For the first time in the history of the Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya,a rider in the motoquad Xtreme category has been numero uno on the track on all six days of the tough,challenging event,ahead of the daredevils in the Xtreme (four-wheelers) category. In the 12th edition of the Raid which finished on Saturday,Ashish Saurabh Moudghil of Kalka ,a member of the champion bikers' club Red Rooster Racing,was the undisputed king in the Motoquad Xtreme,and over-all fastest in the Raid. He had a lead of almost two hours over his next competitor in the motoquad category,and was also ahead of Suresh Rana,the winner in the Xtreme (four-wheelers) section. And for Suresh Rana,the winner in the Xtreme (four-wheeler) category,winning Raid 2010 was crucial. Rana was battling a jinx on his otherwise fantastic motorsport career,with the dreaded DNF (Did Not Finish) tag in the last three major motorsport events in which he took part. "In Raid 2009,Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2009 and The Moghul Rally in J&K,I was knocked out on the last day of the event due to technical snag in my vehicle when I was leading the race. It was very important for me to successfully finish Raid de Himalaya 2010,and also finish it at the top," said Rana,who had earlier won the Raid crown five times consecutively,from 2004 to 2008. Among bikers,Gurinder Singh,an NRI from Canada,finished second. Stefan Rosner and Klaudia Honeder of Rally Team Austria stood third and fourth,respectively. Moudghil was ahead of Suresh Rana by ten minutes. Rally officials say bikers often overtake the four-wheelers,since they take lesser space to cut a curve on the treacherous mountain roads. Rana,on the other hand,was ahead of his nearest competitor Sameer Pandey by 13 minutes. Harpreet Bawa was third in Xtreme (four-wheeler),and Randeep Miglani fourth. Rally Team Austria's Patrick Michely won the John Mark James Trophy of Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya. Michely was at the second place in the event,but got injured in a mishap on the last leg of the six-day event,and had to quit the contest. The Coup De Dame Trophy (given to a woman who finishes the event first) in the two-wheeler category went to Klaudia Honeder of Rally Team Austria. In the four-wheeler category,the Coup De Dame Trophy went to Shuchi Thakur and Revathi Aiyar. Interestingly,Abhay and Anuradha Karmarkar finished the Raid in an Alto. The team from Delhi driving a Tata Nano had to quit the event on the third day. The other results are as follows: Adventure (SUV): Stock Amateur,Raj Singh Rathore. Pro-stock Amateur,Sanjay Takale. Stock expert,Manish Narang. Pro-stock expert,K Prasad. Adventure (Car): Stock Amateur,Dr Saurav Chaudhry. Pro-Stock Amateur,Rajesh Challana. Stock Expert,Anshul Saxena. Pro-stock expert,Santosh Kumar.
