Thaindian News

Srinagar, Oct 17 (IANS) Suresh Rana (co-driver Ashwin Naik) of Team Thunderbolt won the 13th Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya rally that concluded here late Sunday night after a run of six days and covering 2,000 kms that included some of the highest motorable roads in the World.

Driving a Maruti Gypsy, Rana and Naik received a cash prize of Rs.100,000 from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The duo led the event through the week and returned a cumulative timing of 12 hours, 41 minutes, 22 seconds to finish ahead of team-mates Harpreet Singh Bawa (Virendra Kashyap), who clocked 12:47:44 hrs. Lt. Col Shakti Bajaj (Maj BN Prakash) of Army Adventure Club were third in 12:48:20.

In the Extreme Bikes category, Dakar Rally winner Helmut Frauwallner from Austria riding a Husqvarna TE 449 won the top honours with an overall time of 10:28:33 while last year’s winner Ashish Moudgil from Kalka, Himachal, was second on a Yamaha WR-450. Another Austrian Lehner Gottfried riding a KTM Enduro bagged the third spot.

In the Adventure Trial category, Raheja brothers Umesh and Yogesh driving a Maruti Grand Vitara annexed the top prize. Amol Satoskar (MK Mutafa) was second and N. Sreedhar Urs (K Prasad) third.

Final results:

X-treme (4WD - Modified/T1): Suresh Rana / Ashwin Naik (Gypsy) 1 (12hrs, 41mins, 22secs); Harpreet Singh Bawa / Virendra Kashyap (Gypsy) 2 (12:47:44); Lt Col Shakti Bajaj / Maj BN Prakash (Gypsy) 3 (12:48:20).

X-treme (4WD - Stock/T2): Karan Jung / Vikram Sharma (Gypsy) 1 (13:07:59); Lt Col Subodh Verma / Maj Kushalendra (Gypsy) 2 (13:25:36); Parvinder Singh / Paritosh Kohak (Gypsy) 3 (13:45:38).

X-treme (Bikes): Helmut Frauwallner 1 (10:28:33); Ashish Moudgill 2 (10:39:47); Lehner Gottfried 3 (11:50:59).

Adventure Trial (Overall): Umesh Raheja / Yogesh Raheja 1 (5.03min); Amol Satoskar /MK Mutafa 2 (13:49); N Sreedhar Urs / K Prasad 3 (13:58).