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Desert Storm: Mishra stays on top in Xtreme, Mare assumes Moto lead

Aabhishek Mishra continues to lead the Xtreme category of Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm after Leg 3, while Aaron Mare took over the top spot in the Moto class.

Bike action

Bike action

Maruti Suzuki

Wednesday’s 200km marathon stage ran from Mokal to Asu Tar - both near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan - and completely shook up the order at the sharp end of the pack.

10-time Raid de Himalaya winner and factory Maruti Suzuki driver Suresh Rana suffered a retirement when his Grand Vitara’s engine came to a halt 45km into the stage.

India’s only Dakar finisher CS Santosh’s Desert Storm outing also ended prematurely after the Hero rider suffered a fall from his RR 450 bike.

Santosh managed to finish the stage, but was subsequently taken to a hospital for further checks, where he reported a stiff neck.

Hero’s Team Manager Wolfgang Fischer confirmed to Motorsport.com India that he would take no further part in the event, with the outfit having decided to give him rest for the next few days.

With two of the biggest names in cross-country rallying retiring, privateers took over the top spot in both categories.

In Xtreme, Mishra (co-driver V Venu Rameshkumar) extended his lead to 26m17s over nearest rival Raj Singh Rathore.

Rathore (co-driver Sagar Mallappa) ran out of fuel 10km from the stage end, but made it to the finish after his Isuzu pick-up truck was refueled mid-stage.

Dharmal Jangra was classified third and highest among the factory Maruti Suzuki drivers, another 10 minutes behind Rathore.

The top-five was completed by Desert Raiders’ Niju Padia (co-driver Nirav Mehta) and former Desert Storm winner Sandeep Sharma (co-driver Arya Singh).

Over in Moto, Mare now holds a 9m18s advantage over Santosh, whose time was still good enough to be classified second.

TVS’ foreign rider Santolino Lorenzo set the fastest time of the day, 2hr15m48s, to dispatch Sanjay Kumar from the third spot in the overall order.

Double Raid de Himalaya champion Abdul Wahid Tanveer was fifth and second among the TVS riders.

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