Shimla: Of the 33 that lined up for the 11th Raid on 7th October, by end of 4th 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 4th 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 4th 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 3rd 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 2nd 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. Â 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 4th 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.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
U r d legend of himalayan motorsports nd I m one of d greatest fan of urs.. Koun kehta hai ki Dharamshala mai apko koi nhi jaannta.. Shayad aap humse mile nhi. .