Himalayan Experiences - A Flashback

[Cyrus43]

Thats a lovely car you got there Sudev. Sad to know what happened In 1988. Did the 800s ever win anything??

[sudev]

In 1990 we won the category prize. There is a scan of an advert in newspaper with me and raj sharing the spot with Sukhi and Chauhan the winners in a Gypsy.

After the Himalayan not running in 1991 we ran M800 in 1992 and 93. Did lot of crazy things but that is another story not related to Himalayan. Shifted to Zen in 1994 and crashed out of active ralying in 1994 ;-(

[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by sudev

In 1990 we won the category prize. There is a scan of an advert in newspaper with me and raj sharing the spot with Sukhi and Chauhan the winners in a Gypsy.

After the Himalayan not running in 1991 we ran M800 in 1992 and 93. Did lot of crazy things but that is another story not related to Himalayan. Shifted to Zen in 1994 and crashed out of active ralying in 1994 ;-(

Sudev , didn't the crash happen in the '95 edition of the Mountain Challenge ?? You talking about the one just after Solan when the bus decided to kiss you or was it you who kissed the bus ;-) ??

But you really did make that zen fly quiet a bit ....

[sudev]

Originally Posted by khaadu75

Sudev , didn't the crash happen in the '95 edition of the Mountain Challenge ??

That kiss with the bus happened in '94. One sort of puts something like that as a milestone in ones life 8-)

Zen and art of rallying was never to be as (very) few of us discovered. I think besides me Sammy was the only giy to try Zen in rallying (in mountains at least). While on straight line it was lovely and you could fly in the plains the problems that became apparent in mountains were:
1 gearing gaps between first and second
2 low angle of approach (or large overhang) from the front wheel
3. unstable if you did sudden changes in (de)acceleration while cornering

The last was cause of my loosing the front end of the car and sliding on to oncoming bus. Oh well...

[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by sudev

That kiss with the bus happened in '94. One sort of puts something like that as a milestone in ones life 8-)

Zen and art of rallying was never to be as (very) few of us discovered. I think besides me Sammy was the only giy to try Zen in rallying (in mountains at least). While on straight line it was lovely and you could fly in the plains the problems that became apparent in mountains were:
1 gearing gaps between first and second
2 low angle of approach (or large overhang) from the front wheel
3. unstable if you did sudden changes in (de)acceleration while cornering

The last was cause of my loosing the front end of the car and sliding on to oncoming bus. Oh well...

Im sure you remember better but I always thought it was the '95 edition as I crossed the accident site about 20 mins later I think and we were in a Sierra with no clutch -- Drove all the way from the flag of at Surajkund without a clutch ;-) -- good ol days !!! In 94 I was navigating so unless we crossed you we then .. was 94 the same year when the driver from Chd died due to the bee stings when he went of ??

Need memory pills I guess ;-) ...

Sammy's zen was a monster in the straight line , I remember him testing his zen the night before the flag of near his house . It was a brute and sounded very sweet but as you said , it never did as well once up in the hills .

Don't you have pics from your rallying days .. would be great to get them out for us to see .

Cheers

[sudev]

Originally Posted by khaadu75

.. was 94 the same year when the driver from Chd died due to the bee stings when he went of ??

Nope that was ealreier. memory is hazy bon years 1993/92?? But it was in Saathu Vaknaghat section and again I was personally involved in rescue as we were the next car and stopped to help. Strangely none of other behind us stopped but just continued!!

BUT we are mixing thread..this thread is about Himalayan and while these incidents were during Mountain Challenge.

[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by sudev

Nope that was ealreier. memory is hazy bon years 1993/92?? But it was in Saathu Vaknaghat section and again I was personally involved in rescue as we were the next car and stopped to help. Strangely none of other behind us stopped but just continued!!
.

Naah .. Ur wrong , we were right behind him ! Infact we were getting his dust and before the section he had promised that he aint pushing as his position was secure and he would give us a pass as soon as he heard us honking . We take this left turn and suddenly no dust ... we stopped as some villagers were pointing at something and we did realise what had happened . I got out and saw that it was bushed they had gone into so we rushed to the ambulance standing in the middle of that section to inform them . At that point we had 2 choices -- one was to go down and help or to rush to the ambulance and we tought the second one was better as I didnt think it was too serious .

We were right as it wasn't serious as an accident but no one thought about the bees .. very sad incident , specially as we were together at Chakki Mod earier with his wife and kids and they went back to Chd as he was wining his category already . UNFORTUNATE !!

As for the topic .. The Himalayan and castrol were almost same , infact Castrol was based on the Himlayan Rally just like the Raid is also based on that . The difference being the length and the foreign entries .

Cheers

[sudev]

Ohhh I did not know that some one had stopped and gone ahead for ambulance. We arrive at this curve and were stopped by some village folks who pointed to the fallen vehicle.
It is unfortunate that inspite of your telling them when Raj went up to the ambulance and still the Doctors were no where near the ambulance (while I went down and brought up both these people to the road side). He had to waste time in getting them to move. In any case he guided the ambulance back - I know kind of crazy against the rally traffic but the assumption was the following traffic would stop once they got to the accident spot and me and villager having stopped them - and then we came out of the stage behind the ambulance.

The guy had come out of the vehicle to rescue the lady navigator (who was stuck inside th car with broken forerm) and bees attacked him. We had to build a fire and smoke to clear off the bee's and then carry these guys up to the road side.

Were you guys called up for accident discussions at the stewards meet?

[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by sudev

Ohhh I did not know that some one had stopped and gone ahead for ambulance. We arrive at this curve and were stopped by some village folks who pointed to the fallen vehicle.
It is unfortunate that inspite of your telling them when Raj went up to the ambulance and still the Doctors were no where near the ambulance (while I went down and brought up both these people to the road side). He had to waste time in getting them to move. In any case he guided the ambulance back - I know kind of crazy against the rally traffic but the assumption was the following traffic would stop once they got to the accident spot and me and villager having stopped them - and then we came out of the stage behind the ambulance.

The guy had come out of the vehicle to rescue the lady navigator (who was stuck inside th car with broken forerm) and bees attacked him. We had to build a fire and smoke to clear off the bee's and then carry these guys up to the road side.

Were you guys called up for accident discussions at the stewards meet?

We also noticed due to the villagers running towards us ... they were still some distance away but I added the suddenly no dust + villagers running on the road towrads us = gone off and asked driver to stop . I did get off , look down , jumped back in as we knew there was an ambulance in the section . They took time as they had to come against traffic which could have gotten disastrous .

It was a real freak accident as he went down on a straight stretch .. I mean he wasn't exiting as the exit was way behind or then the next corner was quiet a distance away . Also Im sure he wasn't pushing as my driver ( barely a driver - i used to sleep in the sections ) was not super fast but we still caught up not too far into the stage . So initially I though he burst a tyre or something but later noticed that all 4 tyres were also fine -- so kinda weird as to what really happened !!

I dont remember being called for any meeting or maybe we were at teh hospital ... I remember taking Hari and a few others from the Chd gang to the hospital as I knew where it was . It was a scary sight specially as the bodies had really really swollen up , till then I didnt realise how inflated one could get due to bee stings . Even his navi was in a bad state -- shock plus I think fractured arms .

Sad end to a gentleman from the rallying fraternity .. he was the oldest rallyist , I think he was 40+ at that time !!

Also I thought that the hive had gotten inside the vehicle while they rolled down , didn't know that he got out and then got attacked ? Were you there when he got attacked ?

[Spitfire]

The way you guys are narrating the incident is sending a chill down my spine.

[paras211]

jayant shah is a distant relative of mine .He stays in london now.I new he was into rallying never new he was that big on the scene

[Manoj Biswas]

The Himalayan was a rally to remember, apart from those amazing cars that one got to see and feel, the event was also far ahead of its time as far as organizational infrastructure and logistics were concerned.

For example, in the last Himalayan ('90), each marshal crew had 3 VHF radios at each time control, an intense HF radio network as back-up, print-out-clocks imported from Germany for section timings and a range of other international standards that were an eye-opener for Indian motor sport. The Himalayan was of course a part of the APRC then and also a contender event for the WRC.

It's a bit sad that such standards are rarely seen in Indian motor sport today, 18 years after the last Himalayan ran..

Originally Posted by khaadu75

Also I thought that the hive had gotten inside the vehicle while they rolled down , didn't know that he got out and then got attacked ?

In fact, they hit a tree sideways, approximately 20 to 30 feet below the road. The tree had not 1, not 2, but 3 beehives on it. And these were not exactly bees, they were black wasps, the ones that make their hives out of mud.

Ironically, this was the only tree for quite a distance on that slope. If they wouldn't have hit that tree, they would have gone down quite a long way. Surinder got out of the car, not realizing that 2 out of the 3 hives had fallen in the back of the Gypsy, took off his helmet and got instantly attacked by around 50,000 wasps. One of the most unfortunate and bizarre accidents in Indian Rallying.

[lapsi]

Behram,

1171 kms in 14 hours! And that too on the single track highway available back then!! Amazing. And scary as hell.

Was there a truckers strike on that day by any chance? That would have made the trip a lot safer.

Your thread has just about inspired me to take part in next years raid. Will need lots of tips though.

[sudev]

Originally Posted by lapsi

Your thread has just about inspired me to take part in next years raid. Will need lots of tips though.

Chootta nahin hai

Tips and help within motorsport faternity is amazing (there is a high level of competition too) you just need to take the plunge. Now with Raid or Storm offering TSD formats that is the best place to start with and get familiar and chance to be up and close to Speed guys at the same time.
So when do we see you?

[lapsi]

Sudev,

Who gives tips in chhootta these day )

"How to start rallying" is a whole new thread and over here it is off topic. Any volunteers to start this thread.