JK Tyres Himalayan Drive 3 to kick off Thursday

Siliguri, Jan 28: Around 60 competitors, including the drivers and their navigators from various parts of India, would take part in the 700 km long JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 3 scheduled to be flagged off here Thursday.

The only national time-speed-distance cross country rally in the eastern Himalayas for cars, the event is set to cover the Darjeeling Hills and the Dooars areas.

Traversing the off-beat routes that cut through the jungles, wildlife sanctuaries and tea estates that abound in the region, the picturesque Eastern Himalayas will play centre stage to the competition that stretches up to Feb 1, sponsors JK Tyres and the West Bengal government said at a media meet.

The first leg will run from Siliguri to Darjeeling, while the second commences from Darjeeling and ends at Murti in the Dooars. Leg three comes back to Murti after criss-crossing the beautiful Dooars region and touching Cooch Behar.

The final leg will be a comparably shorter sector to Siliguri from Murti through the new Tourism Hub at Gajoldoba.

Defending champions Sudip Ghosh and Arindam Ghosh will be gearing up to face stiff competition from the likes of Sourav Chatterjee and Ashoke Bhattacharya, Asgar Ali and Md. Mustafa, Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta – national level prize winners all.