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RFC India: Gerrari's Dhaliwal leads after Day 1

Gerrari Offroaders driver Sabir Singh Dhaliwal leads the Rainforest Challenge India (RFC India) standings after the opening day of the Goa-based off-road event.

RFC India in action

RFC India in action

RFC

The fifth edition of RFC India began with five stages, including a night stage, in the Taluka Sanguem region of Goa, with heavy downpour making the track slippery and full of slush.

Each of the 38 team was allowed a maximum time of 15 minutes to complete a stage, with those failing to finish the task within the allowed time given a DNF.

Penalties were also handed for various offences, such as damaging flora and fauna and touching a live winch cable.

Dhaliwal, who is ably assisted by co-driver Gurpartap Singh Sandhu, put on a consistent showing across the first five stages, scoring 387 out of a maximum of 500 points to finish Day 1 on top.

“The level of competition this year has definitely shot up,” The Gerrari Offroaders ace, who finished third overall last year, said.

“The tracks today were very slippery, because of which things became quite tricky. I even suffered a minor vehicular breakdown, which I have repaired now. Overall, my focus today was on preparing myself for the coming days. Hopefully, I will be able to do well.”

Last year’s runner-up Jagat Nanjappa (co-driver Chetan Changappa) finished second, 55 points adrift of Dhaliwal, while Chow Ujjal Namshum (co-driver Ingpeng Mein) was a further 32 points behind in third.

Defending champion Gurmeet Virdi (co-driver Kirpal Singh Tung) was classified fourth with 281 points on board, while Hyderabad's Chaitanya Challa (co-driver Shabarish Jagarapu) completed the top-five with 268 points.

After the five stages, the RFC India heads to Suquerbag in Quepem for two days of off-road racing. The competition will then move to the Green Hills Agri Farm in Maina, Quepem for another two days, before culminating at the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat in Dona Paula on July 28.

 

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