It's probably rained more in a day at the start of the Rainforest Challenge India prologue than it did throughout all of last year's event! However, that is exactly what Cougar Motorsport - the organizers of India's premier off-roading event - were hoping for. And as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it!
With the monsoon all throughout India being on time this year and generally normal or above in terms of volume, the Rajiv Gandhi IT Park at Dona Paula was soaked with rain with the sun being a no show and only some periods of no rain or light drizzles.
The 30-car field commenced the spectator-friendly prologue stages with Force Motors' three-car team leading the way from Chandigarh's Gerrari Offroaders who lost their talismanic driver Kabir Waraich to the Pune-based automotive major.
Force Motors' Tan Eng Joo/Tan Choon Hong and Merwyn Lim/Hamizan Bin Abdul Hamid lead after the first six prologue stages with Gerrari Offroaders' Gurmeet Virdi/Kirpal Singh Tung in third ahead of Goa's own Cedrick Jordan DaSilva/Floyd Preston representing Incredible Offroaders Goa.
A BIG DEFECTION
AutoX learned that it was only as recently as 6 July that Waraich was approached and then accepted to compete under Force Motors' colours. Since then, however, he has had limited time to familiarize himself with the machine that he was previously trying to beat. Roughly six kilometers is the total mileage Waraich has put on the Gurkha so far, which has work against him as him and co-driver Gagan Sachdeva try to best his teammates. A DNF in SS3 along with difficulty in familiarizing himself with the vehicle sees them lying in tenth place at the moment. Waraich has stated, however, that driving in the prologue allowed him to get more familiar with the vehicle.
In Waraich's absence, Virdi and Tung are leading the Gerrari charge to at least claim a podium with Gurpartap Singh/Sanbir Singh Dhaliwal and Tejinder Singh/Harpreet Singh joining them in support.
THE CONTENDERS
Kerala's KTM Jeepers, Team Fairmont from Mumbai, BODA from Bangalore, NIOC from New Delhi, V5 Offroaders from Coorg, CORAC from Hyderabad, Mudhogs from Sakleshpur and Team Mars from Hyderabad are the off-roading clubs being represented in Goa.
Two independent entries from Pune and Hyderabad also make up the competitors list with local eyes all for Incredible Offroaders Goa's Cedrick Jordan DaSilva/Floyd Preston and Tejas Prakash Shindolkar/Pushker Audi.
The split between petrol and diesel powered cars is 13 to 17, with many of the petrol-engined vehicles turbocharged in a hunt for more power and torque.
NO POLARIS
Absent from the field of competitors at this year's Rainforest Challenge India is Polaris, who had a troubled outing last year and have courted controversy in other motorsport disciplines as well. From a disqualification for Raj Singh Rathore at the Raid de Himalaya to reports of other incidents where drivers were severely injured in accidents, the company has struggled to make a mark on motorsport events in the country.
Nonetheless, their absence will be felt as there were many curious onlookers who wondered if the RZR (either the 800 or 1000) could ever have been modified enough to tackle the conditions at the Rainforest Challenge India. With the terrain in Goa involving many abrupt and steep drops and climbs, the probability of that looked slim.
THE SCHEDULE
With the ceremonial start and the first six prologue special stages done today, six more will be held tomorrow at the IT Park once again. Following that, the convoy of cars will depart for the six Predator Stages at Quepem (Cavorem) in South Goa on Monday.
Tuesday sees six Terminator stages at the same location as the Predator stages. Wednesday will be set aside for those competitors who did not complete the Terminator stages the day before and then the convoy departing for the Twilight Zone.
Twelve hours will be set aside on Thursday for the field to complete the Twilight Zone, which will be approximately 3 kilometers long, but anything but straightforward!
Two more special stages (bringing the total count to 26) on Friday morning will bring the event to a close after which the cars will head back to the International Centre in Dona Paula.
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