Jaiswal, Muthuswamy crowned champions of Himalayan Drive 9

In the Open Class category, the team of Jasmeet Batra and Kashish Mehta emerged as the winners while, Pranjal More and Milindo Paul lifted the winners trophy in the Promotional Class Category.

This edition of the Himalayan Drive was part of the prestigious G20 2nd Tourism Working Group Global (TWG) that took place in North Bengal.

The team of Sk Ajgar Ali from Haldia (West Bengal) and Mohammed Musthafa from Erode (Tamil Nadu), who had won the JK Tyre Himalayan Drive trophy for the last four consecutive years, were relegated to the first runners-up position this time.

The champions team of Joginder Jaiswal (from Kolkata) and Prakash Muthuswamy (South India) won Rs 1 Lakh while the first runners-up team won Rs 50,000.

The second runners-up in the Pro-National Category were the Chennai team of Santosh Kumar and Nagarajan Thangaraj, They won prize money of Rs 20,000.

In the Open Class Category, the husband-wife team of Sameeksha Srivasthava and Pulkit Srivasthava from Lucknow won the second prize. The team of Highfill Syiem from Shillong and Sagar Mallappa from Bangalore won the second runners-up position.

In the Promotional Class Category, the team of Preeti Khandelwal and Anagha Joshi won the first runners-up position while the team of Rakesh Goswami and Suraj K. Choudhury emerged as the second runners-up.

The trophies were handed over at an impressive ceremony in Darjeeling's prime tourist spot--the Mall--by the Chief Co-ordinator of the G20 Secretariat, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla who was the chief guest at the event.

Former MLA Amar Rai and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Executive Director Samden Dukpa were also present at the ceremony and also handed over trophies to the winners of various categories as well as mementoes.

The rally was flagged off from Mayfair Tea Resort in Siliguri on April 2 morning by the Honorable Minister of Tourism, Government of India, Shri G. Kisan Reddy, Hon'ble Minister of State, Minority Affairs, Government of India, Shri John Barla and Hon'ble MP of Darjeeling, Raju Bista.

Ambassadors of ten G20 nations and representatives of 29 countries participating in the Tourism Working Group Global (TWG) Meet in North Bengal were present at the grand flag-off ceremony.

After the ceremonial flag-off, the 28 rally cars flying G20 flags and the flags of individual G20 nations took a round of Siliguri city before regrouping at Khaprail in the outskirts of Siliguri from where the competitive section of the first leg of the rally was flagged off.

The cars then took to a river bed, which was the most challenging part of the three-day rally that put both driving and navigation skills to a very tough test.

After the river bed, the cars travelled on smooth tarmac and then hit dirt roads of Simulbarie tea estate before getting onto Mirik Road, Phulbari Bypass, Gajoldoba Barrage, Odlabari, Gorubathan, Damdim and Chalsa before culminating in Murti.

This leg of the rally covered 208 kilometres and passed over dirt tracks through tea gardens, paddy fields and forests.

The second leg of the rally covering 194 kilometres from Murti to Gangtok was also a moderately challenging one. The rally cars passed through scenic tourist sports like Chapramari forests, Samsing, Lava and Pedong before taking to the road to Pakyong airport before reaching Gangtok.

The third and final leg of the rally was flagged off from Ganesh Tok in Gangtok by Honourable Minister, Power, Government of Sikkim, M.N. Sherpa, Hon'ble Minister, PHE, Government of Sikkim, Bhim Hang Subba and Honourable MLA of Soreng, Aditya Golay.

After this ceremonial flag-off, the rally cars flying the G20 flags and the flags of the G20 nations took a round if Gangtok City. They then congregated at Chungthang Road from where the competitive section of the third leg of the rally started.

The competitors passed through Temi tea estate, Namchi, Jorethang and Hill Cart Road before culminating at Gorkha Rangmanch Bhavan in Darjeeling.

Two sections of this third leg that passed through dirt and gravel tracks were challenging. The first was a roughly five-kilometre stretch of dirt and gravel tracks passing through forests and hamlets nestled in steep mountain slopes. The second was the long and steep climb before reaching Darjeeling.

The three legs of the rally offering varied terrain. In the first leg, the competitors negotiated river banks, embankments, non-metalled rural roads and dirt tracks through verdant tea gardens and dense forests.

The second leg was a combination of jungles, tea gardens and mountain terrain. In the final leg, the competitors traversed through mountain roads--both metalled and non-metalled--besides gravel tracks.

Pro-National Category:

1)

Joginder Jaiswal and Prakash Muthuswamy--262 penalty point

2)

Sk Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Musthafa--305 penalty points

3)

Santosh Kumar and Nagarajan Thangaraj--476 penalty points

Open Class Category:

1)

Jasmeet Batra and Kashish Mehta--2341 penalty points

2)

Sameeksha Srivasthava and Pulkit Srivasthava--2943 penalty points

3)

Highfill Syiem and Sagar Mallappa--3657 penalty points

Promotional Class Category:

1)

Pranjal More and Milindo Paul: 9294 penalty points

2)

Preeti Khandelwal and Anagha Joshi: 11,748 penalty points

3)

Rakesh Goswami and Suraj K. Choudhury: 18,888 penalty points. (ANI)