Mangalore, Oct 20: With the thunderous win of the 15th edition of Raid-de-Himalaya which culminated at Leh, Jammu and Kashmir last week, Mangalorean Ashwin Naik had added another feather to his cap of achievements in the field of motor sports.
Driver Suresh Rana piloted a Grand Vitara with co-driver Ashwin Naik for Team Maruti Suzuki in the grand rally which ran for over 1800 kilometres including the highest motorable passes and sub-zero temperatures in six days. The duo was crowned overall champions in the X-Treme 4W category in the rally.
In the most exciting motorsport event in India, Ashwin Naik has won the coveted trophy for the third time while driver Suresh Rana won the championship for the ninth time.
Rightly called the'maestro of navigation', the Mangalorean has several rally championship trophies to his name. Speaking to Coastaldigest.com, he says that his dream before the event was to win the Raid-de-Himalaya 2013, with Suresh Rana as his driver.
The rally travelled through some of the highest altitudes in the world, traversing through passes Wari La at 5250 metres high and Khardung La at 5602 metres high.
Out of the 153 four-wheelers and two-wheelers that entered the Raid this year (inclusive of all categories), only 70 made it to the finishing line. The 2013 event apparently recorded the highest number of entries in its 15-year history.
The winners were felicitated by Manohar Bhat, Vice President (Marketing), Maruti Suzuki in the presence of Manjeev Bhalla and Vijay Parmar from Himalayan Motorsport Association, the organizers of the rally.
Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya is a favourite not just amongst the young and old but young at heart, professionals or anyone who loves motorsports. This year, the Raid-de-Himalaya saw a huge contingent of women participants. Many of the notable first were an all-women team from Himachal Police and another from the Indian Army.
15th Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya Winners
• X-Treme 4W – Suresh Rana/Ashwin Naik
• Adventure Trial 4W – Jagmeet Gill/Chandan Sen
• X-Treme 2W – Helmut Frauwallner
• X-Treme (Alpine) – Sajan Preet Singh
• X-Treme (Scooters) – Kunal Rao
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