Panaji, Aug 5 (PTI): Chow Ujjal Namshum from Arunachal Pradesh, alongside his co-driver Chethan Chengappa from Karnataka, has triumphed in the '4x4 Extreme' category of the 11th edition of the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) India. This intense, week-long off-road motorsport competition was recently concluded here. Namshum and Chengappa clinched victory by amassing 2302 points out of a possible 2600, having successfully navigated all 26 special stages and achieving outright wins in 12 of them with perfect scores.
Notably, they also registered the fastest times in 14 stages. For Namshum, this marks his first title in the RFC India, whereas it represents the fourth win for Chengappa as a co-driver. This achievement comes with the added bonus of a free automatic entry for Namshum into the Rainforest Challenge Global Grand Finale, set to take place in Malaysia later this year. Finishing as runners-up were Cedrick Jordan Da Silva and co-driver Mackwin Dias, who scored 1999 points, and in third place was Telangana’s Rambabu Mareedu with Kumaraswamy Thalam securing 1957 points.
Meanwhile, in the debut of the '4x4 Modified' category, Goa’s Steven Fernandes and his co-driver Balwant Jagram emerged as champions with a score of 1622 points out of 2000. Cyril Dmello with co-driver Ameer Sadiq from Maharashtra and Manoj Biradar with co-driver Sachin Gadashetti from Karnataka took second and third places respectively.
The '4x4 Stock' category was dominated by Maharashtra’s Mihir Dharkar and co-driver Shantanu Grover, who emerged victorious with 1303 points out of 1400. They were followed by Karnataka’s Bopaiah Kongettira with co-driver Bopanna Maleyanda, and Prathan Chittiyappa with co-driver Anush Byramudi, with all top three finishers competing using Maruti Suzuki vehicles.
This event, which featured 77 teams from 11 states, serves as the Indian chapter of the internationally acclaimed Rainforest Challenge of Malaysia, recognized among the world’s top ten toughest motor races. Luis JA Wee, founder of the Rainforest Challenge, remarked, “RFC India has grown to become the best and biggest event in the RFC Global Series.”
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