Shimla, Oct 11 (ANI): The thirteenth edition of 'Raid-de-Himalaya' Car Rally was flagged off from Shimla by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Monday.
The participants will cover a distance of 1950 kilometers in six days before reaching Srinagar, where the rally will be concluded.
Indian Army team is also among the 162 participants that include 38 motorcyclists.
Six drivers from Austria are also taking part in this year's rally.
Manjeet Bhalla, the head of the Himalayan Motor Sport Association (HMSA), revealed that this year a new route would be used for the rally.
"This year the rally will cross 12 passes. The route we will take will be through 'Gada Gushaini' in Kullu District. This is a new route. A pass here called 'Chach Gallu' will be the first pass, and the highest pass will be 'Khardung la'. It is about 18,500 metres above sea level," said Bhalla.
Stefan, a participant from Austria, said that he took part last year and loved it very much and is happy to return this year as well.
"It's a pleasure for us to come to India every year. We did the Raid-de-Himalaya last year, and we got a lot of good results for Team Austria." Said Stefan.
" We like this landscape, we like India, we like the nice people and first of all the rally, The Raid-de-Himalaya," he added.
The rally has been divided into three categories with the 'extreme category' being the most challenging of them all.
Only those car drivers are included in this category who have competed in one of the previous editions of the Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya or the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm.
The Raid-de-Himalaya rally was introduced in 1999 and is the world's highest rally competition.(ANI)
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