Lahaul and Spiti: Dr Amit Gupta of Rishikesh and his navigator Dr Tarun Sharma had a miraculous escape on Day Three of the 14th Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya, after their SUV almost ran off the edge of a sheer cliff. The incident occurred on the climb-up from Kaza to Komic, in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Padesh.
The close tracking and the alertness of the Marshals of the Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalayaensured that the rallyists were pulled back from the cliff edge in time.
Dr Gupta and his navigator, part of Raid Xtreme at the challenging motorsport event, were headed towards the end of the competitive zone at Komic, when a wheel of their SUV went off the road. During this competitive stretch, Raid Xtreme was running at a height of 4,500 meters above sea level along sharp, high cliffs. Dr Gupta miscalculated the drive, running almost off the track. The duo's amazing luck was that their vehicle did not go over into the deep valley, and stayed hanging precariously hanging on the cliff edge.
The Raid De Himalaya is organised by Maruti Suzuki and Himalayan Motorsport Association (HMA), the premier Shimla-based motorsport club. President HMA Vijay Parmar said that the minute-to-minute tracking of rallyists by the Raid Marshals saved the lives of the doctor duo. When the team did not reach the designated check-post on time, the Raid Marshals sent out an SOS to the Search and Rescue teams of the event about the missing vehicle. The Search teams immediately moved into the competitive zone and began a lookout for team. Within minutes, Marshals of the Search team reached the spot and pulled Dr Gupta's SUV back on the road. The doctor duo were in a state of shock, and were given medical help by the Search and Rescue Marshals.
This has been the second incident in which rallyists at the Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya2012 have had a close shave.
The Raid is considered India's ultimate adventure in motorsport, pitting competitor and machine against the most extreme terrain and toughest conditions. Participants agree that while they share a passion for motorsport, rallying is a high-risk sport. At the Raid De Himalaya, motorsport enthusiasts record impossible speeds at the highest motorable stretches in the world - and that is the thrill of the event. This is also the reason why rallyists get high-risk insurance done, and sign an indemnity bond - that they are participating in event voluntarily and are aware of the risk levels involved in motorsport.
The raid has two categories - Xtreme and Adventure. Xtreme is all-out speed, while the Adventure category follows the TSD (time-speed-distance) format.
Raid 2012 took off from Shimla on October 7. 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. Rally results for Day III were being compiled at the time of filing this report.
The first three days of the Raid have been high on drama, adventure and miraculous escapes. Fortunately, no rallyist was injured in the mishaps. On Day One of the Raid, a mobiker who seriously injured his hand was air-lifted from Kullu to Chandigarh for surgery, courtesy the dedicated helicopter service introduced by the organizers for the event.On Day Two, two teams of rallyists who were reported missing on the Raid route were searched out within minutes by the helicopter. The vehicles of the two teams had suffered a mechanical failure and could not reach the designated check-posts on time.
Earlier, 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 on Day One of the event.
The 14th Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya 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
