Raid-De-Extreme!!

It was once again time for the rally enthusiasts to rejoice. It was time to raid the Himalayas again with the onset of the 11th Raid-de-Himalaya. Hardened by having lived through ten Raids', mountain rallyists chasing marked timings on both toughened four wheelers as well as two wheelers, once again assembled in Shimla to compete in what has become India's toughest motorsport event of the year.

The Raid-de-Himalaya was run in three separate versions, namely the Xtreme 4x4, Adventure Trial and Xtreme 2Wheelers. The Xtreme formats are the tougher flat out version whereas the Adventure Trial follows the TSD rallying format. With the scrutiny and paperwork concerns behind them, the participants were finally flagged off from Shimla on October 7th. There were all of 79 cars and 15 bikes which began this arduous journey against time.

The Rally runs for 6 days from Shimla to Srinagar and is touted to be the second toughest rally in the world. The first of course being the Dakar Rally. Incidentally this year's Raid marked a long waited return to the Kashmir valley. Thanks to the support of the army, entering the valley did not feel all that nervous and made for a spectacular ending.

For motoring junkies and rallyists alike, this event is possibly the final word on Indian rallying and if driving is a passion and adventure runs in your veins then the Raid has got to be on your top ten lists of things to do in this life.