RFC India 2018: Dhaliwal/Sandhu continue to lead as event powers through the night

The team of Sanbir Singh Dhaliwal and navigator Gurpratap Singh Sandhu held their lead in the 2018 Isuzu Rain Forest Challenge India in Goa after the completion of four more special stages last night. The stages were held at Suquerbag, Quepem.

With nine stages complete, Dhaliwal/Sandhu have a total of 687 points (out of a maximum possible of 900) with 87, 90, 56 and 72 points scored in yesterday's stages, respectively. 

The team of former multiple national motorcycle rally champion Jagat Nanjappa and navigator Chetan Changappa are just 18 points behind with 669 points, having scored 66, 78, 87 and 69 points through special stages six to nine. 

Former RFC India winners Mervyn Lim and Alex Tan have moved up to third place with a total of 567 points after a near perfect run yesterday that saw them tally 69, 95, 100 and 100 points. With a much lighter FJ40 (powered by a Lexus V-8 engine), Lim and Tan's vehicle is much lighter than last year, which has often been an advantage to participants on the rocky terrain that sees a lot of steep climbs. 

Defending champions Gurmeet Virdi and Kirpal Tung are fourth overall after scoring 100 points in special stages six and seven but 74 in eight and only 10 in nine, where they were among the 27 participants (out of a total of 38) who were unable to finish special stage nine. 

Dr. Chetanya Challa and Shabarish Jagarapu are fifth overall with 526 points (80, 84, 10 and 87 though stages six to nine) ahead of RFC India rookies Chow Ujjal Namshum and Inpeng Mein who have 514 points (72, 75, 50, 20). 

The event will continue to run at Suquerbag, Quepem today.