Thick And Thin

The cliche of ‘the show must go on’ was re-enforced at the fifth edition of the Rain Forest Challenge India.

- Vinayak Pande

Jagat Nanjappa and co-driver Chetan Changappa won the 2018 Isuzu Rain Forest Challenge India at Goa, taking their maiden RFC India title ahead of Mervyn Lim/Alex Tan and former two-time winners Gurmeet Virdi/Kirpal Singh Tung.

But to talk about just the competitors this time around, the fifth edition of RFC India, would be unfair. As there was a similarly gritty effort behind the scenes to ensure that the event didn’t fall flat on its face.

A jittery and ultimately non-committal title sponsor made things tricky. As did having to find a last-minute replacement. Then there was lost equipment on account of a nationwide transport strike, heavier than expected rain and subsequent river flooding, and let’s not forget angry Goans threatening to stop the event mid-way. All of this was enough to make Cougar Motorsport’s (the event organizer) main man Ashish Gupta think if all the trouble was even worth it.

His frustration was very apparent in his speech at the post-event press conference, when he recounted how fans of local participant Cedrick Jordan Da Silva were threatening to disrupt the event unless his exclusion from a stage for a late start was overturned.

Even though Da Silva was allowed to continue to avoid things turning ugly, he was ultimately stripped of all his points in the final standings. One would be forgiven for thinking that the RFC India is done with Goa or Gupta will call it quits. Those fears were thankfully allayed to raucous applause when Gupta announced a further four editions.

A popular win