Shimla:

Captain Nishant Karki with 4.03.44 penalty points was second and Amartej Pal Singh Buwal with 4.06.28 penalty points in a tight finish ended up in third position.

Manali lad and winner of last four Raids’ – Suresh Rana could not make it past Leg 5 and was knocked out of a final position in the rally. Only a dozen 4 wheel vehicles in the X-treme drive ended up at the finish line in Srinagar.

Ashish Saurabh Moudgil, however, was not prepared to give up his last year’s title and again ended up winning the X-reme ride among the motorcyclists. Moudgil was a clear winner with a total of just 2.42.24 penalty points

Gurpinder Sarao with 3.54.06 penalty points finished the Raid in second position and Chandigarh based rallyist Sandeep Singh Matharu with 4.18.55 penalty points ended up in third position.

Just about 8 riders finished the 11^th Raid in the category.

The final leg begun early at Rangum and went around Panikher, through Kargil and ended up at Srinagar.

Of the 17 competitors in the 4 wheel category that were still in the race at the start of Leg 5, five of them; Harpreet Singh Bawa, Mj Shakti Bajaj, Randeep Miglani, Gurdeep Grewal and Suresh Rana could not complete the touch and back route between Rangdum-Padum-Rangdum on Sunday.

Those who finished up at Srinagar were Captain Sameer Pande with 4.32.45 penalty points at 4^th position, Colonel Nidish Bhatnagar at 5^th (4.58.10); Lt Colonel HS Sidhu at 6^th (5.46.05); Harkaran Singh at 7^th (6.04.35); Gurtej Pal Singh Buwal at 8^th (7.34.31); Anil Sharma at 9^th (7.40.31); Shuchi Thakur at 10^th (7.53.20); Mahesh Kumar Abrol at 11^th (10.03.43) and JS Rana at 12^th position.

All the 8 still in motorquads race at the start of Leg 5 on Sunday finished the Raid at Srinagar late on Monday.

Other than the top three, those who completed the rally were Amardev Singh at 4^th position(5.57.37 penalty points), Yogesh Lakhani at 5^th (6.32.44), Simon David Engelbert at 6^th (7.10.32), Karna Verma at 7^th (7.22.07) and Rupinder Singh (with 7.42.05 penalty points) at 8^th position.

In the Adventure Trail it was the team of Prasad and Pradeep in a Mahindra Scorpio with only 8.22 penalty points who ended up winning the rally.

In second position it was the team of Raheja and Raheja with 16:41 penalty points and in third position it was Chanda and Mehta with a total of 22:57 penalty points.

In all 33 team ended up completing the Adventure Trail rally that has caught the fancy of amateur speedsters.

Shimla: Of the 33 that lined up for the 11^th Raid on 7^th October, by end of 4^th Leg that ended at Rangdum on Saturday, only 24 cars in the extreme category, with Suresh Rana yet again leading the pack, were left in the fray.

Among the bikers, last year’s winner Ashish Moudghil leading the Raid X-treme and 10 other riders had survived the tortuous earlier three legs.

Trailing Rana with 1.48.49 penalties was Harpreet Singh Bawa (2.10.37 penalities) and Mj. AS Brar (2.12.21 penalties) was in third position in the 4-wheel X-treme category.

The position order had Amarjeet Buwal (2.26.58 penalties) in 4^th followed by Cpt. Nishant Karki (2.27.18 penalties), Gurdeep Grewal (2.51.54), JS Rana (2.53.18), Cpt Sameer Pande (3.04.24), Randeep Miglani (3.07.00), Col. Nidish Bhatnagar (3.24.03), Harkaran Singh (3.25.21), LT Col. HS Sidhu (3.30.51), Gurtej Buwal (4.08.12), Shuchi Thakur (4.43.42), Mahesh Abrol (4.50.34), Anil Sharma (4.52.48), Sanket Shanbagh (DNF), Amanpreet Ahluwalia (DNF), Nitin Batra (DNF), and Timir Acharya (DNF).

By end of 4^th leg Moudgil had 1.43.07 penalties. He was being chased by Gurpinder Rao with 2.17.57 penalties and Sandeep Matharu with 2.21.08 penalities. The others in the fray were Amardev Singh (3.21.52), Rupinder Singh (3.58.06), Karna Verma (4.01.43), Simon David Engelbert (4.24.37), Yogesh Lakhani (4.45.49 penalties), Ankit Gupta (DNF),, Nitesh Kumar (DNF), and Navin Kumar (DNF),.

Starting out from Leh, the usual stage from Khaltse to Wakha opened Leg 4. The surprise, not expected to be pleasant was the rough transport to Panikher and the stage to Rangdum.

A night halt at a basic camp in the army barracks at Patseo was downright plush in comparison, say the organizers, which added to the joy of raiding!

As there were no worthwhile repairing facilities, native cunning and saving your car proved paramount.

In the 3^rd Leg the raid stayed with its traditional torture route, which included two competitive stages from Patseo to Nakeela and then from Debring to Rumtse, before ending the day at Leh.

As warned the tarmac had all but vanished on the Morey Plain and also after Tanglang La, the highest pass on the Raid route, making the journey a test for both man and machine.

The 2^nd Leg hit out from Manali on October 8, headed up Batal along Chandra Rover and back to Patseo Army Camp. It proved a fast tough day for the competitive stage to Batal and a quick transport retreat to Darcha before the other competitive stage to Patseo.

In the Adventure Trail category it was Raheja and Raheja with 10.44.01 penalties in a Gypsy leading the race.  At the end to Leg 4, he was being trailed by Prasad and Pradeep in a Mahindra Scorpio with accumulated penalties of 11.21.02. In third position were Chandra and Mehta in a Mahindra Bolero with 18.41.03 penalties. In 4^th postions were Patel and Patel in a Gypsy with 22.46.04 penalties who were a little ahead of Jangra and Hari in a Maruti SX4 with 23.54.05 penalties.

There were 20 other 4 wheel competitors still at it – driving hard to complete the Adventure Trail by end of Leg 4 on Saturday.

W+K Racing team leader Shuchi Thakur racing past an ancient temple at the foot of Baralacha La in Leg 3 of the 11th Raid

MANALI- KUNZUM LA – PATSEO (8th October 2009)

The Raid’s historical attrition of the first leg is not the same this year. There is a healthier start list on Leg 2 Manali to Patseo. Two very fast stages are slated for the day and they are designed to take their toll on the competitors.

4X4 Xtreme Cars and Trucks

With a spirited run on the Gramphoo stage Suresh Rana showed he was in no mood to let a” flash in the pan” take away his traditional glory. On the other hand luck favoured him when the early leader Aman Ahluwalia picked up over an hour in penalties on the rough stage and dropped clean off the leaderboard into 15th spot. Rana pulled out an impressive performance and dominated the day spectacularly. From being in second place on Leg 1 Rana stretched his lead to over 8 minutes from second placed daredevil Maj Shakti Bajaj.

He did that by zeroing the second stage from Darch to Patseo in less than the 15 minutes allowed. It is only the second time in the history of the Raid that the stage has been zeroed !

Harpreet Bawa moved up to chase Shakti Bajaj and his efforts saw him behind Bajaj by a mere 58 seconds. In 4th place was Sameer Pande just a minute off Bawa’s time. Amarinder Brar clawed his way up from 11th  spot to take fifth just a minute behind Pande. The Xtreme category of the Raid is  hotting up!

MOTOQUADS

In the bikes it seemd to be business as usual. Ashish Moudghil further reinforced his lead on the WR 250 Yamaha to a comfortable 18 minutes over second placed  Sandeep Matharu.

Sarao, though on the larger 450 WR Yamaha, was unable to do anything about being pushed further into the sunset by Ashish but lay just over Matharu’s shoulder in arrears!

# 116 , Subhamoy Paul went out with clutch failure while climbing Rohtang. # 113, under shock after a mild fall lost heart and decided to go home. We wished him godspeed!

ADVENTURE TRIAL

Chanda lost his lead on Leg 2 dropping three places to fourth spot. Prasad aboard his Bolero pushed hard and was rewarded with a first place. A minute in arrears and right behind Prasad was the indomitable team of the Raheja brothers and their Gypsy. Still in second spot they are being chased by the hard charging Patels also in a Gypsy.

Jangra leads the Cras category in his SX4. However they lie 7 minutes behind and unless luck intervenes it will be a hard task to make up.

The attrition on the Trial was the hardest yet. #75, a Maruti Swift Desire snapped its rear control arm and despite the attempts of the service crew following the event could not continue. # 56 sheared his timing belt and his charge was done at Gramphoo on thereturn from Batal and the Kunzum La.

# 66, Jagmeet Gill was still running after an overheating radiator was cramping his style.Though at 20th spot in the overall result Gill was still fighting!

Exclusive video footage of 11th Raid-de-Himalaya by My Himachal

Shimla-Manali:

Almost immediately the drama began to unfold. In the cars Rana the hot favourite from Manali was beset by punctures- first one within 10 kilometres of the 54 km long stage.Scarcely had he changed this tyre that he saw Sunny Sidhu go by putting him into second spot. However Lady Luck was on Ranas side with Sidhu too puncturing a tyre soon after ! But that was not the end of this unfolding chapter. Rana hit tyre problems again and this time the delay would impact his overall positions.

Aman Ahluwalia, having a clean but spirited run claimed the victors podium on the first leg. Driving a Gypsy for the first time on the Raid Aman seemed pleased when confronted with the results displayed.However there is a long long way to go before Srinagar.

Sunny Sidhu, the fearless rallyist from Punjab, championing the cause of the newly formed W+K team, continued his Raid jinx. Soon after the puncture, which on Stage 1 is considered routine, Sidhu lost an alternator bolt on Stage 3 which eventually depleted his electrics to the point where he had no choice but to drop out.

Not alone in this he shared his disappointment with friend Rohit Michael who succumbed to an exact fate on the exact same stage!

The greatest loss to the Raid stable of 4X4 cars was that of the Impreza engined Chevy Forester of the brothers Prabhakar. Painted in the WRC colors of the marque the car did look sorry as it stood in the dust at Pujarli 3 village stubbornly refusing to start!

As cars broke down or were otherwise stopped on stages the GeoTerrestrial Tracker showed them on the satellite maps. Not once did the rally have to stop to search for cars that were “lost on stage”.When the Air Force Team (Car # 30) lost their way to Stage 3 and instead headed off on a different tangent the GoeTerrestrial Tracking System fitted on all the Xtreme cars was a boon. This is a sytem that has proved itself today and will be onmost Indian rallies from now on.

MOTOQUADS

The Bike Brigade pretty much seemd to be pleased to maintain staus quo from previous years. Ashish Moudghil, who earlier rallied the Karizma with great success was at last on Yamaha metal! His first outing on the marque seemed to augur well for his fans for he had a flawless run that put him 15 minutes ahead of the competiton!

In second spot was the young lad from Houston Gurpinder Sarao. After his last unsuccessful Raid visit he too favoured Yamaha metal and though he had 200cc more under his belt he could not do much better than beat third placed Yogesh Lakhani by a minute. Still second spot is no mean achievement and Lakhani would definitely feel the heat of superior technology in the days to come.

Sandeep Matharu soldiered on in 4th place while veteran Amardev Singh was a very distant 16 minutes behind him!

ADVENTURE TRIAL

Jangra and Hari led the Cars category of the Adventure Trial in their SX4 leading the second placed Minocha /Jindal duo in their Swift VXi by 6 minutes. Rajesh Diwan and Deepa Malik ( Maruti Baleno) followed in third spot with less than a minute between them. Tomorrow will unfold the story as it moves into the real Himalaya.

Somdeb Chandra / Mehta led the SUV charge in a Mahindra Bolero. Raheja brothers in a Gypsy were close on their heels with just a minute in arrears. In third spot and making time was the Prasad factor in a Mahindra Scorpio. A previous winner on the Raid Prasad can make a diffrence when needed. Just 40 seconds separated him from the Gypsy of the Rahejas.

As the Raid moves to the higher Himalayas and drama after drama unfolds watch this space for news and the simple joys of being there and experiencing it !!!!

Kullu

As of 11 am IST Suresh was leading in both stages despite having two punctures and thundering through the transport zone to the third competitive stage which will end at Khanag. Then the rally will proceed to Manali completing a gruelling first day stretch of around 400 km.

The stage I of today was a tough challenge for the raiders according to ground teams . Its a great time for adventure in Himachal with the MTB mountain Bike race ending in Manali. Yesterday the cyclist raced in the most amazing terrains of Naggar to Bijlimahadev.

http://www.geoterrestrial.com/geogroups/?group=raid-de-himalaya

Speaking over the ceremony to My Himachal Sunny Sidhu posed a challenge to Suresh Rana saying, “Watch out for me this year Rana.”

Shimla: Heart-beat has increased of all motorsports lovers around the country, especially the participants of the Raid-de-Himalaya with the flagging off ceremony of the Raid at Peterhoff, Shimla, by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Capital city of the State looked pretty busy today with colourful cars moving here and there on the road adding another kind of flavour called adventure to the tourists’ visiting the hill station.

The 11th Raid-De- Himalaya 2009 is organised in collaboration with the HP Tourism and Civil Aviation, Youth Services and Sports Department.  Prof. Dhumal, congratulated the organisers for having invited over 130 participants wherein three were women teams. He admired their bold and adventurous spirit.

He also thanked the organisers for maintaining continuity in organisation of the rally which had been adjudged to be the longest and toughest car rally in the world.

Photo by Amit Kanwar

पूरे विश्व में अपनी कठिनता के लिए विख्यात रेड-दी-हिमालया कार रैली का ग्यारहवां संस्करण आज शिमला से शुरू हो गया. इस बार इस रैली को पहले से भी कठिन बनाया गया है और 16 अक्टूबर को श्रीनगर पहुँचने से पहले यह रैली अब तक के सबसे कठिन रूट को तय करेगी. जाहिर है रफ़्तार का रोमांच इस बार और ज्यादा होगा और उस पर कामयाबी हासिल करना भी ज्यादा कठिन होगा.

मंगलवार बाद दोपहर बाद हिमाचल के मुख्यमंत्री प्रेम कुमार धूमल द्वारा झंडी दिखने के साथ ही रेड-दी-हिमालया कार रैली का रोमांच एक बार फिर सड़कों पर उतर आया. अगले दस दिनों तक यह स्पर्धा मानव और मशीन के दम-ख़म की कठिन परीक्षा लेगी. इस बार रैली को और भी कठिन बनाया गया है और दस दिन मैं चालकों को सत्रह दुर्गम दर्रों से होकर गुजरना पड़ेगा. आखिरी दिन तो एक साथ सात दर्रे पर करने होंगे जिनमें 17500 मीटर ऊंचा तंग-लांग-ला भी शामिल है. जाहिर है पसीने तो छूटेंगे ही.

उधर इस बार खास बात यह भी है की बीते वर्षों के सभी टॉप रैंकर इस बार एक साथ हिस्सा ले रहे हैं. लिहाज़ा सबका मानना है की मुकाबला काफी रोचक और कठिन होगा.खास कर बीते तीन साल के विजेता सुरेश राना को भी लगता है की दवाव है. राना के मुताबिक ख़राब मौसम के चलते पूरे रूट की रेकी नहीं हो पाई है. जिस कारन थोडी परेशानी हो सकती है.

इस बार कुलमिलाकर चार श्रेणियों में एक सौ बत्तीस चालकों का दम और कौशल दांव पर लगा है. कौन जीतेगा इसका फैसला तो आखिरी दिन ही होगा लेकिन इतना तय है की जो जीतेगा वोह सही अर्थों मैं सिकंदर होगा.

In first week of October, the 11th edition of Raid-de-Himalaya gets underway. Entries stand locked at 20 motorcycles and 35 four wheeler in x-treme category, besides the other 60 four wheelers in the milder ‘adventure trail’ version for the nine day event.

The window marked for the event is between 5th and 13th October but Vijay Parmar, President of the Himalayan Motorsport Association that organizes the event warns, “incase we get snowed in or hit by earthquake…both distinct possibilities….the rally will bed down for the 2 days it normally takes to clear the mess and restart.”

Unlike 2004 and 2007 where the rally was cut short, 2009 will see a flexi time event, if needed. So mentally please keep a 48 hr window for delays on scheduling the ‘return to home’, he lets the competitors know in advance.

The Raid was finishing its last leg in Srinagar, when in 2005 a devastating earthquake hit the region causing immense damage to life and property in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

In 2007, an untimely snowfall grounded the rallyists in their tracks in the third leg, when it was amidst deep mountain terrain, beyond Keylong in Lahaul.

Among those lined up for the six competitive legs are the Manali racer, Suresh Rana, winner of the last four Raids in the four wheel X-treme category and Ashish Moudgill in the biker category.

The first leg starting from Shimla on 7th October ends at Manali. The second Leg from Manali to Batal and back to Patseo Army Camp will be tougher than the traditional leg into Kaza.

The 3rd Leg of the rally has to stay to the “traditional torture” route, which includes two competitive stages will take the rally from Patseo to Nakeela and then from Debring to Rumtse, before ending at Leh.

Strangely the tarmac surface has all but vanished on the Morey Plain and also after high Tanglang La pass in this leg, says Parmar.

The fourth leg is between Leh, Kargil and Rangdum; the fifth leg is between Rangdum, Padum and Rangdum and on day six, the competition the Raid after passing through Rangdum, Panikher and Kargil concludes in Srinagar.

The prize distribution is to be held with Omar Abdullah, chief minister Jammu and Kashmir as the chief guest on 13th October.

Shimla: Yes, that’s true now the Raid de Himalaya will not conclude at Leh but Srinagar on 12th, October, 2009. This was revealed by one of the Raid official, Vijay Parmar.

On 12th October, the rally will be flagged by Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Minister, Nawang Rigzin Jora, and on 13th Oct. J&K Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, will be the chief guest of the prize distribution ceremony.

This year as extra safety measure Raid team is trying its hands on GPRS enabled tracker for each car in the 4W Xtreme category for Leg-1. In the event of a crash this device helps to quickly locate a car and rush help to the crew.

The tracker is also an exciting thing for the Raid fans who could not go and see the thrill personally, you can visit the Geoterrestrial tracking page online and watch the position and move of your choice car.

Links to the Geoterrestrial tracking page will be exclusively available on www.raid-de-himalaya.com and also on My Himachal Blog (http://himachal.us/).

The week long rally will be flagged off from Peterhoff, Shimla on 5th Oct. and will finish on 12th at Srinagar.

The ‘Raid’ as it has come to be popularly known will cover about 3000 kilometers of track, passing through Manali, Keylong, Sarchu to Leh and from Leh to Kargil and closing back at Leh.

En-route the rallyists have to negotiate about a dozen high altitude passes. The competition is open to both professionals and amateurs for both four wheelers and two wheeler vehicles. The prize distribution would be held in Leh, the organisers stated.

We are very glad to present before you their interview on My Himachal Blog. Due to busy schedule Mr. Manjeev Bhalla could not make it but President, Vijay Parmar, who refuses to be called President and Atul Handa could spare some time for exchange of ideas.

Raid de Himalaya is another name for daredevilry, its lofty not merely in terms of altitude and escapade but the exaltation offered while riding and driving through the most soul stirring landscape and climatic conditions.

So, people please welcome Mr. Vijay Parmar and Mr. Atul Handa for their master minds and efforts to make Raid de Himalaya a big success. Hey! Don’t forget Mr. Manjeev Bhalla though he could not join us for the interview but his contribution behind Raid’s success is not negligible.

Disha Singh: So, Atul and Vijay first of all, how about a little background? How did you get started with Raid-de-Himalaya?

Vijay Parmar said, “In 1996 I drove my VW Beetle into Ladakh. On seeing the stark moonscape and stunning lakes, I thought to myself…This is the place for the world’s best and worst rally. Three years later, three of us (Me, Atul Handa and Manjeev Bhalla) turned the thought into reality. And in the past ten years the Raid de Himalaya has shown us the best and worst times for sure!”

Atul Handa described his rendezvous as, “I was rallying during late eighties. I have done five Himalayan rallies 1986 to 1990, after that there was no Himalayan Rally. After then I was into managing teams for small rallies in the north India. After 1995 there were hardly any rallies so we three the core team were thinking of doing something for motor sport and we got an invitation in 1999 from the GoHP to do some motor sport event and that is how it started.”

Disha: Mr. Atul what made a Civil Engineer to enter the field of motorsports?

Atul: Spirit of adventure.

Disha: How do you manage your job and radio mapping, route mapping and survey for the Raid?

Atul: If there is a will to do something any and everything can be managed. And I always aim at total quality management for the event.

Disha: What are your thoughts about 10th edition of Raid?

Vijay: Hmm! Probably the best one yet. Fantastic response with 150 entries. Amazing odds were stacked against our running the raid at all. Still it ran – and while the country watched in disbelief it completed every planned leg. The Raid had a charmed life.

Wonderfully picturesque vistas, no serious accidents, but enough upsets to keep interest alive till the very end!

Technically an easy event compared to earlier years, easier on the organizers too.

Above all we saw Zanskar covered in fresh snow…something very few can boast of. Let alone run a rally there.

Atul intervened, “Yeah very true, it went very well. All the competitors must have definitely enjoyed their drive through one of the most spectacular routes in Zanskar Himalayas.”

Disha: How have things changed for you and the Raid since 1999?

For Vijay things have not changed at all, “I still work 6 months of the year to see the Raid come alive. And a month before it actually goes live I wake at 0300hrs every morning, dry mouthed with uncertainty, and completely convinced that organizing 600 peoples lives is complete madness and we cannot do it.

By 0900 hrs I make a list of priorities to be tackled for the day and go for it. Eventually, the Raid and me have started to understand each other now.”

“The raid has become bigger in size and better managed through the years and one has to make an extra effort to organize things,” added Atul.

Disha: What difficulties have you people faced in organizing, seeking help from various sectors sponsorships, terrain, etc.

Vijay: We need assistance from governments, the armed forces and private sponsors. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. have been our main sponsor and believe in us completely. We have had a very comfortable ten years and the relationship is solid rock.

The Himachal government backs us very strongly logistically. As the Raid is perceived as a rich man’s sport they do not contribute more than a token amount as sponsorship. However, the support of all the departments is unflinching and more than generous.

The government of JK is as good on logistic support as well as sponsorship. However, they are clear that if Srinagar is not the end point then sponsorship is not forthcoming.

Support from the local administration of Leh and Kargil is fantastic.

The JK Police are phenomenal in their support for traffic control.

The Army is as devoted to the event as we are to them!

As the event is designed to be really extreme we view bad weather, landslides, flood and avalanches as challenging obstacles, not as problems.

On two occasions we have lost out to snow, but on eight others we have survived the ordeal unscathed! Several raids ago we had a bridge wash out on the day of the event which was repaired in 4 hours! This year the Raid drove into Leh, which was all out of petrol that day! To arrange 5000 ltrs of fuel at and hours notice is just some of the stuff we deal with on war footing every day.

This year while on a reconnaissance of an alternate route via Chamba we arrived in Kishtwar district just as curfew was declared and all shops, pumps and dhabas shut down for 10 days. Sneaking back to Himachal through a town under curfew was not fun, especially when the cars were running out of fuel. Atul smiled and said, “But nothing is easy.”

Disha: If you wouldn’t have been associated with Himalyan Motorsports, what would you be?

Vijay laughed, “Useless” and Atul thinkingly said, “I would have been doing trekking in the Himalayas or doing 4WD safari around the world!”

Disha: Mr. Vijay what difficulties you experience as a President of the Raid?

Vijay: Actually, on the Raid there is no President. The top officials are the two Clerks of the Course – Manjeev Bhalla and Atul Handa. I looked after communications and results. The first went flawlessly and the second was questionable!

Disha: You have never thought ‘God, why I did that?’ What do you feel that you really still need to work on?

Vijay: Yes! many, many times. We need to work on raising better sponsorship so we can have a higher quality of rescue backup incase things go wrong.

We need a better presented website and definitely need more events to keep interest alive throughout the year. We need to start a 4X4 club so that members are better trained for extreme driving.

Disha: Please describe your most unforgettable incident in the Raid? Good or Bad.

Vijay: The worst was undoubtedly losing three lives in 2001. The best I am sure is still to come! Each time we feel this is the best thing that can happen something better comes along.

Atul: Hmmm! I had a good time during 2004 at Patseo when raid got struck due to snow fall.

Disha: How would you compare the Raid with other National and International rallies?

Both of them gave prompt answer, there is no comparison as the raid is run on a different format altogether and it has no equal in India. Vijay added, “As far as international events are concerned there are quite a few that are tougher, many that are faster, but none that is higher or colder!”

Disha: Describe Raid-de-Himalaya in one line?

Vijay: Unbelievably tough and totally unpredictable.

Disha: Vijay, what do you have to say about Sanket Shanbagh’s controversy in 10th Raid de Himalaya?

Vijay: There is no controversy. He was slower and the results found that out before they were officially final. I have already posted the official report on My Himachal Forum.

Disha: Atul you yourself had been active in motorsport? How does it feel to think about then and now?

Atul: Yeah! Things have changed dramatically.

Disha: What are your plans in near future?

Both settled “To make the Raid a motorsport icon of the Himalayas. We are half way there already!”

Disha: Who or what particularly inspires you? Do you have any heroes?

Atul said his will to do something different inspires him whereas for Vijay, The Paris Dakar Rally Raid was the inspiration for the Raid de Himalaya. “Now that the Dakar is history and the Raid is ten years old we are lost for inspiration.

Gaston Raheier, a Belgian in the motorcycle category of the Paris Dakar in 1985, who went on to ride a BMW 800 GS for 21 days with a broken collarbone, and finally won the event, will be my all time favourite hero!”

When asked about their dream both had differen but in a way somewhat same answer, Vijay dreams to make Shimla to Lhasa on the Raid de Himalaya and Atul dreams to make raid a very popular International event.

During off-season you can see Vijay, Golfing, skiing, ice-skating, motorcycling and Precision rifle shooting while Atul will be seen working or attending some motorsport related activities.

In further talks Vijay’s revealed his favourite track as the uphill rally stage on the Raid from Shuad to Khanag.

Finally, both of them gave their motorsports mantras to the upcoming drivers & navigators that “Its not life and death…its just a game. Play it like one.” And Atul says, “Work hard and be thorough.”

Thank you so much for sharing and sparing your time.

You can see him driving white Maruti Gypsy (HP-66-1111) with “RANA” written on the driver’s window, Rana talks to winds in his darling gypsy to win numerous rallies. Planning to give chance to others Rana might not compete in the RAID, he said. If he happens to be on the RAID, he will not be seen in his Maruti Gypsy. You’ll see him in his newly sponsored 1600cc Maruti Baleno.

Know him better in his own words in shape of this interview:

Disha Singh: How does it feel to make fifth consecutive Raid de Himalaya win?

Suresh Rana: I feel on top of the world. Its just great.

Disha Singh: The idea of motor-sports was given to you by somebody else, is that true? Can you throw some light upon your motor-sports journey till date?

Suresh Rana: Motorsports was always in my blood. Managing a local garage I literally breathed engines 24×7. This was fuelled by watching WRC/ WSC events on television. It was also when raid officials spotted me driving maruti gypsy in my area, and suggested me to take part.Hence the inspiration. I participated in the raid in 2001 when the event was started.

Disha: For those who don’t know your achievements, kindly enlist for them?

Rana:

Raid De Himalaya 2001                   over all 6^th 3^rd in-group N with carburetor gypsy

Raid De Himalaya 2002                    over all 2^nd 1^st in-group N carburetor gypsy

Raid De Himalaya 2003                   over all 5^th 1^st in-group N carburetor gypsy

Raid De Himalaya 2004                      over all 1^st with MPI gypsy

Raid De Hiamalya 2005                      over all 1^st

Desert storm 2004                                2^nd in gypsy

Sjoba thunderbolt 2004                        2^nd in gypsy

Sjoba thunderbolt 2005                        2^nd in gypsy

INRC Delhi round 2005                       2^nd in gypsy cup

Disha: Who are your prime inspirations?

Rana: I draw my inspirations from the mountains. Since this a sport nobody is keen about its difficult to draw inspiration sitting in a remote valley of the Himalayas. I am more or less self inspired.

Disha: What do you think about motorsports in Himachal Pradesh and in India?

Rana: I think Himachal has great potential for motor sports. The Himalayan Car rally was one of the best rallies in the world. And it makes me wonder when will it start again. The rugged roads , amazing scenery, high altitudes and friendliest of people make it an ideal destination for testing man and machine. The HP government should do something to promote this sport and state as an international arena for car rallied.

Disha: What is your dream?

Rana: It would be great to be the INRC ” Overall Champion ” in 2009. I have won the championship just in the gypsy category. A dream is also to see this sport getting more popularity in our country.

Disha: Does Suresh Rana fear from something?

Rana: Yes I am very afraid of getting injected.

Disha: Your most unforgettable moments?

Rana: The worst memory was when the raid got stuck in Sarchu (the Himachal& J-K border towards Ladakh) and we all had to be evacuated. It was pretty grim as we could not do anything to the forces of nature. It was near death experience and the happiest moment also came in the same episode of being evacuated.

Disha: What do you do off-the-wheels?

Rana: I run a motor garage and am planning to start India’s first ” Mountain Rally School” in Kullu.

Disha: Who is Suresh Rana in flesh and blood?

Rana: Suresh Rana is a simple human being deriving pleasures from small things in life and enjoying every moment that God life has to offer.

Disha: What problems are you facing and would wish the Government to do something about them, for the well of this daring sport?

Rana: I think Sponsorship is the main problem we small town daredevils face. Not being able to connect to the corporate world leaves us fund starved at the end of this very expensive sport. The Government should plan some serious sporting routes in Himachal and promote is as a key adventure sports activity.

Disha: Finally, your suggestion to the newbies in the world of motorsports?

Rana: Enjoy motorsports while remembering ” Mind should always be faster than the machine” . Play safe.

(Thank you Suresh for sparing your precious time with us.)

After being shown in second place on the official site till the penultimate day of the Raid, a dejected Shanbagh said, “I’m disappointed and depressed as my position was the only one that suffered the most.” Defending champion Suresh Rana despite the error emerged victorious for the fifth time in a row. After the error was corrected Capt Amrinder Brar who was shown in 4th position till the last but one day moved into 2nd place. Harprit Singh Bawa has been shown at 3rd place and Anil Wadia at fourth.

The Raid was flagged off from Hotel Peterhoff on October 1 and the rallying began in earnest on October 2 traveling from Shimla to Manali, Manali-Kaza, Kaza-Schiling-Dankar-Kaza, Kaza-Patseo, Patseo-Leh, Leh-Kargil, Kargil-Penzi la-Kargil and Kargil-Leh in the next eight days, which comprised of one Leg each day. Except for Leg 8, Kargil-Leh, which was entirely a transport section, Legs 1 to 7 saw intense competition amongst the rallyists.

Suresh Rana led throughout the event and clocked the fastest timings all the way till Leg 5 at the end of which he had built up an insurmountable 26 min 20 sec lead over second placed Sanket who, as per the official results, was 10 min 35 sec ahead of third placed Harprit Singh Bawa and a good 18 min 26 sec ahead of fourth placed Capt Amrinder S Brar, who eventually ended up in second place.

Finding himself far behind Rana and much ahead of the rest of the competition, Sanket too had started conserving his T2 category gypsy after Leg 4 by which time the official results had declared him 13 min 31 sec ahead of Bawa and 20 min 43 sec ahead of Maj Shakti Bajaj and 23 min 36 sec ahead of Capt Brar. At the end of the last competitive stage on October 8 Sanket was comfortably placed 26 min 26 sec behind Rana but 7 min 19 sec ahead of Bawa and 10 min 29 sec ahead of Capt Brar.

However, Sanket was in for a rude shock on the morning of 9th October when he came to take the start for the final transport back from Kargil to Leh. As per the ‘corrected’ results he was now 22 min 47 sec behind Rana but also 9 min 01 sec behind Capt Brar, 3 min 22 sec behind Bawa and 2 min 47 sec behind Anil Wadia. From second overall he had dropped to fifth overnight. The organizers attributed the change due to correction of an error made between Leg 3 and Leg 4, which was discovered only on the last day.

Proving his mettle against the mighty mountains, Manali lad Suresh Rana raced to victory for the consecutive fifth time as he emerged winner of the tenth Raid de Himalaya Xtreme 4 wheelers while Ashish Moudhgil who was trailing back at number two position in the Xtreme 2 Wheelers category sped off to regain his number one position for the third time.

Sanket Shanbagh managed the number two position while Harprit Singh Bawa, Capt. Amarinder S Brar and Anil Wadia maintained their positions at third, fourth and fifth respectively. In the Xtreme 2 wheeler category Ashish was followed by Sandeep S. Matharu. While Prashant Kumar, Yogesh Lakhani and Karanbir Singh Bedi sped off to number three, four and five positions respectively. Klaudia Honeder managed to finish at sixth position.

In the adventure trail, K.Prasad leads the group followed by Ajay Singh, Rajesh Chalana, J.S. Rana, and Manoj Vaidya respectively. Raid has halted at Panzi La for the day and would see prize distribution tomorrow.

Austrian women biker Klaudia Honeder in 6th position, K Prasad leads Adventure Trail

Shimla: Roughing it out in some of the highest lands on earth, the Raid-de-Himalaya spent the day 6 out racing in the Zanskar region of Ladhak, with Suresh Rana, four time winner leading the car section and Ashish Modghil in the bikes category.

With Rana maintaining his lead from Day, second in the four wheel X-treme category was Sanket Shanbhag, closely followed by Harprit Singh (Bawa) in third position.

Promising to be a close finish Cpt Amarinder Singh from the Army was in fourth position and Anil Wadia had climbed into 5th position on Day 6. There are still 19 four wheelers left in the fray, said Navdeep Thareja over phone.

Ashish Moudghil was leading the bike category with Sandeep Matharu in second position. Prashant Kumar was in third position, Yogesh Lakhani in fourth position and Karanbir Singh Bedi in fifth position.

Giving the boys a run for their money Austrian Klaudia Honeder, the lone women biker in the X-Treme category was in 6th position and there is still a day of competitive sections to be done. Only 17 bikers were left in the fray.

Bhaskar Ramani, who was holding a good lead in the bike category till four was knocked out of the rally on day five as his bike skidded near Baralacha, leaving him injured with a fractured wrist. ‘He is out but safe’ said a spokesman for the organizers.

In the adventure trail category, at the end of Day 6, K Prasad was in the lead followed by Ajay Singh in second position. Rajesh Chalana was in third position, JS Rana in fourth place and Manoj Vadiya in fifth position. Only 43 cars are left in the fray for the adventure trail category, said Thareja.

Of the 132 rallyists that started out from Shimla on October 2, only 79 have survived the Himalaya Raid so far and made their way back to Kargil for the night halt on Tuesday.

Sanket Shanbagh is following him with 2:57:41 penalty minutes, while the third, fourth and fifth position are taken up by Harprit Singh Bawa (3:11:12), Major Shakti Bajaj (3:18:24) and Captain Amarinder S. Brar (3:21:17). Capt Brar was second fastest in the Darcha-Patseo section with 0:17:20 minutes.

Under the Xtreme 2 wheelers category Bangalore boy Bhaskar Ramani (2:53:02) has maintained his top position as well, while Ashish Moudhgil (2:58:14) is trailing him at number two. Sandeep S. Matharu (3:17:49) is at number third. The fourth position has been taken up by Rajan Sidhu while the fifth was sweeped by Karanbir Singh Bedi as Prashant Kumar dropped to number 7 while Chetan Ganpathy pulled out of the competition.

The rallyists departed for Leh for Leg 5 on a route that will take them over 3 mighty passes Baralacha la, Lachung la and Tanglung la to cover 175 kms of competitive sections. The highest point on the route will cross over 17500 feet.

Shimla: All vehicles have safely reached their night halt stations safely. While some are staying at Jispa and others at Patseo for the night, no communication links have made it impossible for any updates for the day.

As per Navdeep Thareja who was on his way to Jispa from Kohksar there has been one more drop out in the Adventure trail category but things aren’t ascertained yet.

19 cars, 21 bikes in X-treme and 47 Cars in Adventure Trail Flagged off From Kaza – Tabo for Leg 4

Shimla: (With inputs from Dheeraj Chauhan)Four time winner Suresh Rana and Bangalore lad Ramani maintaining their lead in the four wheels and two wheel categories respectively as the organizers released the cumulative results of the three legs that concluded at Kaza on Saturday.

Suresh Rana of Team Thunderbolt with 2 hours 18 minutes and 35 seconds of penalty time (2:18:35) was ahead of Sanket Shanbhag with 2:28:34 penalty time in the four wheel category. At the end of Leg 3 Rana had posted the fastest timings on each of the six competitive sections run in the Raid so far.

Harpit Singh Bawa of Team Thunderbolt with 2:29:55 had moved up into third place and Gurdeep Singh Grewal of Team Godwin had fallen by a position with 2:31:55 penalty time to fourth place. Capt. Amarinder Brar of Team Army had climbed up to fifth position with 2:32:18 penalty time, said Navdeep Thareja over phone. Next in the lead for top ten are Col. Chibber (2:33:43), Maj Shakti Bajaj (2:34:06) and Lt Col VKS Tomar (2:41:59).

In the motorcycle category, Bangalorite Bhasker Ramani riding a Yamaha WR 450 is leading with 2:18:51 penalty time. Tailing him was Ashish Moudghil in a Honda Karizma with a penalty time of 2:32:29.

Sandeep S.Matharu in a Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTS-i) was third with 2:44:31, Prashant Kumar on a Yamaha WR 250 had moved up to fourth place with a penalty time of 2:49:40 and Chetan Ganapathy had fallen to fifth place with a cumulative penalty time of 2:51:44, said Thareja.

Going over Kunzam La and Baralcha Passes, the Raid-de-Himalaya has took off from Spiti early today and would head for a night halt at the army camp of Patseo. All forty vehicles left in the fray, 19 cars and 21 bikes, took off from Kaza in the X-treme category on Sunday morning, said Navdeep Thareja. In the Adventure Trail of the 51 four wheelers that left Manali on Saturday morning only 47 have taken the start on Sunday from Tabo, he informed MH.

Beyond Patseo, the eight day Raid gets to Leh and from Leh it moves to Kargil, where it spends a day competing on a circular loop and head back to finish at Leh.

Due to no connectivity at Patseo, news regarding Raid de Himalaya may not be updated as the area has no telephone, mobile or landline phone links that can be relied upon.

The day began with 21 cars and 22 bikes wheeling off said Thareja, area coordinator of the Raid at Kaza. He further told MH that the third leg of the Raid passed easily however; the day saw three dropouts in the Xtreme category. The Xtreme trail passed from Dhankar and Komik monasteries in Spiti valley.

Under the Adventure Trail, 49 of the 51 cars that started out from Manali have made their way to Tabo, the official stop for the night. For the next leg, the Raid heads for Leh, halting for the night at Patseo.

The official results for Day three are still awaited.

Under the bikes, Bhasker Ramanion on a Yamaha WR 450 is leading with 43.21 minutes penalty points. He is being chased by Ashish Moudghil (Honda Karizma) pretty close at 52.25 minutes. The third, fourth and fifth place was taken by Sandeep S. Matharu (64.04) riding Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTS-I, Chetan Ganapathy (65.36 ) on a TVS Apache RTR and Prashant Kumar PK (Yamaha WR 250) at 65.37 minutes respectively.

The day started from Kaza and the competition circled itself within the Spiti valley with the rallyists crossing Dhankar and Koumic monastaries.

Navdeep Thareja, area coordinator for Raid told MH that out of the 21 cars that set out today, two dropped out because of technical failures. While out of the 22 bikes that started for the trail today, only 21 have survived the Xtreme category. In all 40 vehicles have retained in the Xtreme section.

However, the results aren’t yet official. As per the latest reports, the day has passed well and no injuries or mishaps have been reported.

Navdeep Thareja, area coordinator Kaza over phone said that the day passed off without any major incident and all the cars that took off from Manali after going through the competitive section have made their way into camp.

“The result for the day is still to be compiled but in all probability Suresh Rana is maintaining his lead as he came in first and has clocked a good timing,” said Thareja.

However, among the motorcyclists of the 25 that left Manali in the morning only 24 had reached night camp at Kaza. Thareja said that besides two falls, in which no major injury was suffered, 24 bikers competing in the X-treme category had reached.

Early trends showed that there could be changes in bikers category, said Thareja. However, he did mention that Austrian women biker Klaudia Honeder is still in the fray though she did have a flat tire during the say.

Atul Handa, handling operations at Manali reported that 21 cars and 25 motorcycles competing in the X-treme category had left the place in the morning.

Of the 32 cars that took off on day one from Shimla to Manali over Jalori Pass there were 7 dropouts. Having survived day one another 4 could not take off on day two, said Handa.

Meanwhile in the of the 54 vehicles in the Adventure Trail category who left Sangla in the morning 51 had made their way into Manali by the evening, said Handa. Three vehicles had dropped out, two because of mechanical failure and one took a wrong route, he said.

Considered one of the toughest motor sport event in the world, the Raid-de-Himalaya over the next six days heads into some of the highest roadways in the world, clocking 2050 kilometers and crossing 11 high passes, which include Tanglang La at over 17,000 feet to end at Leh. The last Raid was stranded because of an untimely snowfall, though everyone was brought out safely from the zone.

Where Raju Verma and Khushwant Randhawa failed to make into the stage one even before the event begun, bikers Ganesh Pakhe and friend had to call it off when they lost their way before reaching Gumma and thus, ending up in loosing a lap of good time.

Ashish Moudghil who was leading at first didn’t finish at number one for the day but his place was taken by Bhaskar Ramani of Red Rooster Racing Bangalore. Similarily, team Ceat’s Klaudia Honeder who looked promising of holding a good position went down straight to 11th place.

In the Adventure Trial section, Jitender Bajwa, ( Gypsy) sponsor of Team Godwin was in the lead as Ashish Kataria and K.Prasad ( Mahindra Scorpio) give him a tough time for the top position.

Day two is on! Follow the adventure!