City-based motorbike rider Sujat Mohammad Khan claimed second position in 'Raid De Himalaya' bike rally, one of the toughest bike rallies of the world.
Sujat has claimed several awards and made the city and State proud. He was the only contestant from the State. In the world category 50 riders competed which stretched from Shimla to Shrinagar travelling through the toughest route of 1200 km which took around 48 hours. The rally started from Shrinagar which covered Manali, Dalhousie and ended at Shrinagar.
The rally passes through difficult route comprising of slippery track, stone cliffs and stony track. The speed varied from 30 to 40 km per hour under on road conditions while the speed was around 80 to 100 km per hour under off road conditions. Sujat claimed the position competing 50 participants across the world in the Group C 165 cc to 220 cc. He said that he rides around 250 km per day for practicing and also does exercise and Yoga.
Raid De Himalaya is one of the toughest bike rallies of the world organised by Himalayan Motor Sports Association since year 1999. The rally is organised in two categories one is of thre days covering 1200 km and the extreme rally is of 6 days covering 2000 km.
In the rally the bikers have to compete in freezing temperature. Only 20 percent of the bikers successfully complete the rally due to which it is considered as second toughest bike rally of the world.