Darjeeling: Title contenders Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta, who were placed number two at the end of the second day, pulled out of the Biswa Bangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 5 here on Tuesday.

It was learnt that the duo reached a time control two minutes ahead of the pack, drawing hefty penalty points which virtually put them out of contention.

In a Time Speed Distance (TSD) rally, one has to reach one point from another in certain time as per calculation of average speed.

"They surrendered their time control card to the next competitor either because they were not performing well or because of malfunction of car or gadgets," additional clerk of the course Suchandan Das told IANS at the end of the gruelling day which was the longest of the race.

Meanwhile, national champions Asjgar Ali and Muhammad Mustafa (co-driver) hung on their lead for the third successive day as rallyists weathered the hilly terrains of Darjeeling from Paro, Bhutan.

Due to Roy and Mehta pulling the plug on the competition held over five days, Deep Dutta and Prakash Muthuswamy -- who were placed third -- jumped to second.

On Wednesday, the fourth leg gets underway from Darjeeling towards Hile in Eastern Nepal, the third country that the drive will enter.