Car India was invited to participate in Mahindra Adventure’s ‘Great Media Off-road Challenge’. So our team landed at the Mahindra Adventure Academy in Igatpuri to give it a go. Here’s how they fared, straight from the horse’s mouth
Story: Ryan Lee & Harket Suchde
Photography: Mahindra Adventure
Harket: On a hot, sweltering Sunday morning, we find ourselves in a remote location just outside Nashik, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our automotive journalist brethren and a bevy of Mahindra Thars eagerly awaiting our pleasure.
We are, of course, at the Mahindra Off-road Academy in Igatpuri, and the 2014 Great Media Off-road Challenge is about ready to get under way. The Challenge requires two participants per team – one acting as the driver and the other as the navigator. I have accepted the role of the latter, leaving Ryan to take the wheel.
Ryan: For the Rock Crawl challenge I had to drive the Thar on these huge boulders and collect flags, which were strategically placed across the course, without getting out of the car. The first section was an easy uphill climb with a huge bump at the turn before descending into the rocky section. I literally bounced off the bump, but controlled the Thar just in time to collect the first flag. Now begins the tough part. Harket’s exceptional navigational skills helped me place the tyres of the Thar exactly on the boulders, so I could avoid banking on the boulders.
