Mangalurean motor racer Ashwin Naik wins Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm rally in Jodhpur

Mangalurean motor racer Ashwin Naik wins Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm rally in Jodhpur

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Feb 6, 2017: Rising from the sand dunes, Mangalurean motor racer Ashwin Naik and Suresh Rana emerged as winners of the 15th Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm, which concluded on Saturday, February 4 at Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Driving their Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, the duo clocked a time of 11:50:44s to top the XTreme category.

The last leg of the rally covered a total distance of around 150km. Ashwin who was the co-driver (navigator) of Suresh Rana in this rally.

It challenged the participants as they traversed through sand dunes while contending with the chilly nighttime temperature. On the last day, the participants covered a total distance of around 500km, travelling from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur.

In the NDurance category, Nikunj Toshniwal and co-driver Suvrajit Dutta won the title.

Karthick Maruthi and S Sankar Anand took home the trophy in the XPlore Cars category, driving their Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. R Natraj on his TVS was crowned the winner in the Moto category.

The 2017 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm involved close to 2000 kms of racing in the testing conditions around the Thar Desert. Spread across 6 days, the rally was flagged off from Noida and crossed Hanumangarh, Bikaner, Jaisalmer concluding in Jodhpur.