Virdi takes lead on Day One
The fourth season of the Force Gurkha RFC India, the toughest off-road motorsport event in the country, saw defending champion Gurmeet Virdi take the lead on Day One in Gancim, Goa, on Monday.
Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh’s Virdi with co-driver Kirpal Singh Tung had 390 points out of 500 after the conclusion of five special stages.
Veteran rallyist Jagat Nanjappa and Chetan Changappa of V5 Offroaders from Kodagu were second with 355 points ahead of Siddartha Santhosh and Prithviraj A.C. from Team Bangalore Offroaders Development Association with 298.
They were followed by Sanbir Singh Dhaliwal and co-driver Gurpratap Singh from GOC (237) and Vivek Thomas Kuriakose and Ashok Abraham Kuriakose) of Team Boda (202).
No international driver has managed to be in the top five positions on the first day, which was held in the hinterland at Xenem in Gancim with 38 teams attempting Prologue SS 1 to SS 5. Harsh terrain made it difficult for participants to tackle and conquer the course, which resulted in action continuing till late on Monday night.
US driver William Dwaine Jungen, who is representing Chandigarh’s Team Iron Scorpion in the competition, said, “I think the event tagline saying, ‘Not for the faint hearted’ is right on the money. The course is tremendously challenging as well as unpredictable.”
Teams were allocated 15 minutes for each stage worth 100 points. Teams that were unable to finish a task within the allowed duration were given a DNF (did not finish).
Moreover, penalties were given for mistakes like breaking a peg or a bunting or for touching a live winch cable which had a direct impact on cumulative scores for that particular stage.
SS 1 had participants climbing up and back down a steep incline while SS 3 had them scale a perpendicular ridge of around 2-3 meters. SS 4 required contenders to hit a marker atop a 50 degree slope and trace their way back through bumpy terrain while SS 5 tested their vehicle handling capacity in narrow passages lined by bushes and boulders.