Words by Ryan Lee
The third edition of the JK Tyre Arunachal Festival of Speed was held in the picturesque valley of Dirang, in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. Hemmed in by towering mountains and breathtaking vistas, this magnificent amphitheatre of nature reverberated to the glorious sounds of highly-tuned rally cars driven by some of India’s top drivers who included nine-time Maruti Suzuki Raid de Himalaya champion Suresh Rana, national rally champion in the Group N 2000 class Rahul Kanthraj, 1600cc national rally champion Karna Kadur, former Asia Pacific Rally Champion in the two-wheel drive class Sanjay Takle and experienced rally driver Philippos Mathai. Organised by the Motorsport Club of Arunachal Pradesh, the Festival of Speed combined three forms of rallying which included an Autocross day and night competition, a 5km rally sprint in Sangti Valley and a 5km hill climb at the Rungja Apple and Kiwi farm. With a total of Rs 8.5 lakh in prize money, the winner was decided on their best combined timings in all three events.
On March 29, 2016, the town of Dirang came to a standstill and all roads led to Lopon Stadium for the Autocross event. With over 2,500 spectators present, the Festival of Speed was flagged off by Brigadier Shailender Singh, Brigade Commander of the 315 Infantry Brigade that guards the country’s border with China. Each participant was allowed three attempts and the best of the three would be counted.
To make things interesting, participants would tackle the twisty Autocross track at night as well. In the 2000cc category, Philippos Mathai in his Cedia showed an exemplary display of skill through the corners and threw down the gauntlet, winning the Autocross stage with a best time of 2 minutes 44.01 seconds followed by Rahul Kanthraj close at his heels at 2 minutes 44.76 seconds. In the 1600cc class Karna Kadur was impressive right from the word go and clocked the fastest time of 2 minutes 44.74 seconds in his class. The young rally driver from Mangalore, Dean Mascaren has got off to a good start, but in his second attempt, he went too fast on to the wooden bridge landing hard on his nose and smashing the radiator of his car. This stunt did make for a good photo op, but he could not compete any further in his Polo and ended up sharing Druva’s Honda City, that finished second in the Autocross stage. In the SUV category the Gypsys did seem to struggle in the corners, but Suresh Rana bagged the fastest time of 2 minutes 47.71 seconds with the crowd favourite Lima Jamir finishing second. In the Quad category, there was one Polaris shared by three drivers including Bitu from Arunachal who finished third in the Autocross stage.
After an eventful first day of the Arunachal Festival of Speed, the party was not yet over. An all-girl band from Delhi that goes by the name of Vinyl Records, took the stage and kept the crowd on their feet late into the night.
On day two it was time to conquer the hill. The 5km hill climb at the Rungia Apple and Kiwi farm was one of the most difficult stages in the competition. For this stage, the participants were allowed only one attempt. This year a few cars were not allowed to compete because they did not have a roll-cage and the drivers ended up sharing cars. In the 2000cc category, Rahul Kanthraj dominated this stage from start to finish and clocked the fastest time of 7 Philippos with Sanjay Takle coming in third. In the last two editions, Philippos could not complete the hill climb, and even this year he did face a little problem with his Mitsubishi Cedia, but nevertheless he managed to make it to the top, finishing second. In the 1600cc class, Karna Kadur took the lead and glided his way up the hill finishing first with a time of 7 minutes 36 seconds. However Dean did put up a good fight but could only manage second place with a second’s difference. Once again in the SUV category, the battle was between Gypsys with Suresh Rana managing to beat Naku, who finished second, ahead of Lima Jamir. In the Quad category, Chibor finished first with a time of 7 minutes 45 seconds followed by Bitu from Arunachal. Batheshebah Bareh was the only female competitor this year and she also finished the hill climb in her Gypsy.
It was then time for the last event of the day, the 5km rally sprint in the Sangti Valley which would also be the deciding stage to crown the winners for the 2016 JK Tyre Arunachal Festival of Speed. A few of the competitors were not very happy with the course, because it involved crossing a riverbed, driving on pebbles and then a U-turn and back to the finish, their main concern being whether or not the smaller cars would be able to withstand the beating.
In the 2000cc class, Sanjay Takle in his Cedia zoomed across the stage and finished first with a 10 second lead over Philippos. In the 1600cc class Dean took the lead finishing first with a time of 6 minutes 19.05 seconds ahead of Karna and Dhruva. The SUV class was once again dominated by Suresh Rana who finished first followed by Lima Jamir and Naku.
Philippos was crowned champion of the 2016 JK Tyre Arunachal Festival of Speed, Rahul bagged second and Sanjay Takle finished an impressive third. And for the drivers from the North East, it was a great platform to rub shoulders with the bigger names in the sport, and hopefully that will inspire them to take part in more national championship events.