Gill holds on to lead, Sandeep rises to third in Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare on Day-3

Davanagere, September 5 - Sandeep Sharma continued his climb towards the top of the ladder, moving up to the third position after the end of Day 4 in the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare here on Wednesday.

Starting the day on the 4th position, the Maruti Suzuki Motorsport driver, along with navigator Anmol Rampal, showed great speed and control to end the day with an aggregate timing of 05:18:19.

"I was off the pace on the opening day but caught up later. I have been clocking some good time and will go out blazing in the next two rounds as well. I will try to keep it up and let's see how it ends," Sharma said.

Mahindra Adventure's Gaurav Gill, however, held on to his preeminent position on the leaderboard. Gill (with Musa Sherif), played it safe throughout the four special stages and managed to hold on to his lead. He has a total time of 04:59:45 after the three stages; a safe cushion of approximately 8 minutes over his team-mate Philippos Mathai (with PVS Murthy); who is placed second with total timing of 05:07:15.

Amiitrajit Ghosh and his co-driver Ashwin Naik for the third day straight had a flat tyre which saw him slip to the fourth position. He lost close to four minutes and finished with an aggregate time of 05:19:06.

Samrat Kumar (with Karan Aukta) of Maruti Suzuki Motorsports is on fifth position with a total time of 05:19:29.

In the bike category, Yuva Kumar and Akash Aital maintained their hold on first and second positions, while Jatin Jain is on third position after three rounds.

RESULTS

CARS

1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sharif - 4:59:45 ; 2. Phillipos Mathai / PVS Murthy - 5:07:15 ; 3. Sandeep Sharma / Anmol Rajput - 5:18:19

BIKES

1. Yuva Kumar - 3:47:27 ; 2. Aakash - 3:49:55 ; 3. Jatin Jain - 3:51:26