Taking home the title in North India's biggest off-roading competition, the fearless duo Sidhartha Santosh and Lokesh Shivaraja of Bangalore Off-Roaders team (BODA) to the victory in the JK Tyre Xtreme 4Play championship that started in Chandigarh. The drivers scored 455 points as they put their off-roading skills to test across different terrains including forests, water bodies and uphill obstacles. They were also assisted by their equally capable co-drivers Prithviraj A C and Rohith K R, over the three-day rally. The teams win a trophy and a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh in the competition.
There was a total of 12 teams participating in the JK Tyre Xtreme 4Play
This is the second time for team BODA led by Sidhartha and Lokesh to have won a JK title. The team previously won the JK Tyre Orange 4x4 Fury trophy in Dambuk Village, Arunachal Pradesh. With Xtreme 4Play championship, though, things were grueling and challenging all the more and the Bangalore team did accept to have been lucky, given the tricky conditions. Team BODA led the competition in the initial two stages and were competitive in the remaining four as well. However, local heroes Kabir Warcha and Gurmeet Virdi of Team Gerrari provided tough competition and were, in fact, best placed to take the title on the final day.
The teams had to put their off-roading skills to test across different terrains
However, a technical glitch in the penultimate stage for Team Gerrari soiled its plans and it could not even compete in the final stage missing out on 20 points. The team ended with an overall tally of 405 points and had to settle for the fourth place. Nevertheless, team Gerrari's Tejinder Singh and Gurusahib Singh took a close second place with a total of 450 points. The team paid the penalty for a very poor run in the night stage, but were flawless in the remaining stages. The third place also went to the team from Bangalore, with Vijay Kumar V and Prashant Venkappa garnering a cool 405 points.
JK Tyre Xtream 4Play
There was a total of 12 teams participating in the JK Tyre Xtreme 4Play with each team comprising two cars, two drivers and two co-drivers, all from different parts of the country. This included Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi and Haryana. In the non-modified cars category, the JK 4x4 Play, Lt. Col. S S Dhaliwal and his co-driver Harinder Singh Gill won the title. Dr Ritika Oberoi, the only lady in the fray, was decorated with a special award.
Results:
Xtreme 4PLay:
1. BODA (Sidhartha Santosh and Lokesh Shivaraja);
2. Team Gerrari (Tejinder Singh and Gurusahib Singh);
3. BODA (Vijay Kumar V and Prashant Venkappa)
4x4 Play:
1. Lt. Col. S S Dhaliwal andHarinder Singh Gill (Privateers);
2. Naresh Sharma and Deepak Thakua (Privateer);
3. Vijay Kumar and Pradeep Kumar (Privateer)
