Force Gurkha RFC India was launched in 2014 by Delhi-based Cougar Motorsport Pvt. Ltd. as India’s only international off-road motorsport event and the India Chapter of the iconic Rainforest Challenge of Malaysia, which is counted among the top ten toughest motor races in the World. Following the successful completion of two editions of RFC India, the North and South Regional Chapters were launched this year to give a boost to the off-road motorsport culture mushrooming across the country.
Cougar Motorsport partnered with two of the biggest off-roading clubs of India – Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh and the Bangalore Offroaders Development Association (BODA) – wherein Force Gurkha RFC India Regional Chapters form the extreme category competitions of the annual OTRs of these clubs.
Tejinder Pal Singh (co-driver Harpreet Singh) of Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh emerged as the winner of the inaugural Force Gurkha RFC North India held earlier this month. The winner was announced following a strenuous competition comprising five extremely challenging tasks, or Special Stages (SS), over two days wherein the driving and vehicle recovery skills of the 10 competing teams were tested under extreme off-road conditions. Tejinder Pal Singh (Harpreet Singh) competed in a Mahindra CJ3B and scored 462 points out of 500, with a perfect 100 in three of the SS.
Gurpratap Singh (Maneet Sandhu) and Sanbir Dhaliwal (Gunbir Dhaliwal), both from Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh, won the second and the third positions with 350 and 315 points respectively. A ‘Spirit of RFC’ special prize was awarded to Bijender Singh (Gajender Singh) of Northern India Offroad Club for competing against extraordinary circumstances.
Jagat Nanjapa, a veteran rallyist and an off-roading expert who has won nine Indian National Rally Riders Championships in the past, bagged the winner’s trophy at the inaugural Force Gurkha RFC South India. Mr. Nanjapa (co-driver Chethan), representing V5 Offroaders of Coorg, emerged as the winner with an overall 525 points out of 600, following rigorous competition comprising six extremely tough tasks, or Special Stages (SS), over two days. The competition had overall 11 teams competing for the trophy wherein the teams’ driving and vehicle recovery skills were tested under extreme off-road conditions.
Dr. Chaitanya Challa (Syed Taj) of Charminar Off-road Adventure Club of Hyderabad and Pradeep Kumar (Prithviraj AC) of Bangalore Offroaders Development Association (BODA) won the second and third positions with 475 and 427 points respectively. Madhusudhan Reddy of BODA was given a special award for the ‘Spirit of RFC’.
Following these developments, Tejinder Pal Singh, Gurkha RFC north-India winner and Jagat Nanjapa, Gurkha RFC south-India winner were awarded free automatic entry to Force Gurkha RFC India 2016 that will be held in Goa from 22nd July to 29th July 2016. Thus, these two are now confirmed participants of Force Gurkha RFC India 2016 that allows maximum 25 teams from across the country to compete for the RFC India title.
The track for Force Gurkha RFC North India and South India was designed by David Metcalfe, or Mean Mr. Metcalfe as he is popularly known in the RFC circles globally, along with the Cougar Motorsport team
