The much awaited 18th Maruti
Suzuki Raid de Himalaya which saw a tragic turn of events with the death of Subhomoy
Paul, ace rallyist from Kolkata, finally concluded in Manali, with Suresh Rana
and his co-driver Ashwin Naik, clinching their 10th Maruti Suzuki Raid de
Himalaya winner title. Suresh Rana was driving Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and
clocked a total of 03:42:02 Hrs. Chasing the lead at the second position were
Tsering Lhakpa and Venu Ramesh Kumar in Polaris RZR 1000, clocking 03:49:15 Hrs.
The third position was bagged by Sandeep Sharma and Karan Arya at 03:51:11 Hrs
in Maruti Suzuki Gypsy.
Ace rallyists, Lhakpa Tsering
and his co-driver V Venu Rameshkumar displayed their fantastic performance
through the toughest motorable roads and secured 1st position in Class 7
category of 4X4 Extreme.
The rally was flagged off on
October 7, 2016. The crossed the challenging route of Kaza, traversing through
Sarchu towards Leh over the course of 7 days and culminated at Manali for the
prize distribution ceremony on October 15.
Pankaj Dubey, Managing
Director, Polaris India Pvt. Ltd., said, “We are absolutely delighted with our
participation and performance at one of the most challenging motorsport
rallies- Raid De Himalaya. The extraordinary Polaris RZR XP 4 1000 is designed
and engineered to perform even in the most challenging terrains like the mighty
Himalayas. Raid De Himalaya gave us a platform to underline the practicality
and the performance of these mean machines in extreme off road condition. I
would like to congratulate the winners for displaying their determination and
achieving yet another milestone for Polaris India. I was happy to see that all four
participants on Polaris RZR finished the rally.”
Open to 4x4’s, motorcycles and quadbikes alike,
the Raid de Himalaya tested the endurance, ingenuity, physical and mental
toughness of the rallyist like none other.
Team Northern Pro Riderz
riding on Ceat tyres bagged five trophies in the rally across the extreme two
wheeler and four wheeler categories including the 1st place finish by Umang
Saxena in Extreme two wheeler categories in group c.
This year, the rally witnessed
participation from over 200 teams from across the country, who covered a total
distance of 2000 km, travelling through some of the most picturesque locations
in Himachal Pradesh. The riders had to complete the seven days rally through
hilly terrain, muddy road, gravel, stone, peaks, slush hard rocky terrain and
sand riding on the newly launched Ceat tyres.
The gruelling Xtreme route
traversed approximately 800Kms through some of the toughest terrains like Kaza,
Spiti, Jispa and Sarchu. The treacherous terrains brought out the best
synchronized relation between man and machine.
In the adventure category,
Jagmeet Gill and Chandan Sen took the lead driving Maruti Suzuki Swift. This is
fourth consecutive win for Jagmeet and Chandan. Maruti Suzuki Swift is the
first car to win the adventure category. Ajgar Ali &Mohd Mustafa in Maruti
Suzuki VitaraBrezza andSunder Singh &Zaman Daoud Khan in VitaraBrezzastood
at second and third position respectively. The adventure category of the rally
followed the scenic route of Manali, Solang Valley, Tabo and through the
sub-zero temperature of Sarchu valley.
Tanveer Abdul Wahid in his TVS
RTR450 won the MotoquadXtreme followed by R Natraj in TVS RTR450 at second
position and UmangSaxena at the third position driving KTM Duke 390.
Speaking on the occasion,
Vinay Pant, Assistant Vice President, Marketing,Maruti Suzuki noted, “I
congratulate the indomitable spirit of all the rallyists who participated and
completed the 18th edition of Raid de Himalaya. We are constantly encouraged to
see the increasing enthusiasm in participation every year. We should also take
a moment to remember and salute the incredible life of late Subhomoy Paul, ace
rallyist from Kolkata. His memory shall forever live in our hearts and guide us
in succeeding against all odds.”
Cherishing his much coveted
10th raid de Himalaya trophy, Manali Man Suresh Rana said, “It feels good to
hold my 10thRaid trophy. It is even special since I have brought the trophy
home in my own city. Like always, Raid is all about incredible camaraderie and
sportsmanship. We are all winners in our own rights.”
All the motorsports
enthusiasts participating in Raid and from across the country, the organisers
and sponsors paid a tribute to Subhomoy Paul. Paul had participated thrice in
Raid de Himalaya and several other international motorsports challenges.