JK Tyre-Orange 4x4 Fury race: Siddanth Santosh, Lokesh Shivaraja go top

Dambuk Valley (Arunachal Pradesh): Team Boda pair of Siddanth Santosh and Lokesh Shivaraja of Bengaluru zoomed to the top, displaying exemplary skill and technique as the JK Tyre-Orange 4x4 Fury race completed five stages here on Friday.

In an eventful day of the off-roading event that required drivers to navigate their way into the river, traverse up and down steep hills and overcome several obstacles, Santosh and Shivaraja stood their own even as a few teams failed to complete the tasks. The Bangalore Offroad Drivers Association team kept the crowds engaged and seem well on course for a title win on Saturday.

The day began with the parallel finish obstacle run that required the teams to race to the river bed, manoeuvre their vehicles in four feet deep water and change one tyre. Set against a breathtaking mountain backdrop, the teams fought hard to outwit each other. Santosh and Shivaraja, assisted by co-drivers Prithviraj and Sanjay, topped the task with a timing of 9:13.18 minutes.

They, however, were later beaten by Boda team-mates Pradeep Kumar and Vijay – who clocked 8:48:03 minutes – but their second-place finish in the stage ensured them of the overall lead.