Vodafone Eastern Mountain Safari kicks off in Siliguri

Siliguri, Nov. 9: An array of four-wheelers will whiz by villages and tea gardens along dirt roads in north Bengal for two days as Vodafone Eastern Mountain Safari kicks off in Siliguri tomorrow morning.

The rally, organised by the Calcutta-based Ramakrishna Race Performance Management Pvt Ltd, will be the first of its kind in eastern India in terms of participants, use of gadgets like GPS tracking unit and prize money.

“This is the first time that two teams from the Indian Army as well as the representatives of vehicle manufacturers like Tata Motors will rev up their cars in a rally in eastern India,” Amitrajit Ghosh, the director of the RRPM, said here today.

He said around 25 teams would take part in the rally and 12-13 of them were from other states. Drivers from New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jharkhand will race down the roads in north Bengal.

The organisers said a team from Cooch Behar had agreed to take part in the contest, but their participation was uncertain now.

The rally, which has Zayn Khan from the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India as the steward, will cover 400km in two legs on TSD (Time Speed Distance) format in the next two days.

“Each leg would be of around 200km long and finish in Siliguri, which is also the starting point. According to the format, the team will have to reach the finishing point in a specified time. In case a team reaches a specific point on the route, known as time controls, before or after the stipulated time, they would invite penalties. The driver with lowest number of penalties would be adjudged the winner,” said Ghosh.

Marshals will be posted at the time control points to note down the time each car takes to finish a particular distance.

“Apart from marshals, GPS trackers fitted to the cars will help us obtain the exact time each vehicle takes to cross a specific point,” said the RRPM director. Ghosh said Kurseong would be included in the first leg and the cars would hit the Kalimpong road on Friday.

Among the vehicles which are set to burn the road are Tata Xenon, Tata Safari, Maruti Esteem, Maruti Gypsy and Mahindra Scorpio.

In terms of prize money also, the competition is unique in the motor sports of eastern India, said the organisers.

“We have a total cash prize of Rs 14.3 lakh, which we believe, is highest in the region. Prize will be presented to the team that finishes even sixth in the rally. There will be prizes for each leg and the best of the newcomers will also be rewarded,” said Ghosh.

The winner will be given Rs 5 lakh and the first and second runners-up will take home Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh respectively.