JK Tyre Xtreme 4Play
When the going gets rough and dirty
The second edition of the JK Tyre's annual offroading event, Xtreme 4Play was flagged off in the middle of 1,800 sprawling acres at the foothills of the Shivaliks at Kikar Lodge in Punjab. Spread across seven rather challenging stages, the 15 participating teams came from far and wide; like the Bangalore Offroad Drivers' Association's (BODA), Manabhum Off-Road Club of Arunachal (MOCA) from Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala Adventure Sports Club (KASC), Kottayam Jeepers Kerala, Teams Mars Hyderabad and the local favourites—the Gerrari Offroaders from Chandigarh.
Having recently bagged their title at Dambuk Arunachal Pradesh, the Gerrari team's Gurmeet Singh Virdi and Kirpal Singh Tung began with a topple in the first stage, however that didn't dissuade them from finishing top of the charts, tied along with BODA on day one. With six other stages before them, some of which involved a particularly tough stretch through muddied waters, many teams made do with the "Did Not Finish" points that are allotted to each team.
From the second stage onwards right till the end of the seventh stage, Chandigarh's Gerrari Offroaders proved their versatility and excellent co-ordinating skills and won the title with 569 points and a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh. Drivers Kabir Waraich and Gurmeet Virdi were assisted by their navigators Yuvraj Tiwana and Kirpal Tung. Speaking after the win, Gurmeet
GERRARI OFFROADERS PROVED THEIR VERSATILITY AND EXCELLENT COORDINATING SKILLS AND WON THE TITLE WITH 569 POINTS
Virdi said, "Being one of the largest off-roading competitions in the Northern region, we wanted to ensure that the title stayed at home. As for the stages, this terrain is known to have some precarious stretches. That's why we had to bring our A-game and stick to the team's strategy." Team BODA finished second with 456 points and was led by Satish Kumar and Madhusudan Reddy while Mumbai's Team Fairmont finished third. Fairmont team included Cedrick Da Silva and Aster Dias from Goa in one car and Sameer Chunawala and Pratik Prabhudesai from Maharashtra, drove and navigated the second vehicle.