After three legs of thrilling motor sporting action that witnessed the competitors battling it out for top glory, the team of veteran rallyist Jogendra Kumar Jaiswal and co-driver Prakash Muthuswamy emerged victorious in the Pro-National Category at JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 9.
Exactly, four years earlier, at this very event (Himalayan Drive 7), Jaiswal and Muthuswamy narrowly missed out on the championship crown due to a last moment navigating error and had finished second to the team of Sk. Ajgar Ali and Md. Musthafa. But life has come to a full circle for Jaiswal and Muthuswamy as they edged passed the team of Ali and Musthafa at JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 9 to lift the winner’s trophy. If anyone thought motor sports was only for the young and adventurous, 65-year-old Jaiswal has completely debunked that theory and has promised to return next year to defend his championship title.
The ninth edition of JK Tyre Himalayan Drive supported by Experience Bengal, Government of Sikkim and Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) was flagged off by Honourable Tourism Minister, Government of India, Shri. G. Kishan Reddy from Siliguri’s Mayfair Tea Resort at 9 AM on April 2, 2023. Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, John Barla, Darjeeling Lok Sabha MP Raju Bista, the ambassadors of ten G20 nations, and senior officers of Government of India (GoI) and the West Bengal Government were present at the grand flag-off ceremony.
This edition of JK Tyre Himalayan Drive was an integral part of the prestigious G20 Tourism Working Group Global (TWG) Meet which was held in North Bengal. Delegates from 29 nations participating in the TWG Meet were also present at the flag-off of the three-day rally that traversed through the Dooars, Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills.
After the ceremonial flag-off, the 28 rally cars sporting the G20 flags and the flags of individual G20 nations participated in a convoy drive across Siliguri city before regrouping at Khaprail in the outskirts of Siliguri from where the competitive section of the first leg of the rally was flagged off. The competitors then drove through the Simulbari Tea Estate before traversing onto Mirik Road, Phulbari Bye Pass, Gajoldoba Barrage, Odlabari, Gorubathan, Damdim and Chalsa before finally culminating in Murti. Competitors covered 208 kilometres in the first leg of the rally and passed through river beds, river embankments, tea gardens and forests.
The second leg of the rally covering a distance of 194 kilometres was flagged off from Murti on Monday, April 3. This leg witnessed competitors pass through scenic tourist sports like Chapramari forest, Samsing, Lava and Pedong before taking to the road to Pakyong airport and then finally culminating at Gangtok.
The third and final leg of the rally covering around 140 kilometres was flagged off from Ganesh Tok in Gangtok by Honourable Minister, Power, Government of Sikkim, Shri M.N. Sherpa, Honourable Minister, PHE, Government of Sikkim, Shri Bhim Hang Subba and Honourable MLA of Soreng, Shri Aditya Golay. After the ceremonial flag-off, the rally cars once again sporting the G20 flags and the flags of the G20 nations took a round of Gangtok city. The competitors then congregated at Chungthang Road in Gangtok from where the competitive section of the third leg of the rally began. The competitors passed through Temi Tea Estate, Namchi, Jorethang and Hill Cart Road before culminating at North Point School. From here the competitors drove through Darjeeling town in a convoy and headed to Gorkha Rangmanch Bhavan.
The three legs of the JK Tyre Himalayan Drive covering a total distance of around 600 kilometres offered the opportunity to competitors to drive on varied terrain. In the first leg, the competitors negotiated through river banks, river embankments, rural roads and dirt tracks along with verdant tea gardens and dense forests. The second leg offered a combination of jungles, tea gardens and mountainous terrain. In the final leg, the competitors traversed through mountain roads along with passing through the picturesque Temi Tea Estate and a thrilling gravel section at the end of the mountain section.
A grand prize distribution ceremony was held at the Darjeeling Mall on Wednesday, April 5. Several dignitaries were present at the prize distribution ceremony which included Mr. Harsh Vardhan Shringla – Chief Coordinator – G20 Secretariat, Mr. Amar Rai – Former Chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality, Mr. Samden Dukpa – Joint Executive Director – GTA along with Mr. Sunny Kumar and Ms. Neha Tiwary from JK Motorsports.
In the Pro-National category, the team of Jogendra Kumar Jaiswal & co-driver Prakash Muthusawmy finished first with 262 penalty points followed by the duo of Sk. Ajgar Ali & Md. Musthafa with 305 penalty points in second position and the team of Santosh Kumar & Nagarajan Thangaraj finishing third with 476 penalty points. The teams of Souradeep Dutta & Sk. Ibrahim Ali and Sk. Anuriddha & Raj Kumar Mundra finished fourth and fifth with 670 and 698 penalty points respectively.
In the Open Class category, the team of Jasmeet Batra & Kashish Mehta emerged first with 2341 penalty points followed by the husband-wife duo of Sameeksha Srivasthava & Pulkit Srivasthava with 2943 penalty points. While the team of Highfill Syiem & Sagar Malappa took the third step on the podium with 3657 penalty points.
In the Promotional Class category, the team of Pranjal More & Milindo Paul finished first with 9294 penalty points followed by the duo of Preeti Khandelwal & Anagha Joshi in second position with 11748 penalty points and the team of Rakesh Goswami & Suraj Choudhury finishing third with 18888 penalty points.
The team of Jasmeet Batra & Kashish Mehta also took home the Best All Lady Team award.
Photograph by Ranadip Mandal
Power Drive 