Gurmeet Virdi and Kirpal Singh Tung Win 2017 Rainforest Challenge

The 2017 edition of the Rainforest Challenge India has finally drawn to a close, with Gurmeet Virdi and Kirpal Singh Tung defending their crown and winning the competition. With a total of 2,019 points out of a possible 2,600, they emerged as the overall champions after a full week of tough competition and 38 participants battling it out in and around Goa. The pair from Chandigarh gets an automatic entry to the RFC Global Series 2017 Finale, which will be held in Malaysia later in the year. Plus, they get a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh as well.

(Gurmeet and Kirpal get a direct entry to the RFC Global Series 2017 Finale to be held in Malaysia later this year)

Also Read: Midway Report From 2017 Rainforest Challenge India

The second position went to Jagat Nanjappa and Chethan Changappa from Coorg, who finished the event with 1,906 points. The pair from Coorg put in a good show and maintained their position from the beginning of the event. The third position went to Sanbir Singh Dhaliwal and Gurpartap Singh who were able to beat Siddharth Santosh and Prithviraj AC at the very last moment, scoring 1,685 points. Siddharth and Prithviraj were always among the top three since the event began, but lost their hold in the last few stages.

(This year's special stages were considerably tougher than previous years' stages)

Gurmeet was elated on winning the country's most coveted offroad motorsport trophy for the second time in a row. He said, "I am overjoyed that we've successfully managed to defend our title. It was a pretty tough competition, the positions kept on jumbling throughout, but we are happy that we came out victorious. There was no pressure throughout the event but the last stage of the competition gave me some serious chills as the competition was really close. It's the first time that our club Gerrari Offroaders has clinched two positions on the podium in RFC India. Overall, I couldn't have been happier."

(There were 38 participants in total this year)

This was the fourth edition of the RFC in India and the stages were expectedly tougher than what they used to be. Plus, there were night stages as well, which were not only entertaining but tested the participants' will and determination to the fullest. The 4th edition also saw more participation along with better prepared vehicles as well.