Desert Storm 2008 | Adventures

The 2008 Desert Storm was the sixth edition of the Event.

Desert Storm ’08 was run in accordance with FIA (International Automobile Federation ) and the MAI (Motorsport Association of India) rules over a distance of more than 2200 kilometres over five days through the remote areas of Rajasthan.

Our entry in the Desert Storm Rally, a Suzuki Grand Vitara, had been despatched to India.

In February we flew out of Perth to Singapore and onto New Delhi.

Arrival in Delhi

We spent a week or more preparing for the 2008 edition of northern India’s major motorsport event, the cross country rally, Desert Storm.

: In Delhi shopping for a shock absorber.

The pollution in Delhi makes LA (my sometime home) seem positively pristine, healthy and clear. As Asian cities go, it’s more chaotic than most.

: Not really overloaded.

: Trucks, trucks, trucks.

: While not uncommon it is still a worthwhile shot.

Finalising our Entry into Desert Storm 2008

The paperwork to enter Desert Storm 2008 is a bit of a challenge. Indians are consummate bureaucrats. No trivial piece of information seems too irrelevant. I need a blood type test. I was despatched to see Dr Davy with “the driver”. We skittled a motorcyclist on the return journey, nothing out of the ordinary. After seeing Raj, the Clerk of Course and Phillip, the Event Secretary most items seem in order.

Recce of the Course

We have arranged to do a recce of the course with Ashish Gupta, a long time competitor. He has very kindly offered us a ride in his vehicle through the deserts of Rajasthan.

: Ashish and Kim bore our recce.

Circumstances beyond our control made it impossible to be with him for the first day of the recce so we flew to Jodphur and caught a taxi to Jaisalmer. The five hour taxi ride (the taxi ride of my life) cost about AU$100 (and a few years off my life).

Our Race Car is Lost

Our race car had not arrived in India and Nindle and Buralli – the Freight Forwarders who we trusted to get the Vitara to India – were less than helpful in giving us information as to its whereabouts. .

We’ve pushed our phone into meltdown trying to find the Vitara. After being told that it would take three weeks to get to Bombay (and then adding another week’s margin) the car still hadn’t arrived after six weeks. We’ve been told it’s in Bombay, Dubai and Malaysia. We wonder if it’s even left Fremantle. Many phone calls and much frustration later we positively confirm (believe lies) that the car is in Dubai – and cannot get to Delhi in time for the rally. Twelve months preparation down the drain. We were told and innocently believed that the port of Mumbai (Bombay) was too congested to drop off the container when the ship arrived so it was transhipped to Dubai with the intention of being delivered on the return journey. This contingency was allowed for with the extra week. Extraordinary congestion and delays that could not be foreseen (coupled with gross incompetence) meant that the ship would not arrive in Bombay until the day the rally started.

More phone calls at 6.00 a.m. chasing down the location of the Vitara. Phone calls on the hour to Nindle and Buralli – car disposal experts. Not surprising they went into receivership some weeks later. We found out later that the son of the founder sniffed the cashflow up his nose – our car was never going to be delivered.

Lease an Alternative Race Car

After many days of fruitless enquiry we were resigned to the fact we would have to lease an alternative race car. When in Jaisalmer we made phone calls late into the evening trying to locate an alternative vehicle.

Using our extensive network of contacts we were able to source a Gypsy as a replacement for the Vitara. The price to lease the Gypsy and hire a Service Crew is what one would expect when ‘over a barrel’. But we will start in Desert Storm 2008.

Pre Event

In keeping with the status of the Event, Scrutineering and the Briefing were well managed, orchestrated gatherings.

: Kim Epton at Scrutineering.

: Motorcycle Competitor

: Eventual winner Sunny Sidhu

: Army colonel

: English competitor.

: Official Race Briefing

Start of the Rally

The rally flagged off in March from National Stadium, New Delhi to the pink city of Jaipur and on to Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Khimser.

: We are flagged off for the start of the 2008 Desert Storm.

More than thirty vehicles started the Event.

At the start of the Event, in our leased vehicle, we were about 1.5 seconds slower per kilometre than the Top Guns driving their modded Gypsys.

Hill Climb

The Hill Climb Stage finished at a spectacular castle.

Into the Desert

A couple of days into the Event, for some unknown and unexplained reason, the Organisers decided to give us a 50 minute penalty – just for the hell of it – or so it seemed.

This meant that the next day we started rear of field. Now while we had a leased vehicle that was slower than the Top Guns it had the capacity to overtake most of the field – which is what we did! About six Gypsys per Stage – every Stage. While it was good fun blasting everything in front of us (and more often than not scaring the crews as we did so) we knew that our overall Stage times were suffering. It takes time (many seconds) to overtake a vehicle in front even if your vehicle is faster.

Serious Accident

In an act of stupidity a comprting car entered a Control at ‘race speed’, hitting a critically injuring a race official. Ww were the last car into the control – all others behind us were stopped. The Rally was delayed while he was casevaced. His condition was unknown , however, he certainly didn’t look good while be loaded into a vehicle marked as an ambulance but totally unsuitable for the task.

: The extensive damage to the offending vehicle shows just how hard the impact was..

Spectacular Locations

The Organisers are congratulated on the choice of locations for the festivities at the end of the days’ racing. Palaces were ‘dusted off’ to host the Desert Storm entourage and relive the luxury and sumptuousness of days past. The ‘rally scene’ in India was still mainly the domain of the privileged unlike the ‘weekend warrior’ scene in Australia where dining at palaces would be totally inappropriate.

From being last that morning we restarted 13th the next day – we had picked up 20 or so places. Then amazingly and without explanation the Organisers decided that they had made an error and removed our 50 minute penalty. Of course, the inbuilt penalty of coming through the field from last was not compensated – obviating a win even if we had the vehicle to achieve that.

The 1-2 seconds deficit per kilometre at the start of the Rally had dwindled to about two seconds slower over a Stage. Towards the end of the Rally we were pinging some of the faster crews – in a stock Gypsy.

Night Stage

The Rally included a night stage.

: At start of Night Stage.

The Night Stage sorted out the field.

We spent the rest of the rally clawing past a few more, eventually finishing sixth outright and second in class.

: At the Trophy Presentation.

Sunny Sidhu emerged victorious in the PRO Car category, driving a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy. Sidhu was closely followed by Suresh Rana and Captain Sameer Pande, second and third respectively. Mathew Paul Barrett was the winner in the PRO Bike category. Umesh Raheja was winner in the NAV 4WD category.

After the Rally we visited the Premier of Rajasthan.

: Visit with the Premier of Rajasthan.

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