Raid de Himalaya - inscribed on the Internationally reputed Calendar as the "highest motorsport event in the world", It was created by HMA and has been organized and conducted by the club for the past 19 years consecutively with the FIA (Paris) and the FIM (Geneva) . There are 12 such events worldwide and the Raid de Himalaya is one of them.
19TH RAID DE HIMALAYA - the world's highest most battle arena .
Established 1999 - Making Grown Men Cry Every Since
This version of the Raid de Himalaya is beyond anything that even the die hard rally riders will expect. What they can expect to remember afterwards will be:
- The highest Rally Raid in the world.
- A rally on the FIA FIM calendars for the 19th consecutive year.
- Only 20 percent of starters will finish.
- An extreme endurance event of marathon proportions.
- It will be very, very cold - minus 25-30 Celsius + windchill.
- There will be almost no oxygen to breathe.
- The roads will be like riverbeds, to be skating on ice will be normal.
- The event will be open to Cars, Motorcycles and Quadbikes.
- As a reward you will have the country’s
most envied bragging rights.
Requirements
- A completely modified Motorcycle or Quad.
- An extremely high level of physical fitness.
- A chromosome descended from Chengiz Khan.
- A full rally license + previous rally experience.
- Money.
- Certifiable insanity.
The grueling rally started at Manali this year where the scrutiny took place over the first two days (6-7th October) and the ceremonial flag-off took place on 7th October where i was riding a TVS RTR 200 for the next 6 days representing TVS Racing.
The much-anticipated rally saw 106 motorsport rallyists participating across Xtreme Cars, Xtreme Bikes and Adventure categories, ensuring that only the toughest of the tough survived the extreme temperatures, altitude and rugged terrains with less than 50% of the overall competitors making it to the finish line
covering Manali, Kaza, Pang, Kargil and Leh covering a distance of 1850 kms.
DAY -1
Leg 1 of the 2017 Raid De Himalaya started in the wee hours of Sunday, 8th October and covered the 203 kilometre distance between Manali and kaza, passing through Gramphoo and Losar.
I rode through narrow roads and sometimes no roads at all. The stages this year were slower as road conditions had deteriorated more compared to last year due to which i had a couple of crashes too. The locales in which the Raid took place was scenic and devoid of connectivity which also caused technical issues on the bike with the carburetor engine due to altitude.
The Raid De Himalaya certainly lives up to its name, generating increased levels of excitement year after year for nearly two decades now.
Motorsport is a dangerous affair - The tradegy of 2016
Motorsport is a dangerous affair, more so if you are on two-wheels. Every year many heroes suffer broken bones and torn ligaments while some lose their lives. One of the racers to have lost their lives in the recent times is Subhamoy Paul.
Paul, who was competing in the Moto-Quads Xtreme category of the 2016 Raid de Himalaya, was a seasoned rider with a vast experience in motorsports. The 49-year-old veteran was covering the Losar to Gramphoo stage of the race over Kunzum pass on day three of the motoring event when he lost control of his KTM EXC 500 and suffered severe head injuries. He was airlifted to Manali where he was declared dead on arrival.
My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends.
The rally was called off after the accident. The 18th edition of Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya was flagged off on October 8, 2016.
To Be Continued.....
Stay connected for more updates for my experiences on the 19th Raid De Himalaya 2017.
Official Website.
http://www.xraid.in/index.php