Erode (TAMIL NADU ) & KOLKATA :
Siliguri:
Ever since they took the lead on Day I, Sheikh Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Musthafa never had to look back, emerging winners of the Biswa Bangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive V – Tri-Nation 4-Wheeler TSD Rally – that concluded here on Thursday.
After driving more than 1250 km through forests, riverbeds, mountain roads and dirt tracks across India, Bhutan and Nepal over five days, the duo lifted the coveted HD 5 trophy.
Ajgar and Musthafa – the reigning National TSD (Time, Speed Distance) Rally champions – finished with 174 to win the competition for the second time. They had won the inaugural edition back in 2013. Deep Dutta and Prakash Muthusamy finished second, while Ashish Budhia and Calcutta’s Arindam Ghosh came third in the rally.
Talking about the experience, Ajgar, who comes from the village of Dighasipur (in Haldia), felt that things were more challenging for them on the first two days.
“The competition sector was really tough… The terrain was challenging. In Bhutan and Nepal the roads were really, really difficult. But I think it was far more challenging on Day I and II. Really hectic…,” the 36-year-old said after the prize distribution ceremony at a shopping mall.
Anurag Srivastava, district magistrate, Darjeeling, was the chief guest.
Ajgar added: “We started here (in Siliguri) and went to Paro. Thereafter, we went to Thimpu, then back to Paro again… Then Darjeeling, Hile (in Nepal) and back to Siliguri… So, one should understand how tough it was.”
Ajgar and Musthafa had to brave temperature of three-degrees Celsius in Paro. “In Nepal too, it wasn’t easy. The temperature was around 4-5 degrees Celsius,” Ajgar said.
“But thanks to the Himalayan Rally back in October, where the temperature was some minus five or six (degrees Celsius), we could survive the conditions in Paro and Nepal. That experience certainly helped.”
Ajgar’s navigator Musthafa thinks the duo were under more pressure, having taken the lead on the first day. “Look, this event was far more challenging for us because our performance in the past events weren’t too good.
“If you are the favourites in a competition, there’s bound to be extra pressure on you… The pressure of expectations… So, in that sense, the first day’s lead added to our pressure because everyone’s focus was on us and we were the team that others chased. Maintaining the lead was really difficult, from Day I to Day V.
“The rally was well and truly a roller-coaster…
“We, therefore, decided that we would just not look at the results and instead, concentrate on the basics. In any case, Ajgar and I share a wonderful rapport and we understand each other really well.
“The intensity was high and the end result is there for everyone to see,” said Musthafa, who comes from Erode.
The duo now look forward to the Uttarakhand Adventure Rally in April, where they will certainly be one of the favourites. “Honestly, our understanding developed ever since the first time we came together as a pair, which was at the Himalayan Drive (HD) I back in 2013.
“We won that as the understanding between the two of us had already developed well,” Musthafa said.
Ajgar and Musthafa, having won India’s premier rallies like the Raid de Himalaya and Desert Storm in the adventure categories, had come second in HD II and third in HD III.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Sports> Story / by Sayak Banerjee / Friday – March 03rd, 2017