Jagat-Chetan win RFC India off-road motorsport event

Dona Paula (Goa) : Veteran rallyist Jagat Nanjappa and co-driver Chetan Changappa of Coorgs Team V5 Offroaders on Saturday emerged as the champions of Isuzu Rainforest Challenge (RFC) India off-road motorsport event.

They have won the fifth season of RFC with a total score of 2006 points out of 2600. With this win, Jagat and Chetan have become the second Indian, and the first offroader from south India, to win the title, according to a release.

Jagat and Chetan will represent India at RFC 2018 Global Series Grand Finale. The total benefits they have received amount to $10,000, including the entry fee, airfares as well as support towards car rental in Malaysia.

The overall second position was held by Malaysian driver Mervyn Lim (co-driver Alex Tan) of Team G.O.A. Fairmont with 1849 points.

Defending champion Gurmeet Virdi (co-driver Kirpal Singh Tung) of Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh clinched the third spot on the podium with 1800 points.

Sanbir Singh Dhaliwal (co-driver Gurpartap Singh Sandhu) of Gerrari Offroaders Chandigarh was at the fourth spot in the competition with 1742 points, while Dr Chaitanya Challa (co-driver Shabarish Jagarapu) from Hyderabad, also representing Team G.O.A. Fairmont, secured a spot in the top five with 1668 points.

After missing the title by a slim margin last year, Jagat was elated upon completing the ‘unfinished task' this year. He said: "This is an incredible feeling. I would like to thank my co-driver, my service team and my buddy - the Jeep -- all of whom put up a fantastic performance.

"The conditions of the competition were highly unpredictable and kept varying from contender to contender. In the end, I think these conditions worked in our favour and piloted us to the victory""

Jagat, alongside other podium finishers, category winners and special award winners, were felicitated at a glittering prize distribution ceremony held at the International Centre Goa in Dona Paula.