Rumble in the Jungle

When 30 massive 4X4 vehicles with souped up engines, high profile tyres, super tough suspensions, rock solid gear boxes and gritty drivers get into the jungle, there is a rumble that everybody gets to hear.

- Joshua David Luther

When 30 massive 4X4 vehicles with souped up engines, high profile tyres, super tough suspensions, rock solid gear boxes and gritty drivers get into the jungle, there is a rumble that everybody gets to hear. It was no guerilla warfare in the jungle; rather it was a peaceful and adventurous race for the championship trophy of the Force Gurkha Rain Forest Challenge India 2016 in Goa. The rain forests of Goa saw these tough drivers and their navigators overcoming a multitude of obstacles to drive their vehicles to the finish line.

Hearts were broken, bodies bruised, tyres torn, winches burnt and axles cracked as the unforgiving rain forest unleashed all it had on the brave contenders of RFC India 2016. After seven days of tactical maneuvering (including one day rest) through open lands and thick forests, an Indian pair Gurmeet Virdi and codriver Kirpal Singh Tung in their modified Maruti Suzuki Gypsy vehicle came in first. Virdi wins a free automatic entry to the RFC mother event to be held in Malaysia later in the year.

It was a first for the Indians as the previous two RFC rallies were won by Malaysian drivers in their Indian Force Gurkha vehicles. This year the Malaysian drivers --- Merwyn Lim (with Hamizan Bin Abdul Hamid) and Tan Eng Joo (with Tan Choon Hong) ---had to be content with the second and third positions. Kabir Waraich and Gagan Sachdeva of Force Motors and Goan driver Cedrick Jordon DaSilva (Floyd Preston) tied up for the fourth position with both securing 1938 points. Force Motors emerged as the winner of the Team Award.