Dambuk: The 400-metre circuit across the Dimbang river proved the waterloo for quite a few of the teams here on Thursday as the JK Tyre Orange 4x4 Fury off-roading competition got stiffer.

Taking the lead in the Open class after two obstacle courses was the foursome of Karbir Waraich, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Kirpal Singh with 282 points as they displayed excellent combination and driving skills to forget ahead.

The day began with a 30-minute recce of the circuit with the participants given 12 minutes to complete the course that included mostly river crossing before a steep incline that required the use of the winch.

On the face of it, the course appeared a pleasant Sunday drive for these specially prepared vehicles with very high ride height, but beneath the fast flowing water lay sand bars that some competitors found very inviting and, in the process, getting grounded in deep waters.

Consequently, the second river crossing turned out to be a trap for several vehicles which ran aground and had to be winched out. However, with a 36-minute MPL (Maximum Permitted Lateness) acting as a cushion, the competitors just about ducked under the allotted time.

The steep climb at the end of the course also tested the teams though some of them negotiated it with deceptive ease despite the fact that it required one of the two pairs of the team to winch the other vehicle up the incline as the loose sand afforded very little traction.

Each team in the Open class comprises of two vehicles with a driver and a spotter for each of them. The three Stewards nominated by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) judge the participants on the basis of the Approach, Drive-through, Vehicle presentation and External help which involved team-work.

The three-day event, organized by the IMSC Motorsport with active assistance from Abu Teyang, Director of Transportation, Arunachal Pradesh, and held under the aegis of the FMSCI, concludes on Friday.

Provisional results (after Day 1):

Open: Kabir Waraich / Harmanpreet Singh and Gurmeet Singh / Kirpal Tung 1 (282

points); Prashanth / Rohith and Pradeep Kumar / Achyutha 2 (277 pts); Gursahib Singh /

Padam Chauhan and Dushyant / Gurvinder Singh 3 (271.5 pts).

North-East: Yanren Thung Jamio / Sodavi Shoya 1 (127 pts).

Quad: Hage Bitu / Jitu Kalita 1 (128.5 pts); Mrinoy Sinha / Naku Hage 2 (127.5 pts).