Mahindra Adventure scored a win at the five day long 4th Dakshin Dare 2012 Rally that concluded in Bangalore. National champion Gaurav Gill, with his co-driver Musa Sheriff, was the winner of the event as raced past the competitors in the Mahindra XUV 500 Sports Utility Vehicle. Lohitt Urs, along with co-driver Chipong Chiwan, attained the spot position in the tournament’s Ultimate (Extreme) category. With this win, XUV 500 has earned the distinction of being the only diesel SUV to ever reach the pole position in the Extreme category of a domestic rally event.
In the Endurance segment, drivers Sanjay Takale with co-driver Musthafa and Karthick Maurthi with co-driver Sankar Anand took the top two positions in their respective Mahindra Scorpio SUVs. Yet another Mahindra SUV that won big in the event was the Thar that was driven by K.S. Venkatesh with co-driver Chandra Sekaran in the Corporate category.
This resounding victory at the 2012 Dakshin Dare Rally has given Mahindra Adventure team a shot in the arm in the racing field. The performance of XUV 500 gained special attention since it was the first time that the model had participated in a rally event. A clean sweep of the event, with a total of 3 pole positions and 2 runner up’s titles, Mahindra will be confident of its performance in the next challenge.
Talking about this phenomenal performance of the Mahindra Adventure rally team, Vivek Nayer, Sr. Vice-President, Marketing, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., stated, "This unprecedented clean sweep by Mahindra vehicles is a testimony to the tough and rugged 'Mahindra DNA'. Our vehicles have conquered the southern terrain with dogged determination and confidence, creating history in Indian motor sports. We are proud to have won one of the toughest rallies, and our winning teams deserve special mention for their unstinted passion to take on challenges, their spirit of adventure and their exceptional desire to win.”
Mahindra has been at the pinnacle of the Indian SUV industry with a line up that consists of models like XUV 500, Scorpio and Thar. Along with these, the company also offers the Xylo Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) and is said to be working on a compact version of the same. It has even acquired Korean SUV maker Ssangyong, which has further improved its off-roading technologies.
