- 21 teams participated in RFC 2021

- Winner gets free entry to the RFC Global Series Finale

After skipping the 2020 season, the Rainforest Challenge has returned this year for its seventh edition. Battling out their prowess in extreme off-roading, Team Gerrari Offroader’s Kabir Waraich and co-driver Dushyant Khosla clinched the championship title this year with a total score of 2155 out of 2600.

As the RFC India 2021 Champions, Kabir Waraich and Dushyant Khosla have won free entry to the RFC Global Series Finale that will be held in Malaysia. The overall second position was secured by Anand V Manjooran and co-driver Vishnu Raj of KTM Jeepers of Kerala with 2144 points. And the podium was rounded off by Dr Mohammad Fahed VP and his co-driver Rajeev Lal of Team Gulf First from Kerala finishing with 2014 points.

Despite a DNF finish in the very first SS, Kabir Waraich secured full points in the last four SS thus sealing his (and his co-driver Dushyant Khosla’s) victory this season. Kabir has participated in all the seventh editions of RFC and has finally taken home the champion’s crown. They will now represent India in the RFC Global which is ranked third in the five toughest off-road races in the world.

This year, the event was pushed back from the usual peak monsoon July-end dates due to the pandemic and lockdown. Despite the last-minute approvals, relatively short time for the organisers, and for the competitors to prepare their vehicles, 21 teams from across the country reached Goa.

Dr Mohammed Fahed participated with a free entry to RFC India 2021 as the winner of the KASC event in Kerala. Co-driver Chethan Chengappa from Karnataka also competed this year in an attempt to get a hat-trick win. Sam Kurian Kalarickal and Sacharia Saji of R&T Off-Road Club from Kerala bagged the fourth spot, while Cedrick Jordan DaSilva of Goa and Daljit Singh secured a spot in the top five.

The other key awards that were announced include:

• Winner (Up to 1610 CC – Petrol or Diesel): Kabir Waraich (co-driver Dushyant Singh)

• Winner (1611 to 3010 CC Diesel): Dr Mohammad Fahed VP (co-driver Rajeev Lal)

• Winner (1611 to 3010 CC Petrol): Ibrahim Firaz Shaikh (co-driver Imran Garag)

• Winner (Above 3010 CC Petrol): Shemy Musthafa (co-driver Muhammad Nabil)