Randhawa wins rally

The enthusiasm was evident in Khushwant Randhawa’s voice as he proudly showed off his bright red gypsy after his victory in the Desert Storm rally.

The enthusiasm was evident in Khushwant Randhawa’s voice as he proudly showed off his bright red gypsy after his victory in the Desert Storm rally. This was his first year as the main man behind the wheel — he was doing co-driver duties before this year’ edition.

“I switched from bikes to cars in 1997. The adrenalin is definitely more on a bike since the risk is so much more. But I think I’ve been doing pretty well,” smiled Randhawa after popping open the celebratory champagne.

The final stage of the rally, on

the slushy surface of the Sambhar Salt Lake — 150 miles from Jaipur — was a track frought with difficulties and Randhawa admits the Desert Storm is one of the most challenging in the country. “The stages in this rally are very long, stretching to 40-50 km,” he says. Nevertheless, Randhawa and his co-driver Amandeep Kaleka did it better than anyone.

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The next big item on Randhawa’s to-do list is the challenging Raid de Himalaya, a rally which saw him and Sandeep Sharma — the main driver — break a record for completing a stage in the fastest time in their first appearance. “You have to have the desire to compete. The rest takes care of itself,” he says.

In the amateur Car category, Shajan Daniel was the winner, while Mohan Lal Sharma took the Bike honours.