The lush green backdrop of the Chitwan National Park in Nepal provided the perfect setting for the ceremonial flag-off of the second leg of the Biswa Bangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 6, the only tri-nation TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) rally of India. Saturday’s 80 kilometre-long rally route traversed through hills, tropical forests, embankments of the Rapti river and dry beds of the Rapti’s many tributaries.
The second leg of the rally was a thrilling one making it the first time a leg of an international rally was staged at Chitwan, a National Park and a World Heritage Site spread over 932 square kilometres. The rallyists drove through the periphery of the national park which is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, including the Royal Bengal Tiger, the endangered one-horned rhino, sloth bears, elephants, leopards and crocodiles.
At the end of the first leg of HD 6 on Friday (February 23), defending champions Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Mushafa were leading their class with 54 penalty points in their Mitsubishi Cedia. Following them closely at their heels was the team of Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta with 62 penalty points in their Maruti Gypsy. Captain Vijay Kumar Sharma and Chandan Sen finished the day in third position with 132 penalty points.
In the ‘local category’, media professionals Gagan Sethi and Chandigarh lad Dhiraj Arrora were leading with 545 penalty points, followed by Rajen Bhetiwal and Bishal Chettri in second position with 1861 points. George Khati and Avhishek Lamichaney finished a distant third with 2159 points at the end of the first leg.
HD 6 was flagged off from City Center in Siliguri (West Bengal) jointly by Siliguri Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhury and Inspector General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Srikumar Bandopadhyay on Friday (February 23) morning. Hundreds lined up at the flag-off venue with police and SSB brass and pipe bands playing different and popular tunes. The rallyists drove through Matigara-Kurseong Road, Khaprail Bazar and Panihati before reaching the vast dry bed of the Manja river, a tributary of Teesta river. They then drove through Naxalbari (which incubated the infamous ultra-left Naxal movement) to enter Nepal at Kakarbhitta.
The first leg of the rally took the competitors through dirt and dust tracks inside tea gardens and through lush forests. They also traversed through narrow village roads. At Kakarbhitta, HD6 participants were accorded a warm welcome by the Nepal Automotive Sports Association (NASA). The rallyists then drove 466 kilometres on the busy East-West Highway to reach Chitwan for the night halt. Out of the total 521 kilometres that the competitors travelled on Friday, 74 kilometres was in the competitive section.
On Sunday, the rallyists will travel back to India through the same route and then reach Murti in the Dooars region of northern West Bengal.
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