Nanjappa triumphs

Dona Paula (Goa), July 28 

Veteran rally driver Jagat Nanjappa from Karnataka emerged as the champion in the week-long RFC India 2018, an off-road competition, which concluded today.

Nanjappa (co-driver Chetan Changappa), who had retained the top position after 21 stages, emerged as the winner, scoring a total of 2,006 points. He represented the team V5 Off Roaders. The competition is the India chapter of the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) of Malaysia. 

The last stage of the competition was held today at the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat and it was a walk in the park for the drivers, who had overcome a series of challenging hurdles in the event conducted in different parts of Goa.

The stages 22-25 were held yesterday at Quepem, South Goa, and it included a water challenge. Malaysian driver Mervyn Lim (co-driver Alex Tan), who is driving for team G O A Fairmont, bagged the second position after scoring 1,849 points. Defending RFC India winner Gurmeet Virdi (co-driver Kirpal Singh Tung), from Chandigarh, had to content with the third spot with 1,800 points.

Already out of contention for a win, the sole woman driver Shruti Ranjan Pai (co-driver Sara Fanning) from Bengaluru, won the hearts of the spectators with her performance throughout the race. Nanjappa, who hails from Coorg, said he came to fight in the competition for the podium finish.

"My jeep is basic, so we (me and my co-driver) proved that with the basic vehicle also we could beat the best in the business," Nanjappa said.

According to Nanjappa, they will now go to Malaysia for the mother event, the Rainforest Challenge to be held in November. Mervyn Lim said the race was tougher than the last year. "Without my co-driver I couldn't have been on the podium," added Lim. This was the fifth edition of the RFC India. — PTI