Maruti Suzuki has announced the 14th edition of the gruesome Desert Storm rally for the year 2016. Here are the 5 things you need to know about the rally this year.
The Dates
The Scrutiny rounds and the ceremonial flag off will be held between April 2nd-3rd in Noida. However, the official rally will commence April 4th. The rally will consist of 5 legs held across 6 days all through the state of Rajasthan.
The Route
This year, the Desert Storm rally itself will kick off from Hanumangarh in Northern Rajasthan. Day 1 will conclude in Bikaner. The second day of the rally will start from Bikaner and lead to the finishing point in Jaisalmer. The same region will host legs 3-4 from April 6th-8th, however, the stages will differ from day to day. Stage 5 will start and end in the final destination of the rally in the city of Jodhpur on April 9th. In a nutshell the 2016 rally route will be Hanumangarh – Bikaner – Jaisalmer – Jodhpur. Including the transport stages from New Delhi to the final destination in Jodhpur, the entire rally will cover over 2000kms over the course of 9 days.
The Competitors
The 14th edition of Desert Storm has received over 200 entries from all over the country. All the competitors have been sort out firstly into the extreme full blown rally category and the Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) category and then further split into 4 wheelers and two wheelers. The categories are named Xtreme, Ndure, Xplore and Moto. Both segments (extreme and TSD) will be running in tandem to each other over the course of the rally.
The Night Stage
Following the success and feedback from the previous edition of the rally, Maruti Suzuki has sustained the ‘Night Stage’ segment of the rally. The stage will include a 160km trail which will have to be navigated through the darkness of the night.
The Flexible Format
Maruti Suzuki has introduced a part-participation format for the Xplore category of Desert Storm for 2016. The format allows participants to either rally for the entire, 6 day, duration of the event or opt for a shorter duration. If the participant choses the shorter option, a choice of running in the initial 3 days or the final 3 days will be offered. The objective is to encourage the participants who find it challenging to participate across all six days.
Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2015
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