PANJIM: Vasco resident Amul Anil Satoskar had his car, Mitsubishi Cedia, break down five times during the four-day extreme motorsport event ‘Rally of Himalayas’ but that didn’t deter his ‘never give up’ spirit and he went on to win the first place in the car category with a huge margin of 11 minutes.
Being the sole Goan at the championship, the ace professional rally driver represented Team Goa at the rally.
With a career spanning 22 years, Satoskar has participated in every major rally in the country and has had consecutive podium finishes. Earlier, he had won three consecutive years in the SUV category for the Raid de Himalaya, and even though the weather in the Himalayas differs completely from Goa, he still braves it out at every rally he has participated at the range.
“I represent Goa in the name of Team Goa though I have no support from the State government till now. I travelled to Manali, a few days before the rally so that I could get acclimatized to the high altitude. This year, the route was from Manali, Solang valley, Rohtang, Gramphu, Keylong, Patsio, Jispa, Baralacha Shinkula. The top covers a total of 823 kilometres. The competition demands three challenges per day with different terrains like black ice, dirt boulders and 11 water crossings which I’ll never forget because my car went off five times due to low ground clearance. This was the most difficult terrain as it is not meant for cars,” says Satoskar, relieved that the car didn’t stall at the competition.
The car has another interesting story to tell. It was rented from Bangalore and was shipped onboard a truck to Manali. Unfortunately, due to major landslides, the truck got held up in Chandigarh and had to be driven by the owner to Manali. “The car reached just half an hour before the scrutiny test by the organisers. Goa has no race tracks to practice on either. I had just a few rounds in the car before parking it for inspection where it is sealed till the race,” he informed.
He adds, “The car was older compared to other cars in the competition and not so powerful and due to that I couldn’t take maximum risk and push my car till core and maintain my pace on high altitude.”
My top speed achieved was 142 km/ph at a 3-degree temperature. It was freezing cold and we would start the rally early in the morning at 4 am and complete the challenges after finishing the entire data schedule, by evening I use to feel completely drained out. Yet, my team and I still managed to get first place. I’m very thankful to my navigator, Ravee Kumar from Bengaluru, my tunner, Imran Khan from Bengaluru and my technical head, Samrat Yadav along with his team from Delhi.”
The rally is organised by Extreme Motorsports Club in association with FMSCI that was held from August 27 to 30.
Motorsports is one of the most expensive sports in the world and so far, Satoskar has kept his passion alive with his real estate business. He has been a professional rally driver for Team Tata, Team Mahindra and Team Maruti Suzuki for Raid de Himalayas and had been felicitated by Ratan Tata team Full Throttle in Mumbai. He has been a winner at national rallies like the Rally Art Bangalore, INRC Rally, Desert Storm Rally and Dakshin Dare Rally.
