Srinagar: Champion rallyists from Kolkata and Bangalore took the top honours at The 4th J&K Bank Mughal Rally - India's first hill climb challenge which was held in Jammu and Kashmir over June 28 and 29.
About 120 rallyists from various parts of the country took part in The 4th Mughal Rally, emerging as one of the favourite motorsport events in the country. The rallyists competed in four categories at the event. These are Rally Xtreme (4X4), Rally Xtreme (Motorcycles), Rally Enduro (Car category) and Rally Enduro (SUV category). Rally Xtreme is an outright speed rush, while Rally Enduro follows the Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format.
The final results of the rally were announced on Sunday. Prizes were given to the winners by J&K Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir at a function organized at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC), Srinagar. Mir said that The Mughal Rally spreads the message of peace in Kashmir both nationally and internationally. "Our effort is to showcase the great potential for adventure tourism in J&K. We also want to encourage the youth of the state to take part in adventure tourism," he said.
In the final tally, SK Ajgar Ali of Kolkata with navigator Mustafa took the winner's crown in Rally Enduro (Car category), driving a Mitsubishi Cedia. The duo tipped Subir Roy, also of Kolkata, with navigator Nirav Mehta, who were initially leading this category. Roy was also driving a Mitsubishi Cedia. Ajgar Ali won the category with a lead of 30 seconds over Roy. Third in this category was Pawan Choudhry with navigator T. Nagarajan.
There was an upset in Rally Enduro (SUV category) too. National TSD champion Satish Gopalkrishnan of Bangalore was leading this category with navigator Savera D'Souza, driving a Grand Vitara. On Day Two, champion TSD rallyists Vishnu Singh and navigator Adithya Anthony of Bangalore wrested the winner's crown from Gopalkrishnan with a lead of 30 seconds. Vishnu Singh was driving a Maruti Gypsy. Third in this category was Jagmeet Gill of Chandigarh with navigator Chandra Sekhar. Gill was also driving a Maruti Gypsy.
In Rally Xtreme, Amittrajit Ghosh of Kolkata took the top honours with navigator Ashwin Naik. Ghosh was driving a Mitsubishi Cedia. He had a lead of two minutes over Amanpreet Ahluwalia of Team Terrain Tigers, Delhi, with navigator Sandeep Mansukhani. Ahluwalia drove a Maruti Zen for the event. Third in this category was Abhishek Mishra of Jaipur, with navigator Sudeep Haldar.
Amartej Buwal of Team Terrain Tigers, Delhi, ranked fourth in Rally Xtreme with navigator Nakul Mehndiratta. National cross-country marathon motorsport champion Suresh Rana dropped to the fifth position in Rally Xtreme due to mechanical problems in his vehicle.
In the Rally Xtreme (Motorcycles category), Mughal Rally 2012 winner Mohit Verma of Chandigarh retained his numero uno position with a lead of three minutes over Gurpinder Singh Sarao of Sangrur. Rajan Singh of Ludhiana stood third in this category, and Puran Singh Bisht of Chandigarh ranked fourth.
The 4th Mughal Rally traversed the difficult, less-travelled stretches of Jammu and Kashmir including the Gool Gulabgarh-Reasi-Ramban stretch and the difficult hill climb from Daksum to Sinthan Pass. India's first competitive hill climb event was made even more challenging by adverse weather conditions both days. Day One was marked by landslide and rockfall on the competitive stretch near Pir Ki Gali, the highest point on The Mughal Road. On Day Two, rallyists had to put up with terrible rain and storm for almost four hours in the competitive stretches.
The Mughal Rally had been flagged off in the early hours of June 28 by J&K Minister of State for Tourism, Home, Industries and Commerce Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo from the Royal Springs Golf Course, Srinagar. A total of 24 teams took the start in Rally Xtreme (4X4), and 30 teams took the start in Rally Enduro. In the Rally Xtreme (Motorcycles) category, nine bikers took the start. The prize money for each category was Rs 2 lakh for the winner, Rs 1.25 lakh for the first runner-up and Rs 1 lakh for the second runner-up.
The Mughal Rally is a fast, technical event on a track that was once an elephant trail – at the time of the Mughals. This is the historic track used by Emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan to traverse Kashmir to go to Lahore.
The Mughal Rally started in 2010, when the Mughal Road was a quagmire of deep mud and rocks. At that time, the average top speed of the competitors was 55 kilometers per hour. The Mughal Road is now a smooth, double laned highway which was formally opened by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on June 25. The top speed of the rallyists on this track now goes up to 170 kilometers per hour.
The Mughal Rally is organized by Himalayan Motorsport, the premier Shimla-based motorsport club. “We see this rally becoming one of the fastest hill climb challenges in the world,” said Vijay Parmar, President of Himalayan Motorsport. The 4th Mughal Rally is patterned on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the 100-year-old iconic automobile and motorcycle hill climb of the USA.
The two hill climbs in The Mughal Rally this year were the competitive stretches up to Pir Ki Gali and Sinthan Pass. Pir Ki Gali is the highest point on The Mughal Road, at an altitude of 11,500 feet (4,100 meters) approximately. Sinthan Pass, at an altitude of 12,450 feet (3,748 meters) approximately, is on national highway 1B, connecting Kishtwar and Anantnag. Even during the height of summer, the hill climb to Sinthan Pass is lined with walls of snow. It is open from April to September.
Earlier, amidst heavy rain in the valley on June 27, scrutiny of the vehicles of all competitors was held at the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar. The scrutiny was held as per stringent rallying and safety regulations of Federation Internationale De Automobile (FIA) and the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India (FMSCI).
