What does it take to win a rally?

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Rally Raid

We get a low down about rallying from the experienced personnel of Indian rallying fraternity

Polaris’ Dune Buggy kicking up some dirt (Image credit: Binoy Parikh)

One of the world’s most grueling Motorsport events – Dakar Rally – is underway where an Indian rider CS Santosh is participating for the very first time. While the Bangalore-lad is busy tackling the dirty, gravel and desert on his rally-spec KTM 450; we try to answer the age-old question, what does it take to win a rally.

While it’s relatively shorter than the Dakar Rally, Raid de Himalaya is undoubtedly one of the toughest rallies in the world. We catch up with Team Thunderbolt – the very team that won the grueling Raid de Himalaya 2014, as well as other talented blokes from the world of rallying to know what goes in to participating and winning a rally.

What is the secret to Team Thunderbolt’s success in rallies over the years?
Titu Singh (Team Thunderbolt – Team Manager): The secret is unity and trust. There are 3 pillars to our team – Thunderolt, Yokohama and Speedsport.

How do you choose your drivers?
Titu Singh (Team Thunderbolt – Team Manager): We choose them strictly based on their performance. We look at how they’ve performed in the past two years and then take a call if we’d like them to associate with us or not.

As a team, what do you aim to perceive?
Titu Singh (Team Thunderbolt – Team Manager): We just wish to promote motorsports. Suresh Rana and Sandeep Sharma, both were with Team Thunderbolt. Now they’re driving for Team Maruti Suzuki where they have the sponsorship, team’s car and also get paid. We’re glad to have nurtured them and they have progressed to a stage where they’re getting paid for racing.

Does the route stay the same each year?

Jagmeet Gill (Team Maruti Suzuki – First place in Adventure Trail): Nope, just like Dakar, in Raid de Himalaya too, the route varies each year.

How do you build the car for the rally?
Amartej Buwal (Team Thunderbolt – Overall winner of Raid de Himalaya 2014): Reliability factor is very important. First you need to strip down the car to the chassis. Rebuild from there on. New suspension. Clutch plate, gearbox and engine mounting – all new.

You also need to redo the compression of engine.

Install roll cage, seat and seat belts. These all are as per the FIA specification. You should never compromise on the safety.

How did you decide to shift your focus from being a bike builder to being a team owner at Raid de Himalaya?
Arjun Raina (Team Moto Exotica – Their solo entry Chinmay Bisht finished second in Alpine): I have my roots in rallying. I won a dirt track sometime in 2006. I also attempted Raid de Himalaya in 2008 and I was doing okay till a mechanical failure put me out. I always wanted to get back to it. I have Chinmay with me as my rider; we are from the same town. I bumped in to him and we both were interested in this. So I decided to build a bike for him.

On the morning of the first stage on the first day, minutes before you’re going to be flagged off, how do you feel?

Nakul Mehendiratta (Team Thunderbolt – Navigator – First Overall):Fantastic! Overall, everyone is anxious. There are a lot of surprises at this event because it runs at crazy altitudes, and one needs to be prepared for them. So, yeah, there is a lot of nervousness, there is a lot of excitement and everyone is just looking to finish at the end of the day; that’s the first agenda. As they say, ‘to finish first, you have to first finish.’

During the transport, what is going through your head when you’re heading towards the starting line of the stage?

Suresh Rana (Nine-time Raid de Himalaya winner): During the transport, we run normally. If we reach the start line of the next stage late then we get penalized. So we just make sure that we make it there on time. Psychologically, we just stay positive, confident and focused during that period.

Sandeep Sharma (Team Maruti Suzuki: Winner of Dakshin Rally 2014): We always concentrate on the upcoming stage and just make sure that we get through the transport well in time; so that we reach there early, relax and check up on our seat belts, paperwork, GPS, trip meter and other things.

When did you realize that you have a real chance of winning?
Jagmeet Gill (Team Maruti Suzuki – First place in Adventure Trail): I wasn’t leading on first day. But I did well on third, fourth, fifth and sixth day. I received a 3 min 20 second penalty which is a record penalty. Despite that, I kept going and made sure I don’t make any mistake. Thankfully, my past experiences helped and I was able to hold on and win the event.

Amartej Buwal (Team Thunderbolt – Overall winner of Raid de Himalaya 2014): Earlier I just wanted to finish. On day 5, we were in top 5 in the classification. That’s when I started to feel positive about a podium finish. On day 5, between me, Suresh Rana and Abhishek Mishra, there was a difference of 8-9 minutes. Rana and Mishra made a big mistake and crashed. About Rana’s crash, I came to know before I stared my run. But as far as Mishra’s crash is concerned, I got to know about it much later – after I finished the stage. I just kept driving consistently and believe in myself.

Raid de Himalaya runs for six days while Dakar Rally runs for two weeks. Nonetheless, a chat with our Indian rally specialist does goes an insight in to the mindset of the teams and the participants, as well as the mental and technical preparations that goes into it. Also, as was the case with Suresh Rana at 2014 edition of Raid de Himalaya, you could be a nine-time champion and leading the race till the penultimate day, but one small mistake and you pay the price. It’s the same at Dakar. There is simply no room for error. 


Disclaimer: The article was first published by the author on RedBull.com

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Jagmeet Gill: Engineered to win

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Rally Raid

An engineer and a management graduate, Jagmeet Gill takes the chequered flag at Raid de Himalaya 2013

Jagmeet Gill with his trusted Gypsy (Image credit: Sandeep Sahdev)

Doctor-engineer syndrome has grappled psyche of Indians since ages. Jagmeet Gill also got bit by the bug but eventually found his calling in the form of octane power. The 30-year-old Electronics Engineer.

Gill won the Adventure Trial 4W category at the prestigious Raid de Himalaya’s 2013 edition. And to prove that wasn’t a flash in the pan, he backed it up with a win at the Uttarakhand Adventure Car Rally at Dehradun in December of 2013.

We caught up with the Punjab University Management graduate to know what made him trade the excel sheet with gear ratios, this is what he had to say.

How did you get involved in racing?

I was enroute Leh with my friends in 2007 and I saw Raid de Himalaya taking place. I was always fond of cars and driving, and that was the moment when I decided to start rallying.

Tell us about your experience winning the Raid in Adventure Trial category.

I won the overall adventure category in 2013 with a record penalty of 3 min 46 sec. This is the best time in the history of adventure category for 6 days of raid. I was leading in the results for all 6 days. It is one of the greatest win I’ve had and I’m really happy for that.

Why Adventure Trial and not X-Treme 4X4?

My first rally was in Oct 2008 which was the Raid de Himalaya. First timers are allowed only in the Adventure category and not in X-treme. Later, I started performing well in the same category and was picked by Team Maruti in 2011, hence, I continued with Adventure Trail. However, I do have plans to participate in the Xtreme category in future; hopefully, Maurti will soon give me that opportunity.

You said you recently got Grand Vitara, how is driving the Grand Vitara different than Gypsy? Which one do you prefer?

Grand Vitara is better for Desert Storm where top end speed is needed for open sections. It is more comfortable to drive and is the best machine Suzuki has to offer. However Gypsy is much more tough and easy on maintainence. It’s well-suited for rallies like Raid de Himalaya.

In your dream garage, which cars will we find?

Presently, I have an American motorcycle, an European sedan, a Japanese SUV and an Indian off-roader. Certainly would like to add an Audi R8 and Range Rover Sport in the future.

Has the sponsorship scene changed over the years? Is it better than what it was when you started out or still the same?

Sponsors are still tough to come for new comers, and also for people who have some years of experience. However the scene has improved over the years and it’s much better than what it was when I started rallying. Now, we have manufacturers like Maruti, Mahindra and Tata, and also JK tyre and Yokohama promoting the sport. I personally believe that the sponsors still have to come a long way in promoting rallying in India.

In India, can racing be a full time career option?

Yes, it can be, only if the sponsors shell in more to promote the sport and trust their drivers to perform well internationally too. 

What more needs to be done in India to ensure the growth of Motorsports?

Better infrastructure for training, more awareness for Motorsport activities, more sponsors and most importantly, recognizing Motorsport as a sport by the Government of India. Presently, of all the Indian states, only Maharashtra recognizes Motorsport as a form of sport.

We certainly hope that Jagmeet’s wishes come true and more and more sponsors start supporting Motorsport events as well as the athletes; and hopefully, soon enough, the Government of India will recognize Motorsport as a form of sport and entertainment.

We wish him all the best for his future endeavors and hope to see him racing with the big boys at Raid de Himalaya, in the X-Treme category, soon enough.

If you have any thoughts about the state of Motorsport and/or sponsorship in India, feel free to share your views in the box below

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16th Raid de Himalaya: A look back

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Rally Raid

Shock and awe. That's one way to describe the 16th edition of Raid de Himalaya.

Dune buggy in action (Image credit: Binoy Parikh)

Let’s be honest, the Motorsport scene in India is not as glorious as it is in the European countries. Our short and dirty love-affair with Formula 1 also lasted for only three years. The only torch bearer for India over the years has been Raid de Himalaya. Raid de Himalaya is one of the toughest rallies in the world. It is run in some of the most beautiful and harshest environments.
 
The event starts two-days prior to the flag off where the vehicles are tested by the officials to check for the safety and technical specifications. The provisional flag for this year's rally off took place on 4th October with the reigning and nine-time champion Suresh Rana getting a rockstar reception. Inclusion of the Actor-Director Sohail Khan, who was competing in the Adventure Category, also got additional media attention.

On 5th October, while the rest of the Shimla was still in their woolen blankets, before the day-break, the participants gathered at the flag-off venue – Hotel Peterhoff, Shimla. At 5 AM, at first, the Raid Xtreme bikers and then the cars began their transport (transport is basically travelling from one point to another – often, between or before the start of the stages; here, the time in the transport is not calculated but you need to ensure that you reach the next stage in time for the flag-off) to the first stage’s starting point at Luhri – 100 km. from Shimla. The Adventure Trial, the category of amateur racers, observes a speed-time-distance format and their transport section is also much less.

Team Army's Lt. Col. Shakti Bajaj in action during stage 1 (Image credit: Binoy Parikh)

Winner Amartej Buwal in action on day 1 (Image credit: Binoy Parikh)

The same format carries on for rest of the rally where the riders and drivers are flagged-off one after the other on competitive stages and in between, they’re transported to the flag-off points. It’s often said that the weaker-lot gets filtered out of the rally on the first day itself. As the rally progresses, the terrain weeds out more and more weak links; and by day three, only the toughest and the most serious racers survive. This was evident when at the start of the first leg on first day, a biker had an accident; resulting in the rest of field to have more than 30 minutes delay.

While the drivers are dealing with unforgiving corners and tyre-shredding tarmac, their support crews rush to the finishing point (through an alternate route or hours in advance, often in the middle of the night before the route gets closed for general traffic), so that they can service their cars/bikes and mend any issues that the vehicle may have developed during the course of the race, and get them ready for the next race. In those brief few minutes, the drivers also gather time to grab a bite or two. In all this madness, they never forget one fact about ‘The Raid’ that the danger is right around the corner. Literally. Even if you’re leading the race, all it takes is a slip of concentration and you’re history. And it is not just philosophy here. The exact same thing happened to the nine-time champion Suresh Rana. Rana who was negotiating the tricky route to Nakee La Pass (a high mountain pass situated at an altitude of 15,547 ft) on the fifth day, when he misjudged the maximum cornering speed at a turn and plunged several feet in the valley. Till that point, Rana was leading the rally for four days. Not just he, his closest competitor Abhishek Mishra, who was trailing him by just 7 minutes, also went down on the very same corner few minutes later, crashing few feet away from Rana. Thankfully, both the drivers and their respective navigators walked away from the crash.

With the top two contenders out, this gave others a chance to push for the win. In the end, it was Team Thunderbolt’s Amartej Buwal who took the top honours in the Xtreme category. Team Winning Wheels’ Capt. AVS Gill took the second spot; while, completing a double podium finish for Team Thunderbolt was Karan Jung in third place.

In the Adventure Category, for the third year in a row, it was Team Maruti’s Jagmeet Gill who took the chequered flag. It was 1-2 finish for Team Maruti as Subir Roy took the second spot, and holding Team Tusker’s flag in third place was Ranchi’s Ashish Budhia.

As far as two wheel challenge is concerned, Team TVS’ R Natraj, riding his massive Apache RTR 450, won the Xtreme Motorcycle and Quads category. Privateer Suresh Babu Janarthanan finished second while Team Tusker’s Sourav Handa took the third place.

It was a huge victory for Team Thunderbolt as they managed to win the Team Trophy in both Xtreme four-wheelers as well as two-wheelers category. In the Adventure T-S-D (Time-Speed-Distance) format, Team Maruti took the top spoils.

A KTM rider riding through Chhatru Bridge (Image credit: Binoy Parikh)

It’s not just the non-existent roads and craters the size of black holes that take a toll on the man and the machine. It’s also the weather. At altitude above 15000 ft. you might go to bed with clear skies and wake up to find your machine covered in snow. That’s exactly what happened on fourth day of the rally in Kaza when due to excess snow, that leg had to be called off. So was the second stage on day one, when the soil on the route turned to slush due to overnight rain. In the Adventure Category, only 39 of the 55 teams managed to finish the race. It was even worse in Raid Xtreme. Of the 41 cars that started the race, more than half of them failed to finish it; only 19 of them managed to bring their machines home.

But despite the bone-crushing rides, unnerving routes and hazardous conditions; there is no bigger adrenaline in the Indian motorsport circuit than crossing that finish line at the end of the sixth day! And the beauty of this race is that absolutely anyone – with or without experience – can participate. All you need is a vehicle, a rally license, some nerves of steel and some octane-diluted-DNA!

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Nine Time Raid de Himalaya Champion’s Victory Run

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Rally Raid

Suresh Rana talks about his chance encounter with racing

Suresh Rana at Desert Storm (Image credit: Suresh Rana management)

Suresh Rana has won the Raid de Himalaya nine times, Desert Storm thrice and INRC title six times. He is arguably one of India’s best off-road racers. But his brush with racing was more coincidental than planned.

On one fine day in 2001, he was hurtling down his Gypsy at Kaza on his way from Kunzum Top when Mandeep Bhalla spotted him. With an eye for recognizing talent, Mandeep immediately noticed that Rana was taking the perfect racing lines while driving his non-race spec Gypsy. He informed Rana about Raid de Himalayan; Rana got interested and decided to participate in the 2001 Raid. He spent next few months prepping his beloved car with roll bars and other safety features. And the rest, as they say is history.

He started racing at age 20. In 2001, he participated in Raid de Himalaya for the first time where he finished 2nd in his group and 6th overall. He bettered his performance next year by topping his group and getting a 2nd place in overall standings.

But it was only in 2004 after gaining enough experience that Rana came into his own – and started the series of wins. And when we say series of wins, we mean, FIVE back-to-back Raid de Himalaya titles. An unfortunate incident didn’t let him finish 2009 race but he came back strongly next year and regained his crown. He backed the 2010 win with no less than three more wins in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

His wins in Raid de Himalaya doesn’t mean he can drive fast only on the mountains; on the sand too, not many can overtake him. A testament of that is the fact that he’s also won three Desert Storm titles – in 2009, 2012 and 2013.

Though Desert Storm and Raid de Himalaya, both are rallies, they’re still very different from racing point of view. “In Raid, physical fitness is of utmost importance. At times, the temperature reaches as low as -30 C. You need to be capable enough to handle that,” says Rana. “In Desert Storm, the navigator is very important. Raid is just one road and hence, you can’t really get lost. But in Desert, one wrong turn and you may end up doing a 20 km detour,” added Rana.

According to Rana, Gypsy is the one of the better for rallying on the mountains as well as in the desert. No wonder, he stuck to it for ten years from 2001 to 2010. Post that, he started racing for Maruti which saw him progress to Grand Vitara – which again reigned supreme at the Raid in 2011, 2012 & 2013.

When asked about the best cars for rallying, Rana’s picks (in no particular order) were: Maruti Gypsy, Skoda Fabia, Mitsubishi Evo 10 & Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara. But irrespective of how talented one is, it’s fairly difficult to find a sponsor who can finance the car and the crew for you – a thought that’s resonated by Rana as well. “It’s very difficult to get sponsors in India. Even I got my first sponsor – Thunderbolt – only after I won my first title in 2004,” says Rana.

Despite the fact that the 33-year-old had a chance encounter in motorsports, for those who wants to take up rallying as a career, Rana suggests that they should start with the basics. “If you get a sponsor, it’s good. Else do it on your own. Start with the basics – like Autocrossing. Here, the participants do rally on a smaller scale, in the grounds and not on the mountains,” he says. “Then look at your talent on skillset and based on that, take a call whether you can make it to the top or not” exclaims the nine-time-champion.

We wish Suresh Rana all the luck and glory in days to come. He’s truly been an inspiration for hundreds of racers in India.

Disclaimer: The article was first published by the author for RedBull.com

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