DIEM CARPE
A gruelling week of serious off-roading action came to an end, as the fifth edition of the ISUZU Rainforest Challenge India 2018 concluded. Harsimran Shergill, sums up the action
Winches breaking, jeeps tumbling over, river crossings, and notto-forget the challenge of taking a couples of tonnes of metal up 60 and then 90-degree inclines which can, at most times be almost 10-feet in height—if all this draws a picture in your mind that’s action packed and adrenaline rising, then you’ve summed up the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) quite accurately I‘d imagine. Not one to be short on the action front, this year too, the RFC promised all that and more as 41 teams from all across India took on the rainforests of South Goa. In its fifth edition, this year too, the RFC was divided into 26 special stages conceived by the Australian David Metcalfe, who’s responsible for making the event more challenging and difficult than last and the year before that.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS GURMEET VIRDI AND KIRPAL TUNG OF GERRARI OFFROADERS FOUGHT TO RETAIN THE LEAD BUT HAD TO SETTLE FOR THE THIRD SPOT
Elaborating on how he executed this, David told me, “Since we constantly have drivers who participate each year, we have to alter the stages to make them more challenging. And in doing so, we’d also like the participants to innovate and use their imagination with stage strategies so that everyone approaches these stages differently, but of course keeping in mind and the capacity, strength as well as the drawbacks of their vehicles.” That being true, winners of the RFC 2018, veteran rallyist Jagat Nanjappa and co-driver Chetan Changappa of Coorg’s Team V5 Offroaders did just that and finished with top honours with a total score of 2006 points out of 2600. While Team Gerrari from Chandigarh took the lead in the initial stages of the competition, Jagat and Chetan chose the slow but safe/ winning route. “We managed to finish a few stages cautiously and that gave us the lead. Being short on spares, we were conscious about not damaging the vehicle because we wanted to go all the way,” Jagat said after finishing on the top of the list. A nine-time Indian National Rally Riders Champion from 1986 to 1996 in the motorbike section, a Great Desert Rally Champion in 1988, Coimbatore Rally Champion of 1992, MASA Rally Mumbai Champion of 1993 and 1994, Jagat’s illustrious motorsport career spans across four decades. Claiming the only title that was left to be conquered, he’s finally added the RFC crown to the list of his achievements in his third attempt. The fight for the 2nd and 3rd spot wasn’t devoid of action either. Starting rather low on the scoreboard,
Malaysian driver Mervyn Lim and co-driver Alex Tan of Team G.O.A, climbed 11 positions to finish second with 1849 points. Defending RFC India Champion Gurmeet Virdi and co-driver Kirpal Singh Tung of Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh after a string of DNFs pulled through to clinch the third spot on the podium with 1800 points. Amongst the many other firsts, this year saw the only women’s team to not only participate in the event but also finish all of the 26 stages. Making up the women’s contingent was the Simply Sage Team with Shruti Ranjan Pai and Sarah Fanning, who not only won hearts but took home several accolades for the performance that can take a toll on even the strongest of the lot. Despite their car suffering a setback, the women came back strong to tackle the last string of stages in the competition. This is the first time a women’s team has attempted and finished all the stages in RFC. Speaking of their journey particularly their first off-roading stint, Shruti said, “Known to be a muscle sport, it didn’t take us long to realise that apart from raw physical power, this event also tests the mental strength of the driver. We strategically
V5 OFFROADERS FROM COORG NOT ONLY TOOK HOME THE 2018 RFC TROPHY, THEY ALSO GET TO REPRESENT INDIA AT RFC 2018 GLOBAL SERIES GRAND FINALE IN MALAYSIA
approached each stage of the competition and though we didn’t think we’d come this far, once we reached the last couple of stages, it drove us further, to go all the way. However, one has to understand that this isn’t just a celebratory occasion for the driver and co-driver. A feat like this isn’t possible without the support of the entire crew, particularly the contribution of mechanics who often times stay up all night repairing vehicles. This is as much their win as ours.” The winners of the RFC trophy take home a cash prize of USD 10,000 (Rs 6.87lakh approx) and the opportunity to represent India at RFC 2018 Global Series Grand Finale in Malaysia. Wishing team V5 Offroaders, plenty luck ahead.