Rallyists from region storm into Thar,Kutch

The rallyists from Tricity who did well at the event are Harpreet Singh Bawa,Jagmeet Gill,Pardeep Gupta and Harkaran Singh. Champion rallyist from the city Sunny Sidhu also participated in the event,but had to drop out due to engine trouble in his vehicle. Rallyists at the event have to tread through uncharted territory and experience the formidable desert,the rocky and uncertain Aravalli,and the slippery and white sands of the Rann of Kutch.

Bawa finished fifth overall in the Desert Storm. The 32-year-old is now a veteran of motorsport events in north India,and has won many titles over the years. Both Suresh Rana and Bawa are part of the winning Team Thunderbolt at the event.

Bawa and his navigator Parminder Thakur of Shoghi near Shimla dropped to the 14th position in their category on Day One itself,when their vehicle got stuck in a sand dune during the night driving stretch. Inching up to the fifth position over the next few days despite competing with experienced rallyists speaks of Bawa’s remarkable driving skills.

The oldest participant to finish the tough,competitive event is Pardeep Gupta,a businessman who resides at Sector 9 in Chandigarh. Gupta,58,started rallying only about five years ago.

“I always wanted to do it but was caught up in family and work responsibilities,” he told Chandigarh Newsline. Gupta ranked third in his category of ‘Xtreme T1-Class V’,and drove a Grand Vitara. His navigator for the event was Samrat Yadav,a student of DAV College in Sector 23. The duo laughed that their unusual pairing was the secret behind their managing to finish the formidable motorsport event.

Jagmeet Gill,a 28-year-old who resides at Mani Majra finished second in the ‘Endure’ category at the event. His navigator was Chandrashekar M. from Bangalore,and the duo were part of Team Maruti which won various titles at the event. Harkaran Singh,another motorsport veteran from the city and a resident of Sector 37 also managed to finish the event despite many dramatic,testing moments which almost edged him out of the event. Singh,part of Team Thunderbolt,managed to hold through with his navigator and finally finished fourth in his category.

Over 250 rally enthusiasts from as far as Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Goa in the west were part of Desert Storm 2012,taking on the challenges of the wilderness. The participants included doctors,engineers,businessmen and housewives across diverse age groups. There are also some women teams’ and ‘ husband-wife’ teams which participated in the event.