Image gallery: 2016 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm, Leg 4-6
With Legs 1-3 out of the way (see the image gallery here), the participants were now in Jaisalmer for the next half of the 2016 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm. At this point, Aabhishek Mishra (co-driver PV Srinivas Murthy) was leading the Xtreme category by around 12 minutes. However, Suresh Rana (co-driver Ashwin Naik) was certainly catching up with Mishra after he closed the gap by around four minutes in Leg 3. Meanwhile in the Moto category, CS Santosh was right on top with a good 30-minute lead.
However, as it always is in rallying, things didn't go quite as expected in the second half of the event.
Leg 4: JaisalmerThis leg held just one competitive stage outside Jaisalmer. This stage held the first major dune crossing in the rally, which got quite a few participants stuck in the sand.
Leg 5: Jaisalmer
The fifth leg of the rally was a very long one, with two competitive stages in the day and two at night. The first stage was flagged off at around 9.30am, while the fourth and final stage finished at 4.30am. This leg also saw quite a twist in the rally. Aabhishek Mishra rolled his car half way through the second stage of the day, and retired from the rally. CS Santosh on the other hand, was awarded a one hour penalty for missing a Passage Control stop, reducing his lead to just seven minutes.
Leg 6: Jaisalmer - Jodhpur
This was it - the final run for the finish. Although there were two stages scheduled for the day, the second one was cancelled. Rana was well in the lead of the Xtreme category. In the Moto category meanwhile, Aravind KP was just seven minutes behind Santosh. In the end though, it was Santosh that won the title with a 9-minute lead.