Sunny-Rohit combination win Desert Storm rally

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) Sunny Sidhu and Rohit Michaeltoday clinched the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Rally title,pipping the nearest rivals Rai Virendra Singh and Gunpreet byalmost five-minute margin, here today.

Sidhu and Michael emerged winners in the Xtreme T1category -- competition for modified cars -- as they clocked14:35:06hrs in their Suzuki Grand Vitara.

Virendra and Gunpreet, who drove a Gypsy, finished secondwith a timing of 14:39:56 hrs while the second runners up wereGaurav Chirpal and Nikhil Pai (14:56:03 hrs).

Close to 300 participants traversed about 3500 km in thesix-day rally, which was flagged off from Ahmedabad andconcluded here today.

The ninth edition of the rally crossed the Great Rann ofKutch in Gujarat, the deserts of Thar in Rajasthan and finallythe Aravali ranges enroute to the national capital.

Dharam Pal Jangra and Vijuyrajan were winners of theXtreme T2 category while Takale Sanjay Ram and Rahul Sanchetitook the honours in NDure Category for Cars.

Mukul Budhia and Amit R Patel claimed the title in theXPlore Category for Cars.

The Motorcycle event was won by R Nataraj (11.53.37) andhe was followed by Bhalla Ram Suthar (12.07.05) and Jesdavid �(13.44.00).

"This rally is an attempt to make motorsports morechallenging and that has really come true by looking at theincreasing participation every year.

"It is great to see most of the leading competitors on aMaruti Suzuki Vehicle. The event also brings us closer to ourcustomers who look for thrill and adventure in driving ourcars," Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager (Marketing)Maruti Suzuki India, said while felicitating the winners. PTIAT