Mountains of Uttarakhand coming alive with the roar of motorsport

File photo of a rally vehicle in action

Dehradun, December 15: The mountains of Uttarakhand are coming alive with the roar of motorsport. In six days from now, the state is all set to host a 1000-kilometer car rally to announce to the world that the roads are new and smooth, and the state is back on rails as one of the premier tourism destinations in the country.

Uttarakhand Tourism is organizing the Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally from December 21 to 24. The route of the rally has been designed to touch some of the major tourism hotspots of the state through mountains and plains.

Uttarakhand Secretary Tourism Dr UK Panwar said that natural disasters are a global phenomenon. “Uttarakhand has coped with the disaster by rehabilitating the disaster victims. At the same time, we have built new roads and infrastructure which is the lifeline of tourism in the state. The rally will spread the message nationally and internationally that the state is once again the ‘eco-adventure tourism destination’ for skiing, white-water rafting, wildlife photography, and now also motorsport,” said Dr Panwar.

Motorsport champions of the country in TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) Rallying are converging to the hill state from all parts of the country for the rally. Bangalore’s Satish Gopalkrishnan, winner of Dakshin Dare, Desert Storm and other major rallies, is driving to Dehradun with navigator Savera D’Souza.

Ajgar Ali, from Haldia near Kolkata, has teamed up with champion TSD navigator Mohammad Mustafa from Erode, Tamilnadu. Ali has major wins to his credit including the top spot in the Mughal Rally 2013 and the Hornbill Rally, Nagaland. Challenging Gopalkrishnan and Ajgar Ali is Jagmeet Gill of Chandigarh, TSD winner of Raid De Himalaya 2013 and second overall in Dakshin Dare. Gill and navigator Chandas Das are driving for Team Maruti.

A total of 35 teams from various parts of the country will take part in the rally. Each team comprises a driver and a navigator. The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally is authorized by the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India (FMSCI).

While champion rallyists from all corners of the country are competing in the rally, there is sizable participation of the youth of Uttarakhand in the rally too. The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally is being organized by Himalayan Motorsport. This is the premier Shimla-based motorsport club which organizes the world-famous Raid De Himalaya. The Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally is supported by Maruti Suzuki and JK Tyres.

On December 22, the Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally will begin early morning from Dehradun. It will go via Rishikesh, Shivpuri, Dev Prayag, Rudra Prayag, Karan Prayag, Chamoli and Joshimath to end at the ski resort at Auli. The rallyists will cover about 300 kilometers on the first day of the event.

The route from Dehradun to Shivpuri and beyond features some of the most popular stretches in the world for white water rafting. On Day 2, the Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally will come down from Auli to Karan Prayag. It will then proceed towards Chaukhutiya and Kumerian to reach Ramnagar on the east of Jim Corbett Park. On Day 2, the rally will cover about 280 kilometers of country roads.

On Day 3, the rally will go across some of the most picturesque roads in the state via Nainidhada and Kotdwar to culminate at Dehradun.

Mr Vijay Parmar, President of Himalayan Motorsport, said that motorsport has great potential to grow in Uttarakhand, and will showcase its excellent tourism destinations nationally and internationally.

Through the rally, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board hopes to raise further resources to assist those affected by the floods. The rally is open to any brand or model of automobile. SUVs and cars will fight for top honours in their own categories respectively.