Dehradun, The top TSD rallyists of the country are engaged in a bitter fight for the winner’s trophy at the first Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally, which was flagged off from Dehradun early today morning.
On Day One, there was a difference of only a few seconds between TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) Rally champions Jagmeet Gill (navigator Chandan Das), Satish Gopalkrishnan (navigator Savera D’Souza), Vishnu Singh (navigator Adithya Anthony) and Somdev Chanda (navigator Nirav Mehta). All these are competitors in the SUV category.
In the cars category, there is a close fight between Rajesh Challana (navigator Yogesh Gupta), Ajgar Ali (navigator M. Mustafa) and Shekhar Chaudhry (navigator Suvrajit Dutta).
The teams of senior bureaucrats from the state and the Center participating in the rally are also doing fairly well. A total of 31 out of 35 teams made it through the scrutiny held yesterday, and were given the start today. All the teams successfully completed Day One, and reached the Auli Ski Resort for the night halt.
There was snowfall enroute from Joshimath to Auli during the rally today.
After starting from Dehradun in the morning, the rally went past Rishikesh, Shivpuri, Dev Prayag, Rudra Prayag, Karan Prayag, Chamoli and Joshimath to end at the ski resort at Auli. The rallyists covered about 300 kilometers on the first day of the event.
Satish Gopalkrishnan of Bangalore said the road was very clean tarmac, and a beautiful, scenic drive. “The competition is very high, because some of the best TSD rallyists in the country are here,” he said.
Dehrandun Deputy Commissioner Customs and Central Excise Mr Raghvendra Pal Singh, who is also participating in the rally, said almost all hotels and dharamshalas on the way were seen closed. “Tourist flow is very low because of the fear caused by the calamity in June. Such an event was desperately needed to send out the message that roads and other conditions are fine now, and the state is a good destination for holiday fun,” he said.
Dehradun Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate Mr B. Purushottam is also participating in the rally with team-mate Mr Madhukar Naik, IAS. Mr Naik is the Private Secretary to Union Minister of Social Justice Mr Balram Naik. Capt Devendra Kumar Sachan, Chief Pilot of the Uttarakhand government, is participating in the rally with team-mate Mr Lokesh Lohia, a major industrialist of the state.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri Vijay Bahuguna had flagged off the Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally. Chief Minister had said it was a matter of pride for Uttarakhand that some senior IAS and IPS officials of the state and the centre were taking part in the rally to strengthen the message of normalcy in the state.
Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally will cover about 850 kilometers on the mountains and plains in the state. The rally route will touch some of the favourite tourism attractions in Uttarakhand. These include Shivpuri for white water rafting, the ski resort at Auli, and Garjiya on the periphery of the Jim Corbett Park.
Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Smt Amrita Rawat said that by going past these tourism hotspots of Uttarakhand, the rally will spread the message nationally and internationally that the state is once again the ‘eco-adventure tourism destination’ for skiing, white-water rafting, wildlife photography, and now also motorsport.
Sports Minister Shri Dinesh Aggarwal said that 13 teams of the youth and motorsport lovers of Uttarakhand are taking part in the rally.
The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally is being organized by Himalayan Motorsport, the premier Shimla-based motorsport club which organizes the world-famous rally – the Raid De Himalaya. The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally is supported by Maruti Suzuki and JK Tyres.
The route from Dehradun to Shivpuri and beyond features some of the most popular stretches in the world for white water rafting. On Day 2, the Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally will come down from Auli to Karan Prayag. It will then proceed towards Chaukhutiya and Kumerian to reach Garjiya on the east of Jim Corbett Park. On Day 2, the rally will cover about 280 kilometers of country roads.
On Day 3, the rally will go across some of the most picturesque roads in the state via Nainidhada and Kotdwar to culminate at Paryatan Bhawan, Dehradun.
The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally is authorized by the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India (FMSCI).
The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally will follow the TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) format. This is the sober form of motorsport that allows competitors to go slow in populous areas, and stick to specified speed limits at all times.
Through the rally, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board hopes to raise further resources to assist those affected by the floods.
