Shimla: Chandigarh champion rallyist, Sunny Sidhu, six time winner of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm had to bow out of the 14th Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya on day one itself on account of mechanical failure in his vehicle.
Sunny, a top contender for the Raid crown, faced engine trouble in the third competitive stage of the event today from Chimni to Khanag. He was driving a Mahindra XUV for Team Mahindra at the event. After mechanical failure the XUV had to be towed out of the competitive zone.
"I am certainly disappointed. An analysis will now reveal what went wrong and caused the problem," said Sidhu. Sidhu was participating in Raid Xtreme, the most challenging category of the event and an outright speedshow.
Meanwhile, day One of the 14th Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya was high on drama, adventure and some miraculous escapes. Fortunately, no rallyist was injured in the mishaps.
Chandigarh rallyist Simranjit Singh and his navigator Karan Narang from Gurgaon were rescued by a short, sturdy tree growing by the mountainside, when their Gypsy swerved off the road near Nag Jubbar village in Shimla district. The mishap took place on the first competitive stage of the event, held from Dalog to Chamola. A boulder got stuck under the Gypsy as Simranjit was negotiating a turn, and the impact drove the vehicle off the road. Simrajnit and Karan are part of Raid Xtreme, considered the toughest category in motorsport.
Raid officials rushed to the site of the accident soon, and the Gypsy was pulled out with the help of a crane. The Maximum Permitted Lateness (MPL) for Day One was 90 minutes. Simranjit had already had a slide before this incident, but had managed to pull out of that one. With the second mishap which took place soon after, he and his navigator overshot the maximum permitted lateness, and had to bow out of the Raid.
In the second incident, Lt Col R S Rai and Lt Col Dahiya of Team Army went down almost 200 meters down the mountainside. The incident took place on the second competitive stage of Day One, from Luhri to Behna. The team was attended to almost immediately by an ambulance stationed near the mishap site.
The Raid De Himalaya is organized by Maruti Suzuki in collaboration with Himalayan Motorsport Association (HMA), the premier Shimla-based motorsport club. President HMA Vijay Parmar said that six ambulances have been stationed all along the route. Of these, six are on the Xtreme route, which is about outright speed, and two on the Adventure Trial route, which follows the Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format. In addition, six more ambulances have been stationed by the Himachal Pradesh government all along the Raid route.
In the third mishap on Day One, Kishore Thakur of Gurgaon and his navigator Mansingh Jaswal went down about 30 feet off the road in the competitive stage of the event. The duo were attended to by an ambulance which rushed to the site of the mishap. Thakur and Jaswal were participating in Raid Adventure.
In the fourth mishap, Nitesh Kumar of Bangalore, driving a mobike, went down in Stage III of the Raid on Day One, running from Chimni to Khanag. Fortunately, Kumar did not sustain any injury. An ambulance was stationed very close to the point where Kumar went down, and he was attended to almost immediately. Meanwhile, another mobiker participating in the Xtreme Motorcycles and Quads category, had to quit the Raid on account of mechanical problems in the mobike.
The 14th Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya took off in the wee hours of Sunday from Shimla. After going through Manali, Kaza, Gramphoo, Koksar, Darcha and the Khardung La pass, the six-day marathon motorsport event will conclude at Leh on October 12. The Raid, an annual event, is staged at the highest altitudes in world motorsport. Rallying at 6,000 meters above sea level is rare across the globe, catapulting the Raid among the top ten toughest rallies in the world.
By Indian Sports News Network
