JK Tyre-Orange 4x4 Fury championship: Santosh, Shivaraja cruise to victory

Dambuk Village (Arunachal Pradesh): Having opened up a sizeable lead on Day Two, Bangalore Off-roaders’ Siddarth Santosh and Lokesh Shivaraja made the most of the advantage, clinching the JK Tyre-Orange 4x4 Fury championship with ease on the third and final day here on Saturday. The overnight leaders stood out with their skills and expertise to clinch the second edition ahead of six other teams. The duo, who had an exemplary second day on Friday, played it safe in the last two stages having set the pace on Day Two.

On Saturday, they finished fourth and collected just 166.5 points, but it was enough to propel them to a cumulative total of 830.75 points and the glittering trophy. They were well supported by co-drivers Prithviraj and Sanjay, displaying driving skills across varying terrain including water, land and hills, to emerge on top. The two-car, four-member team, showed great coordination and courage as they crossed three 10-foot long pits by using wooden planks that were just as wide as their tyres.

Defending champions Kabir Waraich and Gurmeet Virdi of Team Gerrari of Chandigarh enjoyed a good day, and took second place in the ‘obstacle start’ and ‘reverse obstacle’ to hold on their second place overall. They added 216.75 points for a total of 745.25. The NorthEast team led by Ujjal Namshum Chow and Aditya Mein showed amazing calm and calculation to finish third and grab third place in the championship.

Team Gerrari’s Sanbir Sanam and Padam Chauhan won Day Three by taking the last two stages with 227.25 points. The individual category for local drivers saw Meoseng Namsoom and teammate Tainum Mein showcase their skills to be declared winners. They collected 680 points over the three days, and unlike the team competition, didn’t have a second car to help them past the obstacles.