The 20th edition of the Asia’s toughest rally ‘Raid De Himalaya’ is going to be held from October 8 to 14 in Leh. The rally in which more than 140 drivers and riders are taking part this year, will be held in Leh, Zanskar and Kargil regions of Ladakh province.
It will be for first time that the rally will start as well as end in J&K, as the state of Himachal Pradesh does not form part of the event this year.
The rally has attracted wide participation including some foreign participants. The rally would also feature three drivers from J&K including the known face of motorsport in J&K, Taufeeq Mughal who will be taking part in ‘Raid De Himalaya’ after a gap of two years. Besides Ali Akhoon and another driver from Jammu province would also be among the participants.
Taufeeq Mughal would be driving for Polaris during the rally. Still fresh from his podium finish in Indian Baja while riding 400sportsman of Polaris, Taufeeq will be riding Polaris 570 sportsman in this rally.
Other notable participants in the rally inlude Deepak Shachdava and Japjyot singh who have got almost 15-18 podia in TSD. Another experienced rider-turned-driver Rihen who has been in the field for around 15 years now, would be accompanied by fellow driver from Kargil – Ali Akhoon – in the gypsy.
With the involvement of top sponsors like Sandeep Bansil of Techno Automobiles Delhi, Polaris India, Mapmy India and Jeep India, National Jeep Jammu (Service) in the rally, the event this season is focusing to attract youth of the State towards motor sport.