Defending champion Suresh Rana was going strong in the Xtreme category, while superstar Salman’s brother Sohail Khan was among the top ten competitors in Raid Adventure on Day One of the 16th Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya, which reached Manali on Sunday.
Ace rallyist Suresh Rana, who won the Raid-de-Himalaya nine times in the four-wheeler Xtreme category, aims to capture the 10th title in this edition. Raid officials were surprised by the relatively good performance of actor-producer-director Sohail Khan. Accompanied by champion navigator Rahul Sancheti of Pune, Sohail Khan excelled in the Time-Speed-Distance format of Raid Adventure, and scored well.
Interestingly, Sohail performed better than most competitors in Corkscrew, the prologue to the Raid for rallyists driving 4X4 SUVs held early on Saturday morning. But while maneuvering the challenging track for Corkscrew, Sohail rushed on alone to conquer a particularly difficult turn and left his navigator behind, incurring a penalty of 20 seconds.
Sohail admitted that this was his first rally, a lot of learning had to be done. “Just because I am teaming with one of the best navigators of the country does not mean we are going to be winning all the way. We have tried to do well on the first day of the rally, and hope to make up on the penalty we incurred at Corkscrew,” he reasoned.
Manohar Bhat, Vice President (Marketing) of Maruti Suzuki said the level of preparation among rallyists in both Raid Xtreme and Raid Adventure was remarkable.
“On Day One, Raid Xtreme covered 326 kilometers and had two competitive stages, while Raid Adventure covered 317 kilometers. In both categories, rallyists combined speed with the essential safety precautions. Out of the 79 teams that took a start in Rally Xtreme, 76 successfully made it to the end of the leg on Day One," said Bhat.
The Raid had its own share of drama on Sunday. Pramod Joshua, a Motocross champion from Bangalore went down the mountain on his bike. Fortunately, he was caught in a tree and escaped unhurt. Joshua was riding for Team TVS, and had to quit the rally. Nishant Pal Yadav and Chirag Thakur of Team Tusker, Delhi, had to quit Raid Xtreme after their vehicle rolled over.
Baljeet Singh of Chandigarh sustained a minor injury after falling from his bike, and had to quit the Raid too. Major Dankar and Major Ravi Dhillon of Team Army had to quit the event after a radiator bust in their vehicle. Amongst the bikers, Nick Sarao and Suresh Babu were among the fastest on Sunday. At the time of going to press, the competitors were on the way to Manali for the end of the leg on Day One.