Thaindian News

Shimla, Oct 13 (IANS) Major A.S. Brar and Ashish Saurabh Moudgil won the 11th edition of the world’s highest and toughest motor rally - the Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya rally - in the car and bike categories, respectively, an organiser said Tuesday.
“Major A.S. Brar and Ashish Saurabh Moudgil won the ‘Raid’ in the X-treme Four-Wheeler and X-treme Two-Wheeler categories,” Manjeev Bhalla, one of the organisers of the rally, told IANS from Srinagar, where the rally concluded.

Moudgil also won the race in the Two-Wheeler category last year.

The six-day ‘Raid’, stretching across 2,000 km, passed through the most rugged and inhospitable terrain of trans-Himalayas. It concluded in Srinagar Oct 12.

Five-time consecutive winner in the X-treme Four-Wheeler category, Suresh Rana was out of the ‘Raid’ in the fifth leg due to mechanical failure in his Maruti Gypsy.

“This time my luck didn’t favour me. I lost the race as my machine broke down. This was the only fear in my mind since the start of the race. Next time, I will definitely capture the Himalayas,” Rana said.

Captain Nishant Karki and Amartej Pal Singh Buwal finish second and third, respectively, in the X-treme Four-Wheeler category.

Bhalla said it was for the first time that both top slots in the X-treme Four-Wheeler category were won by teams from the Indian Army.

The rally saw seven entries from the Indian Army and three from the Indian Air Force.

In the X-treme Two-Wheeler category, the second and third slot were won by Gurpinder Sarao and Sandeep Singh Matharu, respectively.

In the Adventure Trail category, it was the team of Prasad and Pradeep which won the first position.

In second position, it was the team of Raheja and Raheja and in third position it was the Chanda and Mehta team.

Major Brar said: “Of course, it is the luck which favoured me in the icy terrains.”

As many as 108 professional motorists took part in the X-treme Four-Wheeler, X-treme Two-Wheeler and Adventure Trail categories.

This year the rally organisers used the latest technology to keep track of the participants’ vehicles.

The Raid-de-Himalaya is the only Asian motor sport event listed on the off-road rallies calendar of the Switzerland-based FIM (Federation Internationale Motorcyclisme), which captures the attention of the international rallying circuit as well.