Virdi first Indian to win at home
Merwyn Lim and Tan Eng Joo of Force Motors were second and third on 2166 and 2111 points
Gerrari Offroaders’ Chandigarh-based Gurmeet Virdi and co- driver Kirpal Singh Tung won the Force Gurkha RFC India endurance event with a total of 2177 points out of a maximum of 2700. This is the first time in three editions of the India edition of RFC that a home driver has secured the top slot.
In both previous editions, Malaysian driver Tan Eng Joo ( Tan Choon Hong), representing Force Motors, was the winner. With his win, Virdi gets an automatic entry into RFC Malaysia 2016.
Malaysia’s Merwyn Lim ( Hamizan Bin Abdul Hamid) of Force Motors finished second with 2166 points while compatriot and team mate Tan Eng Joo ( Tan Choon Hong) took third with 2111 points. Kabir Waraich ( Gagan Sachdeva) of Force Motors and Goa’s Cedrick Jordon Da Silva ( Floyd Preston) were tied fourth with 1938 points.
Virdi said afterwards, “The news is yet to sink in. In fact, I was numb for the first few moments after the results were announced as I just could not believe that I had finally won the competition after all the hard work and efforts of the last three years. The competition was extremely tough this year with neck to neck competition between the top position holders.”
Category wise winners include Virdi for the up to 1610 cc petrol or diesel category, Lim for the 1611 to 2610 cc diesel category, Northern India Offroad Club’s Bijender Singh ( Gajender Singh) for the 1611 to 2610 cc petrol category and Hyderabad’s Dr Chaitanya Challa ( Shabarish Jagarapu) for the above 2610 cc petrol or diesel category. Force Motors emerged winners of the team award. A lifetime achievement Award went to veteran rallyist Jagat Nanjappa, the team spirit award was given to Mumbai’s Team Fairmont. A special award was given to the four Malaysians ( Tan Eng Joo, Merwyn Lim, Tan Choon Hong and Hamizan Bin Abdul Hamid) for contributing significantly towards upgrading the skills of Indian offroaders through their exemplary performance.