Desert Storm 2017: Rana retakes lead after leg 3; Santosh fights off penalty and TVS riders

Suresh Rana and co-driver Ashwin Naik re-took the lead in the Xtreme class of the 2017 Maruti-Suzuki Desert Storm after the completion of leg 3, following the longest timed stage of the rally near Jaisalmer - going to around 20km from the Pakistan border - that measured just under 200 kilometers. Rana had fallen to third after the second leg when he incurred a 16 minute penalty for checking in early at a time control.

Sanjay Aggarwal - driving a Grand Vitara, like Rana - had taken the lead but was forced to relinquish it and a shot at victory after his car's rear differential broke just under 80km into the stage after a hard landing after a crest.

Aggarwal worked through the night when the cars pulled into Jaisalmer and the drivers tried to recover after a tough day's work that saw many of them getting stuck before an incline on one of the many sand dunes in the stage. Due to the nature of the terrain, many cars even encountered fuel shortage issues as they could barely manage 3 km/l.

Rana is currently just over 5 minutes ahead of Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Karan Arya who are ahead of Niju Padia and co-driver Nirav Mehta.

SANTOSH FIGHTING FATIGUE, PENALTY AND TVS

Still fatigued from competing in the Dakar Rally in January, Hero Motosports Rally's CS Santosh is fighting to hold off TVS Racing's R. Nataraj and the recovering Tanveer Abdul Wahid in the Moto class. Nataraj trails Santosh in the overall standings by just 42 seconds after the completion of leg 3.

Nataraj and Wahid's RTR 450 FX bikes are better suited to the twistier sections of the stages of the Desert Storm than Santosh's Hero-Speedbrain 450 Rally. But the two-time Dakar participant is still riding out of his skin and utilizing his bike's immense straight-line speed.

Wahid suffered a torn mousse in his bike's rear tyre in leg 2, which dropped him to fourth before he recovered to third behind teammate Nataraj.

However, a bigger problem for Santosh is trying to overcome a 15 minute penalty handed to him on leg two for allegedly not coming to a complete stop at a stop and go section of a stage.

Hero Motosports Rally is appealing the penalty but Santosh is being forced to ride at a faster speed than he's comfortable with on the harder packed sand, which he is not that comfortable with.

"It's a stupid penalty," Santosh told autoX at the end of special stage nine at the end of leg 4. "I slowed down and looked at the marshall who told me to come and I did so. I have been working so hard to try and make those fifteen minutes up. I've been flat out all the way."

Santosh did, however, enjoy most of his riding in the stages. "The stages today were really nice and fast and a lot of the loose sand that I like," said Santosh sounding positive. "I still can't believe I am doing this right after the Dakar, though. I should be chilling!"