THE HIMALAYAN RALLY - A CHALLENGE

THE  HIMALAYAN  RALLY - A  CHALLENGE

Maj Gen VK Singh

          I was bitten by the rallying bug in October 1980, when the First Himalayan Rally took place.  The rally started from Bombay, and ended at Delhi, after covering about 4,000 km.  There was a regrouping halt at Jhansi, where I was then posted.  The Army had been requested to provide some assistance, in the form of radio communications, and that is how I became involved.  The rally was won by Shekhar Mehta and Lofty Drews, from Kenya, in an Opel Ascona.  An all women’s team from West Germany, comprising M Hoepfner and O Anderson, driving a Toyota Celica, came in second.  In third place was another German team, of W Siller and H Schuller, in a Datsun 160 J.

          During the first rally, there were some instances of stone throwing in Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh, instigated by a political party which felt that the event should not be held, because of the large expenditure of fuel.  Also, though it was called a Himalayan Rally, most of the driving was in the plains, and only the last leg saw some hill driving.  So in 1981, when the Second Himalayan Rally was held, it started and ended at Delhi, after covering some 3,800 km. Major halts were at Nainital, Mussourie, and Simla, with regrouping halts at Dehradun, Ranikhet and Rai.  Put off by the stone throwing in the first Rally, many foreign competitors, including Mehta, stayed away.  This Rally was won by Ramesh Khoda and Aslam Khan of Kenya, in a Datsun 160 J  Major Ravi Kapoor, of Engineers, with Lt GJ Singh as his co-driver, in a Jonga, came second, followed by Minoo Nanavaty, Darayus Bhathena and Gavin Hurtis in a Mahindra Jeep.

          Encouraged by the performance of Army teams, - only one had taken part in 1980, and three in 1981 (Engineers, EME and ASC) - the Army Adventure Foundation decided to field eight teams in 1982.  Based on Jongas, the teams were from the Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry, Artillery, Engineers, Signals, Kumaon Regiment, ASC and EME.  Ravi Kapoor had been sponsored by Suzuki to drive one of their cars - the forerunner of the Maruti 800- but he met with an unfortunate accident near Karnal, during a test run, and could not take part.  The Mechanised Infantry team included a driver who had lost both his legs- Lt Col (later Lt Gen) Pankaj Joshi.  The Signals team comprised of Maj VK Singh, Maj SK Jain and Nk Ram Karan.

          This being our first rally, we were literally clueless.  Fortunately, those who had taken part earlier were able to guide us, but only to a limited extent.  The first thing to be done was to get a new vehicle released from the CVD.  Once this was done, work began on the modifications, which were carried out in various workshops and garages.  Some modifications, such as fitting the roll bar, the metal shield on the underside, circuit breakers, three point seat belts and of course the closed body, were mandatory.  Others, such as additional fuel tanks, lights, horns, leaf springs, shock absorbers, protective grills, tool boxes, intercom sets, navigator lights,  Halda Meter, etc were optional but necessary.  The Halda Meter had to be imported from UK, through a relative who had gone there on a holiday.  It was also essential to carry out a route recce, which took about two weeks, because most of the jungle and mountain tracks were in disrepair, after the monsoon.  We were assured that these would be repaired before the rally, but we were very skeptical.  Then, the vehicle which we took for the recce had to be changed thrice, and suffered numerous break downs.  Thanks to the ubiquitous line dets of Signals, we always found food and shelter, and able to get help in terms of repair and recovery, whenever this happened - which was often.

          Before proceeding further, it would be well to explain how a car rally is run.  Contrary to popular perception, it is not always the first driver to finish who is the winner.  The rally is a test not only of speed, but endurance, and the skill of the driver and the navigator.  The entire route is divided into legs, each terminating at a major halt, where a minimum halt of five hours is allowed.  Within a leg, there may be one or more regrouping halts.  This is done to ‘regroup’ the cars.  Due to the large difference in the speeds of foreign and Indian cars, the gap between them keeps gradually increasing, and time controls have to remain open for a long time.  For this reason, regrouping halts are made, where all cars halt, and are restarted after the last car has arrived, within the maximum permitted lateness.  No additional time is allowed for refuelling, repairs etc, which have to be done in the competitors time.  During halts, the vehicles are in parc ferme, and competitors cannot carry out any repairs or maintenance, except for cleaning the windscreen and replacing a flat tyre. Even during the rally, repairs have to be done by the team members themselves, or their designated service teams, which can be prepositioned, or follow. Outside help results in disqualification.

          Each leg has a number of sectors, which can be competitive or transport. Each sector starts and ends at a Time Control (TC), which is manned by a marshal, a timekeeper and a recorder. The organisers lay down an ideal time for each sector, which the competitor has to maintain. Penalties are awarded, for early as well as late arrival at a TC. One penalty point is awarded for each minute of lateness, and ten points for each minute of early arrival. In competitive sectors, which are run over jungle tracks or mountain roads, with little traffic, ideal timings are almost impossible to achieve, and everyone earns some penalties. Transport sectors are run on highways and roads with heavy traffic. To avoid accidents, ideal timings are very liberal, and are easy to achieve. To discourage overspeeding, penalties for early arrival are ten times higher than for late arrival.  As a result, nobody earns a penalty in the transport sector, unless there is a breakdown, or  miscalculation.

          In the Third Himalayan Rally, the first leg was almost 1300 km, ending at Nainital. It was divided into two sections, of 700 and 600 km respectively, separated by a regrouping halt, at Dehradun. In this leg, most of the driving was on jungle tracks. By the end of the first leg, almost half the competitors had dropped out, due to mechanical failures, accidents, or not being able to arrive within the maximum permitted lateness, which was seven hours for the first section, and ten hours for the second.  According to Nazir Hoosein, the Chairman of the Himalayan Rally Association, the first leg was deliberately kept longer, tougher, and mostly in the plains, in order to separate the men from the boys.  By the time the rally reached the treacherous mountain roads, only experienced and mature drivers were left in the race.  If one did not get lost, or have a breakdown, the fastest drivers, driving the high performance foreign cars, could finish the leg with as little as 10 points, while the Indian cars could rarely finish with less than 200.  At regrouping halts, where the minimum halt was 30 minutes, the foreign drivers could take a nap, since they had a lead of two to three hours.

          The Third Himalayan Rally was flagged off from the National Stadium, on 30 October 1982.  The cars were started at two minute intervals, to ensure a reasonable gap between them.  Two days before the start, I had broken my right middle finger, when our Jonga had overturned, during a trial run, so Jain was at the wheel.  We reached Dehradun without mishap, after about 15 hours of driving, most of it during the night.  After a short halt, we started on the second section, which was to end at Nainital.  We were coming down from Pauri towards Kotdwar, when there was strange sound from the differential, and when we stopped to investigate, we found that the oil had leaked out.  We had some with us, and topped it up, but it did not prove of much use, as some of the teeth seemed to be broken.  The answer was to change the whole rear axle, but obviously, this was not readily available.  Our service team fetched up only after two hours, and it took another four hours to interchange the axles of the  two Jongas.  Since there were only two jacks, these had to be switched repeatedly, before the task was accomplished.  We started off, after a delay of six hours.  We did reach Nainital, but being beyond the maximum permitted lateness, we were ‘timed out’, and had to retire.  We returned to Delhi, very dejected.  The rally was won by Jayant Shah and Aslam Khan, of Kenya, in a Datsun Violet ; in second place were Rudi Stohl and R Kaufman from Austria, in a Lada, while Ramesh Khoda came third.  The best performance from the Army was of the Armoured Corps team, led by Lt Col (later Lt Gen) SS Mehta, who was 8th overall, but third among Indian entries.

          When the next Rally was held, in October 1983, I was commanding the Mech Div Sig Regt.  Jain could not be spared, and Lt Col RK Nair was nominated to replace his as my co-driver.  Having learnt from our earlier mistakes, this time our preparations were thorough.  All parts which normally failed, such as half shafts and tie rods, were sent to CVRDE, Ahmednagar, for radiological and electronic tests.  Surprisingly, almost two thirds were found to be faulty.  To improve stability on turns, the centre of gravity of the vehicle was lowered, and the size of the crew reduced from three to two.  An anti puncture solution was injected into the tubes, so that there were no punctures.  At that time, this was not available in India, so all the Army teams shared the cost, and a private firm imported a barrel for us.  Instead of one there were four service teams, each under an officer or a JCO, with sufficient spares, and a vehicle mechanic.  These teams were prepositioned at selected locations along the route, and took turns following us, before handing over to the next one.  They would then use a short cut and reach their next location, on the rally route.  This ensured that the service team was never more than 30 minutes behind the rally vehicle.  As soon as the gap became larger, another prepositioned service   vehicle would take over, and the gap reduced to zero.

          When the Fourth Himalayan Rally was flagged off, we were in  high spirits.  The first sector of 257 km, ending at Ramnagar, was transport, with an ideal time of 275 minutes, so everyone took it easy.  After that, the fun started.  The next sector of 40 km, ending at Kehripur, had an ideal time of 33 minutes, which worked out to an average speed of 73 kmph.  In other words, one had to drive at over 80, on a narrow jungle track, full of sharp curves, wooden bridges, causeways, and riverbeds.  We arrived 15 minutes late, and earned                 15 penalty points.  We were quite disappointed, till we learned from others that we had not done too badly.  When we reached Dehradun at about six in the morning, we had accumulated 111 penalty points, which was the least among the Indian entries.  On the way, a stone thrown by a boy had smashed our windscreen, but otherwise we were in good shape, even after 15 hours of driving, without a break.

          After a short halt of three hours, we were flagged off at 0900 hours.  The 35 km sector to Mussourie was transport, with an ideal time of 50 minutes, to cater for refuelling etc.  We made the mistake of going to the EME repair det, to get our windscreen changed.  We thought it would take a few minutes - it was almost two hours before we drove off, with the screen still not fitted, but held in place by metal clamps welded at the four corners.  When we passed the point where our differential had packed up in 1982 we heaved a sigh of relief, which turned out to be premature.  We had crossed Kotdwar, and were heading for Kehripur, when there was a cracker like sound.  We stopped, and found that the water pump had burst.  Two service teams were right behind us, so we were not unduly worried.  It took about 30 minutes to change the pump.  We started again, but within      10 minutes, there was another explosion.  Ultimately , we had to change the water pump four times, and each time it burst.  When our stock was exhausted, we decided to have one more try, and borrowed one from another Army team.  We drove at 30 kmph for the rest of the distance, and had 961 penalty points when we checked in at Nainital.  This was way beyond the maximum permitted lateness of ten hours, and we knew that our fate was sealed.  Next morning, we were given a provisional start, and continued in the rally.  It was only after we reached Mussourie, the end of the second leg, that we were informed that we had been ‘timed out’, and had to retire.  Jayant Shah and Aslam Khan retained their first place, in Nissan 240 RS, followed by G Colsul and A Lopes of Belgium, in an Opel Ascona 400.  Ramesh Khoda had once gain to be content with third place.  The best performance among the Army teams was by the Armoured Corps team, led by Maj PPS Dhillon, who was overall 5th, and third among Indians.

          In 1984, the Signals team again had the 1982 combination of VK Singh and Jain.  Once again, we were plagued with mechanical problems, but fortunately, they were minor, and could be rectified.  But we did lose precious time, including some in the transport sectors, trying to carry out repairs.  When we reached the Savoy Hotel at Mussourie at 0839 hours on 30 October, we were doing reasonable well.  The restart was in the evening, so after a quick bath and a hearty breakfast, we retired for a nap.  After lunch, we were suddenly told that Indira Gandhi had been assassinated, and the restart might be delayed.  In the evening, it was announced that the rally was terminated.  Due to large scale riots in Dehradun and Delhi, competitors were advised to stay on at Mussourie.  However, the Army teams decided to move back, and forming a convoy, left for Delhi next day.  The scenes we saw en route, and on entering Delhi on the night of 31 October, were horrendous.  As for the Rally, it was won by Jayant Shah, for the third time in a row, with Lofty Drews as his navigator.  In second place was Rajiv Khanna and DJ Ferrao of Kenya, in an Opel Manta 400.  For the third year running, Ramesh Khoda was third, in a Subaru.  The Army teams did exceptionally well, with the Sikh Regiment team, led by Major Dalvinder Singh coming overall 5th, but winning the National Award for being the first among Indian entries.

          In 1985, I was posted to an inter-service establishment, and though Signals Directorate had detailed me for the event, my boss, who was a Naval officer, piqued at not having been asked for his concurrence, refused to spare me.  The Signals team that year comprised of  Lt Col SK Jain and Maj OP Beniwal, who was from my Regiment, and had been in charge of the Services team earlier. Very sensibly, they discarded the Jonga, and took a Maruti Gypsy, like almost everyone else.  The team did quite well, and finished in the first ten among Indian entries.  In fact, the Army teams did exceedingly well, with Capt KS Chauhan of Artillery winning the National Award, and four places out of the first five among Indian entries going to Army teams.  This was the last rally in which Signals fielded a team.  Capt Chauhan of Artillery went on to win the National Award, a record four times, and became the best rallyist in India.  He was sent to UK for training by the Himalayan Rally Association, but due to lack of a good car, and a sponsor, could not make his mark in the international arena.

          Participating in the Himalayan Rally was an unique experience.  Driving for 14-15 hours a day for five days, on treacherous roads, was a test of human endurance, and will power.  Several international drivers called it the toughest rally in the World.  Sir Philip Young, who had won the London-Sydney Marathon in 1969-70, took part each year, but could  never finish. It was also dangerous; in 1983, one of the Rally’s veteran drivers, Carl  Forsmark, lost his life, in addition to a member of the Mech Inf service team.  In 1984, Lt Col PS Gill and Lt Srivastava of the ASC died when their Jonga went off the road.  For the last ten years, the Himalayan Rally has not been held, due to lack of sponsors.  There are a large number of rallies being conducted in India, most of them in the South.  Most of them are two day events, with distances varying from 500 to 1000 km.  None of them are in the same league as the Himalayan Rally, which had become a popular event on the international circuit.  It is indeed a pity that almost ten years of hard work, in bringing up the rally to international standards, has ultimately come to a nought.

(Published in the Signalman, May 1998)