Amit escapes unhurt

Amit Gupta of Rishikesh and his navigator Tarun Sharma had a miraculous escape on day three of the 14th Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya after their SUV almost ran off the edge of a sheer cliff.

The incident occurred on the climb-up from Kaza to Komic, in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Padesh. The close tracking and the alertness of the marshals ensured that the rallyists were pulled back from the cliff edge in time.

Gupta and his navigator, part of Raid Xtreme category, were headed towards the end of the competitive zone at Komic, when a wheel of their SUV went off the road. During this competitive stretch, Raid Xtreme was running at a height of 4,500 meters above sea level along sharp, high cliffs.

Gupta miscalculated the drive, running almost off the track. The duo’s amazing luck was that their vehicle did not go over into the deep valley, and stayed precariously hanging on the cliff edge.

President of Himalayan Motorsport Association, Vijay Parmar said that the minute-to-minute tracking of rallyists by the marshals saved the lives of the doctor duo.
When the team did not reach the designated check-post on time, the marshals sent out an ‘SOS’ to the Search and Rescue teams about the missing vehicle.

The teams immediately moved into the competitive zone and began a lookout for team. Within minutes, marshals reached the spot and pulled Gupta’s SUV back on the road.

The doctor duo were in a state of shock, and were given medical help by the marshals.

This has been the second incident in which rallyists at the Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya 2012 have had a close shave.