The 149th edition of the Great Escape by Mahindra Adventures was held this weekend in Goa, India. The Great Escape was a two-day event and challenged participants to navigate a 40 km route, manoeuvering through the tough and rugged terrain. The event saw the participation of about 50 vehicles, both 4WD, and 2WD cars.
The rally was flagged off from Club Mahindra Varka, Salcete, South Goa with Mahindra & Mahindra’s range on show. The Bolero, Scorpio, Legend and the Thar CRDe 4×4, all lined up to tackle the monsoon-washed route and showcase the Mahindra vehicles’ tough and rugged DNA.
The rally was first started in 1996 as a non-competitive event to allow Mahindra customers to test the strength and performance of Mahindra vehicles. In 2012 though was the first season of the Off-Roading Trophy, where the best off-roaders from around the country vied for top spot. The winner of this year’s Off-Roading Trophy will receive a new Mahindra Thar CRDe 4×4.
Mahindra Adventure is an umbrella brand of Mahindra & Mahindra which promotes self-driven off-roading adventure expeditions. The calendar for Mahindra Adventure has a series of events and multi-day special escapes. These expeditions include the Monastery Escape, Authentic Bhutan, Royal Escape, Himalayan Spiti Escape and the Summit, which is a 14 day drive to base-camp Everest. The company also have an adventure training Academy in Igatpuri to encourage off-roading culture.
Dattaraj Lawande and Krishna Bhobe won the Stock Category, the modified category was won by Earl Braganza with Tejas Prakash Shindilkar coming in second. The ladies category was won by Maithili Bhode.
We at Car India were thrilled at the event which was challenging and tough but yet was a great laugh and thoroughly enjoyable, which you can read about in our coming issue.
Story: Zal Cursetji
