Rallying is a niche sport and is considered one of the most nerve-wracking and strenuous motorsport events in the world. In India, till some years ago, it was rarely heard of and people who participated in it made up a handful. It requires a lot of concentration, stamina and focus, let alone the need for funds. Even so, the motorsport is conducted in various locations around the world and is growing in popularity in India. Rallies are hosted every year in locations all over the country ranging from the Himalayas, and the harsh and rough terrain of the Thar Desert in Rajastan to the Monsoon rally starting from Kolkata. The number of enthusiasts and adventure seekers participating in it every year has been increasing exponentially. Maruti Suzuki, in association with Northern Motorsports, has ensured that this sport sees a steady growth in India with the “Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm”.
In the first week of April, Maruti Suzuki hosted its 14th edition of the event in the harsh terrain of the Thar Desert in Rajastan. The event kicked off from the Great Indian Place, Noida on April 3 and transpired over 2000 kilometres traversing different locations in Rajasthan. The rally extended for a period of seven days concluding in Jodhpur on 10 April 2016. Over 200 participants raced through a heavenly and picturesque combination of medieval era architecture and along the banks of the Ghaggar river surrounding which lies the district of Hanumangarh. As soon as the event was flagged off from Noida, the contestants raced to the town of Hanumangarh for the night’s rest before the actual thrill of the rally began the next day.
The first leg from Hanumangarh stretched over a total of 81 kms, split in two stages of 57 kms and 24kms, respectively. The sandy river banks and the extreme heat proved to be a major challenge as the drivers and riders raced across and headed for Bikaner before entering the longest stage of the tournament the next day.
In keeping with their constant efforts to innovate in their signature rallies, Maruti Suzuki introduced part-participation/flexi-format in the Xplore category of Desert Storm. The Xplore category ran in two parts, and one could participate either for all 6 days or opt for a shorter duration (initial 3 days or last 3 days). The objective was to encourage participants who find it challenging to participate across all six days to still be apart of the rally. Also, following some great response received in the previous edition, the concept of “night stage” has been sustained for over 160 kms in the rally.
The 14th edition also witnessed the participation of four adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers who had flown in all the way from Austria. Their troupe included the father-son pair – Kurt Steinhart and Rene Steinhart – Markus Porsendorfer – who suffered from an accident, more than two years ago, which left him handicapped – and Robert Hirt. Robert was unlucky on the very second day of the Desert Storm as he suffered an accident. For the rest of the tour, he had a doctor accompanying him and attending to his injury everywhere he travelled in support of his friends, “After I broke my leg, the doctor has always been by my side and helped me out. He takes care of my needs and my medicines and takes care that I don’t strain my leg too much. He sometimes stays in my room too to ensure that I am not in any discomfort.” Kurt, the father doesn’t talk a lot.
With the blazing sun high above their heads on the second day, the drivers and motorists geared up to face the longest leg of the rally on the outskirts of the town of Bikaner. The entire stage comprised a total of 185 kms with the course running around the neighbouring hamlets of Noorsar, Badrasar and Bhandarwala. Participants got a first-hand experience of almost all kinds of terrain they were going to experience in the legs to come.
The participants returned tired and drained of energy four and half hours later, having faced and battled the gruelling, ruthless and torturing heat. However, they hardly had any time to rest as they had to get to work on their machines which had to be tuned-up and kept perfect for the night leg scheduled for the early hours of dawn the next day on April 6.
The general upkeep of the automobiles is a constant and continuing challenge for both the contestants and the service teams. Added to this are the extreme conditions and temperature, the terrain which the vehicles encounter and the amount of energy and leg-work required to keep the vehicles running smoothly
Workmen can be seen toiling outside the hotels and in the parking lots along with the contestants every free minute, sometimes working through the nigh talking, analysing and thinking about ways to ensure smoother working and effective running of the machines.
In the early hours of dawn on the third day, participants and viewers alike were waiting for the din of the roaring engines to break the night’s silence. The leg included two stages: the first in the early hours of dawn before the first light crept out of the sky.
The first leg was a 65 kms stretch from Bhandarwala to Naal. The second stage started from Nokhra, a short drive from Naal in the early hours of Wednesday. Contestants had to navigate their way through 50 kms of sandy mountains filled with unforgiving hard rocks and gravelled stones. The route was set through the mountain trails surrounding the small pocket of villages around Kuchri and Bandha.
On April 6 the stage was set perfectly for the finale of the Xplore A category. The first car whizzed past as the tyres spewed sand in all directions. Pratap and Nagarajan, who were lagging behind at the third position, fought their way back in the last stages, taking advantage of a four-minute penalty which leaders Karthick Maruthi and S Sankar Anand incurred in the final stage. The driver from Delhi guided by the navigator from Erode drove home to victory, taking a lead of 77 seconds.
Pratap, behind the wheel, was full of praise for his navigator and friend Nagarajan, “I am very fortunate to have him as my navigator and at my side. Navigators have more important and serious jobs than drivers. One wrong turn anywhere and you have to double back and then it gets impossible to catch up to where you should be.”
Every day with the machine in the desert is a test for everyone. The driver’s task is to remain focused on the road and heed the navigators’ calls, while the vehicle itself needs to be running perfectly without hiccups. The navigator’s awareness plays a very crucial role. Nagraj is very well aware of this. Being a navigator, according to the Erode-man, is no easy job. “We keep reminding the drivers every 5000 metres to maintain the speed of the vehicle. It is very critical to not drop your speed and maintain the track you are following as well. Sometimes you get a feeling that due to all the sand, the vehicle might slow down or even stop totally. You easily lose at least 30 seconds if that happens. It gets harder and harder to keep up after that because you have to put the foot down on the accelerator and catch up to the tracks again,” says the veteran navigator who has encountered more than 75 rallies since he started four years ago. “Roads in the Desert Storm are very challenging, which is one of the reasons I like doing it myself again and again,” states the man who won his first Desert Storm back in 2012.
Thrill seekers and teams from the Army also participated in the rally as it continued in Jaislmer for two more days amidst desert sand, rocky and treacherous terrains filled with soft sand that could sink the tyres of any machine in it. Another 100 km night leg set in Jaisalmer on Friday, April 8th was highly awaited by the participants as the first stage of 50 kms around the Turkon ki Basti was light up with generator-powered light reducing the difficulty of visibility.
The week-long rally concluded in the city of Jodhpur on April 10. Dakar Rally finisher C S Santosh claimed top spot in the Moto category finishing in a total time of 11:19:28 with Arvind KP of TVS coming in second at 11:28:06. Team Austria’s Rene Steinhart came in at No. 7 finishing with a little over 15 hours and 6 minutes. The Xplore A winner Pratap and Nagaraj maintained their lead and ended up triumphant in the Xplore B category as well.
Manali Man Suresh Rana and Ashwin Naik topped the T1 extreme category finishing 8 minutes under the 13-hour mark followed by Amanpreet Ahluwalia and Virendar Kashyap finished second ending up 2 minutes over 14-hours. The veteran Polaris driver Guhan Shetty along with the newly emerging navigator D Ganesha Moorty from Erode claimed the first position in the T3 Xtreme category and finishing 11th overall with a timing of 17:42:01hrs.
