Desert Storm, Leg 2: Agarwal takes lead in Xtreme, Santosh heads Moto

The three stage Leg 2 covering a total distance of 500 KM from Bikaner to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan saw a major lead change in the Xtreme category.

Leg 1 leader Suresh Rana (co-driver Ashwin Naik) in the factory-prepped Maruti Grand Vitara made an uncharacteristic mistake of checking in for the day's last stage eight minutes before time.

As a result of which, the Manali-born driver was handed a 16 minutes time penalty, dropping him to third in the order at the end of Leg 2.

Having finished third in Leg 1, Agarwal (co-driver Shivaprakash E) made up good ground in the day's stages to topple Gaurav Chirpal (co-driver Srikanth Gowda) and move to second.

In the end, the defending champion benefited from Rana's penalty to take over the lead with Team Maruti's Harpreet Bawa (co-driver Virendra Kashyap) moving to second.

Santosh leads despite fall

Over in the Moto category, Hero's debut in the Desert Storm continues to go as per plans with Santosh extending his overall lead in Leg 2.

The Bangalore-born rider, though, had a scare in the day's final stage when he suffered a fall, but after assistance from fellow rivals he was able to see through the end.

Behind him, the factory TVS Racing team saw a change in position with R Nataraj taking over the second sport as teammate Tanveer Abdul Wahid dropped outside the top three positions.

Having finished fourth in Leg 1, Sanjay Kumar got himself into third after a consistent run in the second leg of the cross-country rally.