2018 Dakshin Dare: Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif lead after Day 1

The 10th edition of the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare got off to a good start for Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif. Gill and Sherif who compete for Team Mahindra Adventure, piloting a SuperXUV, managed to take the lead in the rally, having ended all three special stages on Day 1 at the head of the timing sheets. Their total time at the end of the day was 2hr 25.47min.

Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif lead the rally after Day 1 of the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare

Second place at the end of the first day of rallying went to the other Team Mahindra Adventure driver Philippos Matthai. Matthai and navigator PVS Moorthy clocked a time of 2hr 30.19min, approximately five minutes behind Gill and Sherif. Classified third at the end of the first day of rallying were Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, also of Mahindra Adventure, although just five seconds adrift of their teammates.

The two-wheeler class saw Yuva Kumar at the head of the timing sheets with a timing of 1hr 43.30min. Second place at the end of the day went to Vishwas SD, with Akash Aithal in third place.

While the cars completed 129km of special stages, the motorcycles covered 86.42km over their two special stages.

Speaking of his overnight lead in the rally, Gill said, "We were not aware of the terrain and there was a lot of gravel on the tracks. I usually scorch the track but here I had to be cautious and slide through the corners rather than coming in fast."

Suresh Rana of Team Maruti Suzuki in action en route fourth place at the 2018 Dakshin Dare

Meanwhile, Team Maruti Suzuki's defending champion Suresh Rana ended the day fourth after having lost seven minutes on the first stage after a puncture.

The Dakshin Dare extends over 2000km, and will continue through Karnataka and Maharashtra, before finally concluding in Goa.

Dakshin Dare 2018 Day 1 Standings:

4WD - Above 1851cc
1) Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure) -2:25:47
2) Philippos Matthai & VVS Moorthy - 2:30:19
3) Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure) - 2:30:24

Bike
1) Yuva Kumar - 1:43:30
2) Vishwas S D - 1:48:22
3) Akash Aital - 1:49:29

TSD
1) Vinay Kumar & Ravi Kumar (00:01:47secs)
2) Srikanth & Raghuraman (00:01:53secs)
3) Pramod Vig & Prakash M (00:02:00secs)