19th Raid de Himalaya to be held from Oct 6 to 14

SHIMLA: The 19th edition of

Raid-de-Himalaya

which is the only Indian motorsport event listed on the off-road rallies calendar of

Federation Internationale Motorcyclisme

(FIM), Geneva, Switzerland would be held from held from October 6th to 14th. Organisers already have held meeting with the state government officials to discuss various issues particularly relating to safety measures and logistic support from the state government during the event.

Raid-De-Himalaya would be co-organized by the HP's Department of

Youth Services and Sports

, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism and the

Himalayan Motorsport Association

, Shimla.

Vijay Parmar

, president Himalayan Motorsport Association detailed about the event and requested for the logistic support regarding necessary permission required from the administration particularly stand-by facility of helicopter to deal with any eventuality.

This year, about 300 enthusiastic participants would have an ambitious route spanning about 1800 Km across the exotic Spiti, Leh and Zanskar valleys.

Both categories of Raiders, the X-treme and the Adventure will be severely tested by high altitude, forbidding terrain, sub-zero temperatures, as well as mental fatigue as they cross over from Himachal into Ladakh, negotiating the world's highest mountain passes-ShingoLa, BaralachLa, TaglangLa, WariLa and KhardungLa, to name the most prominent ones.

Once the Raid reaches Leh on Day four, it branches off to Kargil and the rugged

Zanskar Valley

for another two gruelling days of competition. The Raid concludes upon its return to the Ladakh capital on October 13, 2017, he added.

Manjeev Bhalla

highlighting the attraction of the event said that

Suresh Rana

, the Himachal Rally star will attempt his 11th win this year.

Rally tests the nerves and skills of a driver as most of the drive is through boulders, snow capped peaks, gushing streams. Many a time unexpected snowfall and freezing temperatures too are encountered by the motorists.