At a time when viewers were engrossed with Fast & Furious 9 in movie halls in the plains, drivers were battling it out fast and furious in real life in the Himalayas.

The first edition of Rally of Himalayas, under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), concluded recently in Manali and Spiti Valley, with 22 four-wheelers and a record 74 two-wheelers from all over India taking part.

The competition, spread over three days and three legs, had the participants negotiating treacherous “off-road” mountainous tracks, strewn with boulders, rocks, slush and dangerous ‘black ice’ at heights sometimes touching 15,000ft. And all the time maintaining fastest possible speeds!

Harvinder Bhola & Chirag Thakur with their Vitara and their winning trophies

The course over the three legs totalled a distance of 373km, said Suresh Rana, 11-time champion of the Raid De Himalayas, a prestigious motor sports event that wound up after its 20th edition in 2018. Switching from competitive driving to organising, he mustered enough courage and wherewithal to revive the sport in the mountains. Overcoming Covid interruptions, he decided to try it out. “It was very stressful, from contacting the Federation to participants, sponsors and government departments. My friends helped and encouraged me all through,” he recalled.

It took 40 days from idea to execution. This is a Himalayan Extreme Motorsport, and unless all safety measures are not strictly adhered to, the FMSCI will not give clearance, pointed out Sandeep Sharma, clerk of the course (COC) who ran the event and was responsible for a trouble-free and smooth culmination. “Ambulances, fast intervention vehicles and even a rescue chopper run by Air Himalayas were in position and ready for evacuation measures from start to finish,” he said. HOPS (hand-operated walkie-talkie phone stations) were at strategic points along the routes, conveying the progress or otherwise of each vehicle as it passed. On the ready five hours before each leg commenced, he said “our vehicles had become our homes for the three days”.

Shivani Prithvi & Deeksha Balakrishnan, the only women’s team in the four-wheeler category

The event was not without mishaps. The Gypsy of Competitor No. 19 turned turtle while negotiating one of the many hairpin bends on way to Hamta Pass during the first leg of the rally. Its windscreen and side glasses were smashed, but fortunately the driver and navigator (Divyaraj and Akhil Sharma) suffered minor cuts only. They managed to straighten out and put their vehicle back on track to complete the leg and the remainder of the competition after overnight repairs. Several bikes too had falls while taking sharp turns or hitting rocks at speed, but managed to recover and continue.

“The extent of danger can be made out from the fact that 6 bikers have lost their lives competing in the earlier Raid De Himalayas, which traversed similar risky mountainous routes,” said Soumen Mondal, navigator of car No. 14 who, along with driver Debajyoti Nath, was among the seven entries from Bengal. The only two-wheel drive car in the four-wheeler category, a yellow Mitsubishi, was driven by Ajgar Ali and navigated by Sagar. Ali is the MIC chairman of Haldia Municipal Corporation. A novice competitor, taking part in a big event for the first time, was young Leon Lhendhup from Kalimpong, who had graduated from go-cart racing to hardcore mountain rallies.

The memorial for Calcutta biker Shubhamoy Paul

Among those who have sacrificed their lives for the sport is Shubhamoy Paul, a seasoned biker from Calcutta who hit his head on a boulder after his vehicle smashed into a rock five years ago. Despite wearing a special helmet, he died instantly. The incident in 2016 shocked the fraternity, whose members erected a memorial for him near the spot.

Taking on these extreme challenges were lady competitors, whose guts and love for the sport overcame all hurdles. Among them was Mumbai actor Smita Gondkar, one of the four women bikers in the event, who has been riding since she was 17. Driving a Honda Karisma 250cc, she said: “Weather conditions, altitude and low oxygen levels, rough terrain were the main hurdles that had to be tackled. Finishing the course was a big challenge.” Professional rider Aishwarya Pissay, with six years of racing and several titles to her name, had been practising for several days for this gruelling competition. “I broke both my wrists during a race in Jordan seven months ago, but my love for riding and willpower brought me back,” she said. She finished a creditable fifth on her TVS RTR 450cc, despite a fall in the first leg.

The only women’s team among the four-wheelers comprised Shivani Prithvi, a doctor, and Deeksha Balakrishnan, a tourism executive. Both from Bangalore, this was the first time they were competing in the mountains and in a Gypsy. “This is the toughest rally we have taken part in. The primary objective was to finish,” said Shivani. In a message to ladies interested in rallying, they said family backing, funding, a good service team, and above all, the will and confidence were criteria that had to be worked on.

Assisting Rana in organising the event was Jamshedpur-based Manish Chakravarty, the Competition Relations Officer (CRO). He had gone to the Manali region in August to do a recce of the course before it was finalised. Monitoring quality of participation and calculating penalties was also his responsibility. “This rally is one of the toughest to be carried out in high altitudes anywhere in the world. If all goes well, there will be international participation from next year,” he said.

After much calculations and disqualifications, the winners were announced at the prize distribution ceremony at a resort in Naggar, about 20km from Manali. The overall first prize in the two-wheeler category was won by Aman Pawde, 21, of Nagpur, who drove a KTM 450cc Excf. He finished 3.5 minutes ahead of the second biker.

“This was my first big rally. The safety measures were very strict. The black ice and the pebbles and rocks dislodged by the four-wheelers that preceded us made it more difficult,” he said.

The overall (summation of all three legs) winner in the four-wheel category was competitor No. 6, a Grand Vitara 2400cc driven by Harvinder Bhola and navigated by Chirag Thakur.

They finished 2.3 minutes ahead of their nearest rival. “Though we have been doing rallies since 2008, this route was quite challenging as it was rougher than other mountain tracks,” pointed out Harvinder, who also runs a jewellery business in Chandigarh.

The rally would not have been complete without the cooperation and support of the Kullu-Spiti district administration. Shivam Singh, additional deputy commissioner, Kullu, said: “This terrain beckons ... after the Raid rallies stopped, there was a vacuum. But not any more.”