Arindam, Nataraj emerge Raid De Himalaya champs

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 13

Arindam Saikia of Team Polaris and Nataraj R of Team TVS emerged champions in the 20th Raid De Himalaya on Saturday.

Arindam, who jumped ahead on Day 2, hung on to his lead tenaciously for the next two days to claim the Xtreme 4X4 category. He logged a total penalty of 6.32.49 hours, while Nataraj, easily won in the Moto Xtreme. He proved to be the fastest competitor in the entire field, with a total penalty of 4.58.52 hours.

The iconic Raid started from Kargil on October 10 and concluded at Leh on Saturday, with the drivers coping with extreme cold and demanding terrain across Kargil, Zanskar and Ladakh. The 2015 Raid winner, Captain AVS Gill, in his Grand Vitara, finished 10.53 minutes behind to take the second position. Himanshu Arora of Haree Rallying, driving a Gypsy, took the third place.

Nataraj’s teammate Imran Pasha finished with a total penalty of 5.15.21 hours to take the second place, while Vishwas SD finished third. However, Vijay Parmar, president, Himalayan Motorsport, pointed out that these were all provisional results as the final audit was still in progress.

Remarkably, both the amputees in fray, Vinod Rawat of Mumbai and Ashok Munne of Nagpur, finished the Raid successfully, even finishing second and third in the Group D category.