Sanjay Takale,Rahul Sancheti beat heavyweights at Raid De Himalaya 2010 Team Mahindras drivers Sanjay Takale and Rahul Sancheti of Pune have won the first place in the overall SUV section at the 12th Raid De Himalaya 2010 rally,held from 10 to 16 October in Himachal Pradesh. Starting from Shimla and finishing at Manali,the rally covered over 2,000 kms in six days. The event saw over 170 participants from India and abroad. Takale and Sancheti won first place in overall SUV,beating the heavy-weights like reigning champions K Prasad and Pradeep Kumar of Karnataka,three-times raid champion Rajesh Chalana from Delhi who lead the Maruti Suzuki Team in the competition,ace navigator Musa Sherif and R Santosh of Kerala (2003 Champions) and Raj Singh Rathore of Jaipur (2010 Desert Storm SUV winner). The rally was flagged from Peterhoff-Shimla on October 11. The first leg of the rally was 232.07-km long and started from Shimla. Takale and Sancheti clocked 1 minute and 44 seconds penalties while K Prasad and Pradeep Kumar clocked 3 minutes and 08 seconds and Raj Singh Rathore and Chandra Shekhar clocked 3 minutes and 08 seconds. The second leg started from Sanjoli,7 kms outside Shimla. This route had 70 per cent dirt route and at one point the rally had to go through Jalori Pass,which is 10,500 ft above the sea level. Takale and Sancheti stretched their lead over K Prasad and Pradeep by 1 minute and 2 sec,with Raj Singh Rathore maintaining his third position with a difference of 12 seconds. This lead by Takale and Sancheti made them the winners for Leg 2. In spite of good recovery by the close competitors in the third leg that began from Manali,Takale and Sancheti managed to retain their winning position. The fourth leg saw the race go through the Spiti Valley of Ladakh region covering a distance of 192 kms. In the fifth leg,the 280-km run with terrain that was difficult and tough saw Takale and Sancheti navigate through easily. In the last leg of the rally,the duo finished the rally with a narrow margin of 19 seconds over the runner ups. All the six legs of the rally were designed to test not only the vehicle but the endurance of the teams along with skill and experience. Over the period,Raid De Himalaya has emerged as the toughest and most enduring rally in India,with the organisers attracting participants from Austria and few other countries. The Mahindra team was co-sponsored by Garmin Asus (with navigation phone),ABS for fitness of the team and Dreams Group,a construction company.
