Dakshin Dare 2015: Sandeep Sharma takes crown

The Dakshin Dare rally serves as a preparatory event for those looking for greater glory at the Raid de Himalaya.

The seventh edition of the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare rally kicked off from a scenic landmark in Bangalore on a Sunday afternoon, drawing a sizeable crowd.

However, the rally had little to do with the hustle and bustle of the cities, as the event transversed through some of the most remote locations of the Deccan Plateau, before culminating in the heart of Hyderabad for the prize distribution ceremony.

In all, 105 teams and 170 participants covered 2,000kms over the course of five days, making it a true test of speed, endurance and vigour.

Perhaps, the only downside was that none of the special stages extended to more than 25kms. For the sake of comparison, the Raid de Himalaya, India’s signature event, has stages of over 100kms in length.

That’s not to say that the Dakshin Dare is a walk in the park. The rally offers varied terrain for both drivers and riders, ranging from gravel trap, mud and winding trails. A night stage was also held to further challenge the participants’ abilities.

It is for this reason that this cross-country rally continues to attract some of the best rallyists in the country, with nine-time Raid de Himalaya winner Suresh Rana being the star attraction of the show. Among the riders, Arvind KP was arguably the top of the heap, given his recent success in supercross.

In the end, it was defending champion Sandeep Sharma who took the top honours in the extreme cars category, having won each stage of the five-day rally.

Lack of manufacturer presence

The Dakshin Dare rally has firmly established its position on the Indian motorsport calendar, despite making humble beginnings as a TSD-only rally. However, recent changes in the technical regulations, primarily the one that limits engine displacement to 1600cc, have killed competition, essentially turning it into a one-make rally.

Gone are the days when Maruti competed against the likes of Mahindra and Tata for top honours in the flagship cars category. Instead, Maruti cars have become the sole choice of stead for the drivers in the extreme car category, with the Gypsy being the most prominent vehicle of all.

Many believe such efforts to clamp down competition are holding back Indian motorsport, including the aforementioned Suresh Rana.

“Personally, I would like to see more car manufacturers take part in the Dakshin Dare rally, say Volkswagen with the Polo and Mahindra with their range of SUVs,’’ Rana told autoX. “In the Raid de Himalaya, we have all sorts of cars from different manufacturers and I feel the Dakshin Dare should follow suit.”

Safety

For safety reasons, two ambulances are on standby on each side of the course, while as many as six marshals are positioned across the special stages to inform the stationed doctor about incidents.

But given these marshals positions are far and few, the onus is on fellow participants to inform the authorities of incidents. Although this is probably the most efficient way of ensuring safety of the participants and medical crew arrived mostly on time, perhaps more marshals can be recruited to deal with the inherent dangers of cross-country rallying.