March 04 2016, 22.52 PM IST || Pocket News Alert
Siliguri, February 4, 2016:India’s only International T.S.D. (Time-Speed-Distance) Cross-Country Rally held in North Bengal and Bhutan culminated to a thrilling finish after an intense five day rally. The event endeavors to further the vision of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, Ms. Mamata Banerjee to connect Bengal to its neighbors and the world via Adventure Sports and Tourism.
The first 3 editions of Himalayan Drive; held in March 2013, January 2014 and January 2015 witnessed tremendous success and this edition took the event to a higher level crossing international borders. These events have gone a long way in popularizing adventure motorsports in the Eastern Himalayan region.. It was a challenging event that tested man and machine to the maximum. Additionally, the Governments of West Bengal and the GTA has provided support with a true sense of partnership and enthusiasm.
The 4th Edition of the JK Tyre Himalayan Drive set the hills ablaze - Images
Kolkata duo Sudip and Arindam Ghosh championed the 4th edition of the JK Tyre Himalyan Drive,notching 568 penalty seconds, just eight seconds short of their closest rivals Jogendra Kumar Jaiswal and Prasenjit Roy who had a score of 576 penalty seconds. The other close call was between the third and fourth rankers. Pratik Sirkar and Debasish Ghosh who had a final score of 832 penalty seconds finished third, while Rajiv Sarkar and Chandu Sekhar followed close behind with 836 penalty seconds to finish fourth.
Though the champions—Sudip and Arindam Ghosh—had built a sizeable lead over their closest rivals on the first two days of the five-day rally, they slipped in the last three days with many more penalty points than the Jaiswal-Roy duo. It was only the lead they established in the first two days that saw them through to finish on top. The fortunes of Rajiv Sarkar and Chandu Sekhar kept fluctuating throughout the rally—they were in second position at the end of Day 1, slipped to third rank on Day 2, sank to fourth on the next two days, but did better on the last leg to ascend to the third position. However, their final scores placed them in the fourth position overall.
The rally, which started from Siliguri’s City Center on Sunday, 28th February 2016, culminated at the same venue on Thursday, 3rd March 2016 afternoon. The rally route covered the forests, tea gardens and riverbeds of North Bengal and the Duars, narrow roads skirting the precipitous mountain slopes of the eastern Himalayas, the picturesque Paro Valley in Bhutan, a high mountain pass and the verdant, fog-enveloped Darjeeling Hills.
Sudip Ghosh, the driver of the winning team, said: “The rally was tough and challenging, however, driving at such a high altitude and difficult terrain was equally thrilling. My driving mettle was put to severe test. Winning this rally brings to me a tremendous sense of achievement”. The winners were awarded prize money of Rs 1 (one) lakh while the total prize money amounted to about Rs 2 (two) lakh.
JK Tyre & Industries Limited, India’s leading tyre manufacturer, has been associated with Himalayan Drive as the Title Sponsor since its inception in 2013. Speaking on the association Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Head Motorsports, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., said “The 4th edition of the rally has been a great success. It is for the first time that this rally has travelled to international terrain and the Government of Bhutan has been extremely supportive. I am very sure with this kind of support and love for motorsports we can keep promoting our initiatives beyond national borders.”
Tamal Ghoshal, Director of Just Sportz, the organizer of the event was upbeat with the success of the Rally as besides this being an Adventure Sports Event; it was aimed at betterment of relations between Bengal and Bhutan. The organizers said they took inspiration from the Hon’ble Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee’s vision of improving relations with neighboring countries through Motor Sports. “Taking a cue from this year’s success story, we are hopeful we would be able to take one step forward by adding Nepal to our Rally Route thus making the fifth edition of Himalayan Drive a Tri Nation Rally,” said Ghoshal.
The Himalayan Drive, over the past four years, since inception has drawn the attention of car rallyists from across the country due to the varied, challenging and extremely picturesque terrain that the rally route covers. This year, the international leg of the rally through Bhutan was a game changer and received a highly enthusiastic feedback from all participants.
This year’s edition of the JK Tyre Himalayan Drive organized by Just Sportz, was presented by Biswa Bangla in association with West Bengal Tourism and North Bengal Development Department.
