Gaurav Gill won the Dakshin Dare rally for the third time, with a dominant run that saw him win seven out of nine stages in the 2019 edition of the event. The 2019 Dakshin Dare unfolded across four days, kicking off in Bengaluru and concluding in Hubli.
Driving for Mahindra Adventure, Gill, along with co-driver Musa Sherif, won all the three stages on the opening day. He lost some time on the second day, losing both stages to teammate Philippos Matthai (co-driver PVS Murthy), but he was able to overturn his 47.261 seconds deficit and reclaim the lead after winning the two stages on the third day. He managed to further extend his advantage on the final day, winning the 2019 Dakshin Dare by a margin of 8 mins 48.942 seconds.
“I am really excited to win the Dare once again. This is my third Dakshin Dare title and I am really very happy with this achievement. The stages were very challenging, but I believe we had a very good car at our disposal and our tyres indeed helped us in manoeuvring these treacherous stages. I would like to thank my tuners and mechanics for preparing such a fine car,” said Gill, who also holds the distinction of winning the event every single time he has participated in it.
Team Harjee had two drivers finish in the top three, with Anil Wadia (co-driver A. G. Somayya) finishing second overall, followed by Harvinder Bhola (co-driver Chirag Thakur) in third place. As for Mahindra Adventure’s other two drivers, Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) finished in 9th place, while Matthai dropped down the order and finished in 16th place. In the bike category, Sanjay bagged victory ahead of Naresh V S and Vishwas S D.