Hyderabadis take on the Rainforest Challenge

One of the toughest motor racing challenges in the world, the Rainforest Challenge (RFC) is happening in India for the first time. And the venue is Goa.
This off-road motorsport with seven editions worldwide, has garnered a massive fan following in India and abroad. What makes the Goa edition of the challenge special is the fact that two Hyderabadis are taking their four-wheel drives to participate in the event!
T Lakshmikanth Reddy and B Rajsekhara Prabhu, along with their team of co-drivers and support staff, left for Goa to participate in the challenge.
"This is the toughest 4x4 challenge in the world. It's like the Olympics of 4x4 vehicles, so it's exciting to be part of it. It's a challenge driving off the road in mud, water and more. That's what got us all excited to be part of the race," explains Rajsekhara.
"We always wanted to participate in the race, and in fact, we wanted to go to Malaysia for it (the place where the sport was born). But as luck could have it, the RFC decided to hold this year's edition in India, so the decision to participate was easy," says Abinav Reddy, who'll be co-driving with Lakshmikant.
The team from Hyderabad, who are also part of the Charminar Offroad and Adventure Club, have been looking forward to this event for the longest time. To this end, the team spent days and nights working on their vehicles.
"Mine is a 1972 model of a jeep and I have been working on building it totally from scratch. It needs to be sturdy and tough. The challenge requires us to go through extreme conditions, mountains and rocky surfaces etc., so I tried to tune up my vehicle accordingly. It's customised to the needs of the competition and has parts from old trucks, land rovers etc.," says Rajsekhara, who customised the vehicle in his garage.
Lakshmikant's 4-wheel drive too required a lot of work. "We've been working on the vehicle for 15-20 days. Thankfully, we know the Indian terrain a little bit and that helped in customising our vehicle accordingly," explains Abinav.
But the Hyderabadis are not completely satisfied with the results of their work. "Personally, I think my vehicle is 20% ready when compared to participants from the other countries.
It takes a long time to get the desired results and one has to work on it for a long time. Plus, it's an expensive sport - the spare parts you need for building your 4WD don't come by easily," explains Rajsekhara, who is an automobile engineer.
Abinav too voices a similar opinion. "We are not really looking at winning the competition, because participants from other countries will surely have better vehicles. But then, we are passionate about the sport," opines Abinav.
For Rajasekhara too, it's all about passion. "I love the sport, it's a passion and that's what pushed me to participate. There are around 400 entries for the challenge, and I don't think we stand much of a chance," says Rajsekhara in all honesty, adding, "But the thrill of building a vehicle, driving through tough terrain, living in jungles; all of it is so exciting that we couldn't resist the urge to participate."