Bangalore :
As Goa gears up for the third edition of Force Gurkha RFC India, Karnataka has broken all records by sending the highest number of entries RFC India has received till date from a single state. This year, a total of six teams from Karnataka will be participating in the country’s toughest and first international off-road motorsport event. Of these, four teams are from Bangalore Off-road Drivers Association (BODA), one team is from Coorg based V5 Offroaders and another is from Mudhogs of Sakleshpur.
The six teams, represented by BODA’s Madhusudan Reddy, Lokesh Aradhya (co-driver Rohith KR), Vivek Kuriakosse (co-driver Ashok Kuriakose) and Pradeep Kumar (co-driver Prithviraj AC), Jagat Nanjappa (co-driver Chetan Chengappa) from V5 Offroaders and Narthan Byramudi (co-driver Satish Kumar) from Mudhogs, aim to overwhelm the rest of the competitors by their talent and team-spirit.
Organized by Delhi-based Cougar Motorsport Pvt. Ltd., Force Gurkha RFC India 2016 will be held in Goa from 22ndJuly to 29th July. It is the India Chapter of the iconic Rainforest Challenge of Malaysia.
The event is divided into four competitive legs – the Prologue, the Predator, the Terminator and the Twilight Zone – which are further segregated into 24 Special Stages. The team with the maximum points at the end of all the Special Stages is announced the winner of the competition and the top Indian driver of the event gets an automatic, free entry to the RFC Mother Event to be held in Malaysia at the end of the year.
This year Kannadigas seem to present the most versatile and flexible representation of the lot.
33 year old Rohith and 45 year old Vivek, both claim that they will be showcasing the most unique vehicle of all. “We are using 40 inch tyres, custom made axle and have made many modifications to give us that extra advantage,” said Vivek.
“We are using a suspension unlike any other, which will give us that power to weight ratio,” Rohith added.
Jagat Nanjappa, a 55 year old rallyist, has been a national champion nine times. He said, “RFC South India was fun but not as tedious as I expected it to be. I am looking forward for the tough and thrilling experience at the RFC India Mother Event in Goa”
“It’s my third time at RFC India, and me and my driver have an experience of both driving as well as navigating, which has given us high hope for a podium finish,” claims Rohith, who also won the ‘Jungleman Award’ in the first season of RFC India.
There are 25 teams in total participating this season, bringing in a range of competition to deal with.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Sports> Racing / Aditi Sequeira / TNN / July 16th, 2016
