Gurmeet Virdi (co-driver Kirpal Singh Tung) of Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh managed to retain the top spot with 1307 points out of 1800 amidst tight competition at the end of day four in the Force Gurkha Rain Forest Challenge India.
He is followed by Team BODA’s (Bangalore Offroad Drivers Association) Siddartha Santosh (Prithviraj AC) with 1306 points and veteran rallyist Jagat Nanjappa (Chetan Changappa) of Coorg-based Team V5 Offroaders with 1267 points.
The fourth day of the mega off-road motorsport event was held at Maina in Quepem where three Special Stages — Predator SS 16 to SS 18 — ran live and the teams were tested on their ability to react and respond in critical settings while preserving their vehicles for the upcoming days. The participants had to tackle an exciting mixed-bag of some speed tasks, winching tasks and water crossings.
Virdi, relieved after maintaining his top spot, was aware that even a slight error would be a game-changer in such a close competition.
“I am executing the stages very sincerely but want to scale-up my performance a bit.
“I had a few vehicular breakdowns yesterday [Thursday] which led to some average scores in a few stages.
“Otherwise the margin between us and Siddartha would have been considerably more.”
(The writer is in Goa at the invitation of Cougar Motorsport Pvt. Ltd.)
