Naren concedes lead to Karamjit

India's V R Naren Kumar suffered a setback in his quest for a third straight title in the Asian Zone car rally championship, conceding a huge lead to Karamjit Singh of Malaysia after the first four stages of the Singha Beer Thailand rally in Pattaya on Saturday.

Naren, of the MRF team, had to drive with a flat tyre for about 6.5km in the first stage which resulted in a loss of about 40 seconds. He finished with a timing of 29.13 minutes, 51 seconds behind Karamjit of the JK Tyre team.

Karamjit, who had finished second to Naren in earlier rallies at Coimbatore and in Indonesia, clocked 28.22 minutes for the first four rounds.

The second and last day of the competition on Sunday consists of ten stages covering a total of 85.77km.

Naren, driving a Honda Civic, admitted it was a herculean task for him to cover the deficit but said he would try his best.

"I will go for it. I am not going to give up," he said.

Naren's teammate Arjun Balu, who had been unable to finish either of the two earlier rallies due to technical problems, was a relieved man after finishing the first four stages without any hassles. A timing of 28.48 minutes placed him second on the list, 26 seconds behind Karamjit, winner of the Pattaya event last year.