By IANS,
Srinagar : Umesh Raheja, driving a Grand Vitara, opened a handy six-minute lead in the Adventure category at the end of the third leg as the Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya, world’s highest and arguably amongst the most toughest Rally, entered Jammu and Kashmir Friday.
Vehicles in the Extreme category reached Leh late Thursday night. Friday, the rally moves from Leh through winding routes to Kargil and finishes at Rangdum.
The spaghetti roads over the Jalebi Mor, Fotu La and Namika La will see tarmac driving at its best. Quick corners and no break from the climbing and drops make for a natural roller coaster ride into Wakha before heading to the Rangdum camp via Suru and Zanskar valley.
While Raheja dominated the proceedings for the third consecutive day, Sanjay Takale, in a Tata Safari maintained his second spot, but not far behind were the experienced Girija Shankar Joshi (Tata Xenon), N Sreedhar Urs (Maruti Gypsy) and Amol Satoskar (Mahindra Scorpio).
Results (Leg 3):
Adventure: Umesh Raheja / Raheja 1 (4.08 min); Sanjay Takle / ChandraShekhar (10.24) 2; Girija Shankar Joshi / Chandramouli (10.40) 3; Amol Satoskar / K Musthafa (10.58 min) 4; N Sreedhar Urs / K Prasad (11.11) 5.