Racing on the edge: An interview with Raid De Himalaya legend Suresh Rana

Interview

 

 

Visits to the mesmeric snow laden Himalayan ranges, the wide open landscapes of Ladakh and the famed town of Kargil seems like a dream holiday for many of us. For a certain Suresh Rana, it was his racing schedule for this year’s Maruti Suzuki Raid De Himalaya. Having won the Raid 11 out of 19 times, Rana is aptly known as the Raid legend. 

 

After the end of this year’s Raid De Himalaya in the city of Leh, we got a chance to sit down with the man himself for a brief chat, to find out what goes into an orchardist turned racer entering the country’s toughest rally every year. 

 

So first things first, how do you prepare yourself for something as difficult as Raid De Himalaya?

You see, every year the stages are different overall with new locations, but the first three stages are more or less the same. I’ve been driving around the Himalayan ranges for years now and have experienced these stages several times. While preparing for the Raid, our top priority is keeping the car in the right shape, especially with regards to the suspension. I end up paying more attention to the fine tuning of the suspension. 

What’s been the most difficult thing to do in this year’s Raid?

In any cross country rally, the most crucial bit to remember is to keep the car safe. My main aim was to keep the car out of trouble and from day one, I had it in mind that I will try to preserve my car as much as I can. Fortunately, we managed to keep things together as we didn’t have any major problem whatsoever.

Between the Gypsy and the Grand Vitara, which car do you think handles the rough terrain better? Did you need to change your driving technique after moving to the Vitara?

I believe that both the cars are equally good at handling dirt. I’ve won 5 to 6 times in the Gypsy and a few times in the Vitara and I think both are competitive and really lucky for me. The thing with the Gypsy is that you’ve to play a little safe – the chances of damaging it are higher if you overcook any corner. Suspension wise, they are really different – the Gypy rides relatively stiff while the Grand Vitara is on the softer side. 

We have had a good run with both the Gypsy and the Vitara. Let’s see if there’s a scope of introducing any other vehicle for the Raid as we are looking to change our car for 2018. Currently we are considering the Vitara Brezza. 

Do you plan to get into other forms of motorsport like circuit racing?

Not really, I plan to stick to cross country rallies that are currently happening in the country. My focus is mainly on the Raid and the Desert storm. To be honest, I’ve never gotten myself involved in circuit racing and it’s unlikely that I will be seeing myself doing grip racing in the future. 

Having won the Raid 11 out of 19 times, how do you foresee this event to grow, especially in terms of the cars that are being used?

This year we had five cars from Team Maruti Suzuki (including the Ignis and the Vitara Brezza), with all of them featuring stock engines. We got them on-board to gauge their performance. Now as you can see, we will be looking at how they performed in this year’s Raid. For 2018, we will try to prepare them for the Desert Storm. We will be testing them before letting them loose over longer, more difficult rallies. For the next Raid you can expect me to bring the Vitara Brezza. 

So does this mean we would be seeing you compete in the Raid in a two wheel drive car?

Why not? More than two or four-wheel drive, it’s the suspension that really matters in any rally. The springs have got to be tough for handling bad stuff. If you ask me, cars nowadays have no shortage of power, especially modern diesel cars – they have ample torque. So yeah, if we get a go ahead from Maruti, then absolutely, I am ready to compete in a two-wheel drive car. 

What’s your everyday car? And is it stock or modified in some form?

My everyday car is a Gypsy and I also drive a Ford EcoSport – both I’ve kept as stock. So yeah, I keep driving the EcoSport and that’s also a front wheel drive only. However, I feel it reacts quicker overall than the Vitara Brezza. That’s the thing, the power is always there in modern cars. It’s the suspension that needs work.  

This year’s Raid witnessed plenty of retirements early on. What are your thoughts on the early stages? 

The first two days were bound to be tough, everyone was aware of that. First of all, the drivers should keep this thing in their minds that a rally cannot be won on the first day itself. As a rallyist, you will first need to survive, understand the terrain and get used to the car and its behaviour. You cannot take off and do breakneck speeds without preserving your car because once it breaks, there are chances that you will end up fixing it throughout the rally. It’s a six day rally after all, and you will have ample opportunities to make up for the lost time. This is what I feel should be the ideal strategy in cross country rallying. 

What kind of modifications have been done to your Grand Vitara?

Like I said, the engine is fully stock with no performance enhancements whatsoever. But the suspension is majorly different compared to the stock setup. We are using WRC-spec springs and dampers which help us achieve a lot more speed over bumpy sections. They also give us more stability when going over boulders.

Lastly, is there any message you would like to convey to young racers who are looking to rise and shine in the Indian motorsport scene?  

I’ve noticed that nowadays most of the young racers seem to be after power. It looks like they want the most powerful machines. They are like I want what Rana drives, give me what Sunny Sidhu drives. You see it doesn’t work like that in motorsports. The ideal thing to do is to start from zero, get your base right and then progress your way up with more power. I would suggest they start off with low power stock cars so that they can get the basics of car control right.

For budding racers there is now something called as the Maruti Suzuki Auto Prix. It’s a good platform for newcomers and those who believe they are talented enough to compete with likeminded enthusiasts. One doesn’t need to invest a whole lot and the tracks are usually between 1 to 2km long. For beginners, these kind of events are a lot more accessible compared to something like the Raid De Himalaya which is like a week-long rally.