[guyfawkes]

Hi All,

Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2018 is kicking off this weekend. The website references Page 21 of FIA General Prescription for Cross-Country Rallying document. Challenge being the language of the document is French. Somehow, I managed to process the document and here is the link for the English version of the entire document. Hope the participants find it useful. You can find the link to the document here.

Thanks,
Varun

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India’s Longest Cross-Country Rally


Image source: allevents.in

Noida, 17-March-2018 to Jaisalmer, 23-March-2018

The 2018 edition of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm has attracted a record number of competitors. The rally is divided into four categories: Xtreme, Moto, Ndure and Xplore. The prominent highlight of the rally is the participation of several international riders in the Moto category.

The Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm is the country's longest cross-country rally set in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan. The rally will be an extreme test of mental and physical fitness of the competitors in the extreme heat and tough terrain.

In its 2018 edition, the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm will be a more compact rally with the stages located around Bikaner and Jaisalmer. The competitors will cover an approximate total distance of 2,500km with a timed section of 900km.

The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm will witness the competitors tackling ten special stages spread across four days of rallying. The 200km stage of leg three and the 160km night stage of the fourth leg in the dunes are the high points of the 16th edition of the Desert Storm rally.

News Source :https://www.drivespark.com/four-whee...da-025172.html

Official Website : https://desertstorm.in/

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Some informative teasers from Desert Strom's FB page.

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Pre - Rally interview of Suresh Rana. Suresh Rana has been one of the most well-known personalities in Indian motorsport. Having been in the Indian motorsport scene for nearly two decades, the man has won several accolades and has many podium finishes to his name.

[quote]Suresh Rana has been driving for team Maruti Suzuki Motorsports and dominating the rally scene in India for a few years now. Driving a Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, he won the Desert Storm, Dakshin Dare and Raid De Himalaya in 2017. This year, he is back and geared up for the first rally of the season. In an exclusive with DriveSpark, Suresh Rana speaks about the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm. Here are excerpts from the interview[/QUOTE

Full Interview at : https://www.drivespark.com/four-whee...45-025210.html

Source: www.drivespark.com

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2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm flagged off.

The 16th Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm has been flagged off from Noida, with about 140 entrants participating in this iconic rally that will take them through the Thar Desert. The number of participants is reportedly the highest in the history of the Desert Storm and includes a much larger contingent of women drivers and navigators.

The participants, including five-time winner Suresh Rana and Dakar veteran CS Santosh, will compete over 2,000km of rough, rugged and sandy terrain over the course of six days.

As before, the Desert Storm comprises four categories – Xtreme, Moto, Ndure and Xplore. Participants in the last category can go the whole hog and compete on all six days, or opt out after just two or three days.

While the night stage had debuted on the 2015 edition of the Desert Storm, the 2018 one gets two night stages near Jaisalmer as part of stage 4. The first three stages will take place around Bikaner, before heading towards Jaisalmer.

Source : https://www.autocarindia.com/motor-s...ged-off-407784

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Some updates of Desert Storm 2018 from their Fb page.





Source: Desert Storm 2018's Facebook page.

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Desert Storm 2018: Rana scorches the sandy terrains; Santosh sizzles.

The terrains and the `timings' have seen through some changes in 2018, but that did not stop the free-flowing Suresh Rana (co-driver P.V.S. Murthy), of Team Maruti Suzuki Motorsport, from scorching the track. The five-time champion proved to the rest that he is still the best, by emerging a clear leader in the Xtreme category, after the second leg of the Marurti Suzuki Desert Storm 2018, here, on Tuesday.

Only the other day, the defending champion said that he will be under some pressure, being the top contender. However, he did not show signs of nerves while driving his Grand Vitara, in style, through the hard pack and sandy stages, both at Bikaner and Bikampur.

However, quite a few of the participants found it hard, handling the tricky-looking terrain and the searing heat. "With added elements, such as roadbook navigation and track changes, the difficulty levels have really gone up. However, the early lead has come as a real morale booster for us, and we hope to replicate this in the legs to follow," said Rana.

News Source : http://http://www.sportstarlive.com/...le23304675.ece

[volkman10]

Suresh Rana trails :

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Some updates of Desert Storm 2018 from their Fb page.



Source: Desert Storm 2018's Facebook page

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Abhishek Mishra, Aaron Mare lead 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Rally

Jaisalmer March 21: Abhishek Mishra and Aaron Mare of Aga’nta Racing have taken leads in the Xtreme cars and Moto categories in the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm. As per the partial provisional standings, which might change after the calculations of the final penalties, Mishra (co-driver Venu Ramkumar) leads the time charts with a total time 6:55:28. Raj Singh Ratore (co-driver Sagar Mallapa) is currently in second place with a total time of 7:21:55, while Dharampal Jangra (co-driver Harikrishnan) of Team Maruti Suzuki Motorsports with a cumulative time of 7:31:58.
The third leg of the rally, which included a marathon 200 km special stage, resulted in the shock exclusion of defending champion Suresh Rana of Team Maruti Suzuki Motorsports after he suffered an engine failure in the special section. It curtailed the much-anticipated clash between Mishra and Rana in the closing stages of the rally. Mishra, who took a 33 second lead over Rana in the second leg, now enjoys a cushion 25 minutes over Rathore.
In the moto class, Aaron Mare established himself in pole position following the massive crash of C.S. Santosh of Hero Motorspot Team Rally at the 44 km mark from the finish of the marathon stage. The accident caused a neck injury, forcing Santosh to retire from the rally on precautionary grounds. The two front running pilots were locked in an intense duel for track position, when Santosh was blinded by the dust kicked up by Mare’s bike and crashed heavily into the sandbank. Despite sustaining the injury, the country’s top rider completed the stage.
Mare leads the moto class with a total time of 5:29:39 with Santosh in second place with a cumulative time of 5:36:43. After the retirement of the Hero Motosport rider, Santolino Lorenzo of TVS Racing will move into second place, while Sanjay Kumar of Ang’ata Racing will climb into third place on the leaderboard. Lorenzo was the star of the marathon stage by winning it with a total time of 2:15:48, while Mare completed the 200 km special with a time of 2:24:19.

New Source : https://desertstorm.in/abhishek-mish...t-storm-rally/

Some more Update from Desert Storm 2018 Fb page.

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CS Santosh Crashes Out In Stage 3

Hero MotoSports Team Rally rider CS Santosh has crashed out of the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm rally. The ace Indian rally rider met with an accident and injured himself on the third stage of the rally.

Following Santosh's injury, as a precautionary measure, Hero MotoSports Team Rally has decided to pull out of the rally. The team has taken this decision keeping rider safety as the top priority. Santosh was the sole rider from Hero participating in the rally.

Santosh was leading the 2018 Desert Storm after the end of stage 2. But unfortunately, he met with a crash during the third stage of the rally, which left him with a neck injury.

In stage 3 of the 2018 Desert Storm, Santosh was is a good rhythm and was building up a healthy lead of ten minutes over his closest rival. Despite the injury, Santosh managed to bring the bike to the stage finish fighting through the pain.

News Source : https://www.drivespark.com/two-wheel...33-025250.html

Shake up in Xtreme and Moto classes as Suresh Rana and CS Santosh are forced to withdraw

The 2018 Maruti-Suzuki Desert Storm took a dramatic turn here in Jaisalmer on Wednesday as the defending champion on four wheels and the leader in the motorcycle class, after the first two legs, were forced to retire following the completion of the third leg of the rally yesterday.

Rana was forced to retire somewhere before the half-way point of the 199km long special stage that made up the entire third leg of the rally yesterday. The Grand Vitara he was driving suffered an engine failure, leaving Mishra all but certain to win the rally unless Raj Singh Rathore (driving an Isuzu D-Max V-Cross) is able to catch him. Rathore currently lies second overall with Maruti-Suzuki Motorsport's Dharampal Jangra in third place.

Mishra's total time after the first three legs is 6hr.55min.38sec with Rathore a further 26 minutes behind after losing time in the third leg when the emergency cut-off switch in his Isuzu got activated on its own and brought the car to a halt just 200 meters from the end of the stage. Rathore was ultimately able to rectify the situation and finish the stage.

News Source : https://www.autox.com/motorsport-new...thdraw-103413/

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Aabhishek & Venu on the right track

Aabhishek Mishra (co-driver Venu Rameshkumar) looked well set to seal the day, after mastering the morning stages, on the penultimate day of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm, here, on Thursday

We did not have the track, but only the waypoints. So, we were extra careful in the first stage (90kms) of the day, but in the second (70kms), we took it nicely and added another five minutes to the time tally," said Aabhishek.

"The next two stages, in the night, is what we are looking at eagerly,” he added. If Aabhishek was smart on the stages, the credit must go to Venu, his co-driver from Coimbatore. He handled the situation with aplomb, with his near perfect reading and guided his partner well right through.

News Source: http://www.sportstarlive.com/other-s...le23325177.ece

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Abhishek Mishra, Aaron Mare maintain the lead.

Jaisalmer, March 23: Overnight leaders Abhishek Mishra in the Xtreme class and Aaron Mare of Aga’nta Racing in the Moto class maintained their overall leads after the conclusion of the fourth leg of the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Rally. With one short stage of 25 km to go in the fifth leg, it can be safely said that the frontrunners look to claim the titles in their respective classes, barring some unfortunate mechanical problems.

According to the partial provisional standing, which might change after the calculation of the final penalties, Mishra behind the wheels of a Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, leads the field by more than 15 minutes with a total time of 11:15:54. Raj Singh Rathore is currently lying in second place with a total time 11:30:57, while Vikram Jain is in third place with a total time of 12:20:21.

The fourth leg turned out to be hard for Maruti Suzuki Motorsports as their last two remaining cars failed to make it home after the finish of Leg 4A. Sandeep Sharma driving a prototype four-wheel drive S-Cross ground to a halt in the morning stages with a damaged radiator. Dharampal Jhangra driving yet another prototype four-wheel drive, Vitara Brezza suffered a turbo failure that forced him to stop in the middle of his run.
There was no such trouble for Mishra, as he won the two m. orning stages by a comfortable margin before repeating his show in the night stages that were part of Leg 4B.

In the Moto class, the night stages were canceled in the interest of rider safety. Instead, the organizers, Northern Motorsports, ran three stages in the morning to mark the completion of leg four in the Moto class.
Though Mare, by the virtue of good show in the previous legs, maintained his overall lead according to the partial provisional standing, it was Santalino Lorenzo of TVS Racing who was the star of the day. The Spanish rider won all the three stages to cut into Mare’s overnight lead.
Going into the final stage, Mare leads the timesheets with a total time of 7:44:22. Santalino Lorenzo is currently in second place with a total time of 7:49:43, while Sanjay Kumar also of Ang’ata Racing is in third place with a time of 8:18:56.

But it’s still not over for Mare. It has been reported that his KTM 450 is suffering from an internal oil leak, while Kumar is dealing with gearbox issues with his bike stuck in third gear. With just 25 km left in the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm, the game is still wide open in the Moto class. The fourth leg turned out to be troublesome for TVS Racing as Tanveer Abdul Wahid was forced to retire with mechanical issues

News Source:https://desertstorm.in/abhishek-mish...maintain-lead/

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Update from Desert Storm 2018 Fb page



Source: Desert Storm 2018's Facebook page.

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Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2018 : Final Results.

Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2018 has come to an end with the conclusion of Leg 5. The fifth leg of the rally spanned across 105km covering the region of Kuchri and Asutar, before concluding at Sam.

The Xtreme class victory went to Abhishek Mishra (co-driver Venu Rameshkumar). Mishra took the rally lead and never looked back since the exit of Suresh Rana. Raj Singh Rathore (co-driver Sagar Mallapa) finished the rally in the runner-up spot. Niju Padia (co-driver Nirav Mehta) finished in the final podium place.

In the Moto class, Aaron Mare of Angata Racing clinched the rally victory ahead of TVS Racing rider Lorenzo Santolino. Both the riders tackled the harsh terrain extremely well to conquer the desert. The final podium place went to Sanjay Kumar of Angata Racing

The Ndure class was won by Ashish Budhia (co-driver Arindam Ghosh) and the Xplore category victory went to Nipun Agrawal (co-driver Kabir Mansharamani). Overall, it was an incredible rally with harsh weather condition and sandy and dusty stages.

Xtreme

Aabhishek Mishra, V Venu Rameshkumar (#103)
Raj Singh Rathore, Sagar Mallappa (#102)
Niju Padia, Nirav Mehta (#106)


Moto

Aaron Mare (#3)
Lorenzo Santolino (#2)
Sanjay Kumar (#6)

https://www.drivespark.com/four-whee...ts-025269.html