Force Gurkha RFC India 2017 - Day 1

The first day of Force Gurkha Rain Forest Challenge (RFC) India 2017 has concluded and Chandigarh's Gurmeet Virdi and his co-driver Kirpal Singh Tung emerged at the top with 390 points out of 500 after the completion of the first five Special Stages. Veteran rallyist Jagat Nanjappa with his co-driver Chetan Changappa of V5 Off-roaders from Coorg came second with 355 points. Siddartha Santhosh and the co-driver Prithviraj AC from the Team BODA (Bangalore Offroaders Development Association) took the third spot with 298 points. Day one saw 38 teams from across the country participating in some of the toughest challenges in RFC history.

In fact, so tough were these challenges that DNFs (Did Not Finish) seemed to be the order of the day. Even the top five performers from last year did not finish some of the special stages within the allocated time. Some of the vehicles toppled over, but due to the strict safety guidelines of the competition, the participants were uninjured.

The annual off-road event is currently in its fourth iteration this year. The first six special stages kicked-off at Xenem in Gancim – North Goa with the sixth stage being held at night for the first time by RFC. 

All in all, the contestants were thrown into the deep end on the very first day. Many of the participants felt that the level of competition this year seemed tough enough to match and even beat other popular international competitions in this space.