Only 57 vehicles left in the fray now

New Delhi, Oct 4 (UNI) Braving the brutal challenges that mountains are throwing at them 57 rallyists are left in the fray in the 8th Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya.

The rally saw heavy drop-outs with only 57 vehicles taking a start today at the beginning of the day four, from the original 92 that were flaged-off from Shimla on September 30.

At the start of the first competitive stage of the day four at Gramphoo there were 19 cars and 15 bikes left in the Xtreme category.

Meanwhile the realtively easier Relaibility trial which pent the day three yesterday rallying around the stark environs of the buddhist monastry at Tabo, has seen fewer drop-outs with 23 cars still in the fray.

The motorcycle category saw the maximum drop-outs with no fewer than seven participants having to call it a day. Experienced rallyist Nitin Jadhav, with mechanical failure, Amarinder Majitha, Aellois Christian, Dr Dinesh Thakur, and Sushan Shetty all were out of the evnet.

Biker no 95 Imran Khan who was going well crashed out at Losar. He escaped unhurt due to the high quality of his equipment and safety gear.

In the Xtreme category the dingdong battle for the first place between defending champion Suresh Rana and Sunny Sidhu is going on unabated. While Asish Moudgil is emerging as a strong contender for the first position in the bike category.

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