenging event which tested my mental and physical limits. There were times, especially when I crashed a few times, my body wanted to give up, but I pushed myself to continue. I also had to endure extreme cold and high altitude. So, overall, I am extremely happy to have crossed the finish line.”
After a smooth start to her campaign which was flagged off from Manali on October 8, Aishwarya, who is supported by TVS Racing, had to endure tough moments. In her bid to catch up with front-runners yesterday, she fell heavily. In fact, she covered the last 20 Kms of Stage on just two gears, first and second, and having to bend down to move the gear lever with her hand.
“I had a good start with trouble-free runs on Days 1 and 2 though the terrain was really rough. Only about 25 of the 43 bikes which had taken the start finished Day 2.
“On Day 3, I had some issues with my bike as there was not enough intake of oxygen into the carburetor and the engine kept stalling, but I managed to pull through and was running third in my Group B class.
“I survived a couple of crashes on Day 4 when we did the Leh to Kargil run and dropped one spot to fourth. Yesterday, Day 5, was very stressful. We had a 65Kms of Competitive Section followed by 85 Kms of Special Stage. In the latter half of the run, I fell heavily as I pushed too hard trying to catch up with a couple of bikers ahead of me.
“The bike suffered some damage and kept dragging to the left. Over the last 20 Kms or so, I had to bend down to change the gears with my hand. There were only first and second gears available, but somehow I managed to finish the Stage at the end of which the TVS service crew did a fantastic job of repairing the bike.
“We had to return to Kargil by the same route as the next Stage was cancelled due to technical reasons. I had a 4 am flag-off and I think, I rode for nearly 11 hours, covering some 400-plus Kms!”
