GTA to organise national level car rally 'Rally De Orange' in Darjeeling hills

Come November 25, the the first-ever car rally in the Darjeeling hills will be organised by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration as a national calendar event.

The two-day event on November 25 and 26 is the brainchild of the GTA tourism department and aims at promoting adventure tourism in the hills. The rally will start from the Gorkha Ranga Manch Bhawan in Darjeeling on November 25 and cover more than 300km across the three hill sub-divisions and end on November 26 in Sittong in Kurseong sub-division. 

“There is ample scope for adventure tourism in the hills given the region’s natural terrain. A car rally in this sense is apt as it will cover varied topographies of the hills and we felt what better way than this to promote adventure tourism,” said GTA tourism department in-charge Dawa Lepcha today, while briefing reporters in Darjeeling.

The organisers have named the car rally as Rally De Orange and the initial year will have 25 participants. “As of now, 25 drivers have given their consent to participate in the rally. We will have 15 drivers from other states who have already participated in national championships, while there will be 10 amateurs from the Darjeeling hills,” said Lepcha.

Explaining the meaning of the event title, the GTA sabhasad said, “As the orange fruit is synonymous with the hills, we decided on this name.” 

 “Besides promoting adventure tourism, we also want to promote the Darjeeling orange, which is famous all over the country. Since Sittong is the centre for orange growing, we decided to end the rally there,” Lepcha added.

Supporting the GTA in organising the event is the Ramakrishna Race Performers’ Management Private Limited. RRPM, promoting professional motor sports in the country, is also a part of the Federation of Motor Sports Club of India, the apex body in the country. “We will provide logistics support to the GTA in organising the rally. We will also train amateur drivers from the hills for whom this will be a new experience,” said RRPM founder Arindam Ghosh.

Ghosh said, “The hills have a lot of potential for hosting car rallies. However, although the terrain is suitable, the roadsides are inhabited unlike in other states. We have to keep in mind spectators have a good view of the race.” (EOIC)