Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the leading car manufacturer in India, commenced its 10th Desert Storm Rally in collaboration with Northern Motorsport on 20th February 2012. The Northern Motorsport, regarded as one of the top motorsport organisations in the country, has been organising events like Raid-de-Himalaya and Dakshin Dare for Maruti Suzuki.
The Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Rally is a six-day rally in which motorsport enthusiasts from different regions of the country participate in this event, wherein they get the chance to test their driving skills in extremely conditions. During the six-day rally, participants will cover terrains of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The race will take place at Thar Desert, Aravalli and Rann of Kutch. Participants competing in this race will compete in two sections, namely transport and competitive sections. The transport section will test driver’s ability on inter-city state highways and connecting roads, whereas the competitive section will test skills on off-road terrain.
Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager (Marketing), MSIL was present during the occasion. He commented, "We at Maruti Suzuki are committed to nurture and promote motorsport & motorsport enthusiasts in India. The success of Raid-de-Himalayas, Desert Storm Rally and Dakshin Dare which are now country’s most awaited and coveted events in the motorsport calendar of the country are a true testimony of that. Every year, our effort is to enhance the excitement and thrill of these events. Our core team brings in newer route, adds additional sections and explores new segments to keep the thrills alive."
Shashank Srivastava added that such motorsports events will assist the company to get valuable feedback from customers. According to reports, close to 300 rally enthusiasts have confirmed their participation in the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Rally 2012.
Engineers, doctors, businessmen and housewives are some of the participants of this six- day rally. Moreover, Air Force and Indian Army have decided to send their teams to this event as well. As far as safety is concerned, Maruti Suzuki has arranged 8 ambulances along the race route. In addition, 30 radio-equipped cars will be monitoring the Desert Storm Rally.
There are 3 categories, namely Xtreme, Xplore and Endure. The Endure is the new category introduced by the company, which will include truck participation. According to recent reports, four AMW trucks will be participating in the Endure category.
The 10th edition of the Desert Storm Rally would start from New Delhi and will conclude at Ahmedabad on 25th February. While covering more than 3500 km in six days, participants of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm Rally would compete on the basis of the TSD (Time Speed Distance) format.
The first leg of the event includes the night rallying challenge that was introduced by MSIL last year. After this, the second leg of the rally will include destinations such as Bikaner, Pokaran and Sardarshahar. The third leg of the rally would take place in dry lands of Bhuj and Thar Desert (Jaisalmer). During final lap of the event, participants will drive through the marshy landscape of Rann of Kutch.
