The second edition of Gumball India ended successfully in Arunachal Pradesh today. The prizes were distributed in the Golden Pagoda, Namsai in the presence of the District Commissioner R. K. Sharma and Superintendent of Police Dr. D. W. Thungon along with the winners.
Gumball India is a high adrenaline motor-sport involving a non-stop drive over a long distance. And the first version was flagged off from Kanyakumari. This year was flagged off on the the 24th of December from Koteshwar in Gujarat and ended at Kaho in Arunachal Pradesh today. This year a total of sixteen teams competed over a distance of 4,000 kilometres in a non-stop drive. Drivers from all across the country participated in this event.
This event was part of ‘Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’– India’s 75 years of Independence under initiative by Arunachal Pradesh Tourism to promote domestic tourism in the state. And to encourage more inclusiveness, the organizers, also tied up with Wheeling Happiness and provided free entry to two teams of specially-able drivers. The teams navigated through a total of fifteen checkpoints across the route. The teams could choose any road they wished to take as long as they reach the checkpoints. All the participating cars were monitored by a central tracking system which kept track of the distance, speed, driving time and stopping time and also passage check-ins.
Key cities on the road included Lakhpat, Dholavira, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jhansi, Chunar, Varanasi, Chapra, Guwahati and Tezu. It was a real endurance test with 82 hours of non stop driving through Rann of Kutch , Aravalli Hills , historical monuments of Madhya Pradesh, plains of Bihar and Assam. The event culminated with the Indian flag hoisting ceremony at Kaho village in Arunachal Pradesh and with the singing of the national anthem by the Indian army.
The winners of this year’s event in the general category are 1st rank Team KARM 2.0, 2nd rank Team Defenders and 3rd rank Team Urban Nomads. The Specially Abled winners of this year’s event include 1st rank Team Able Warriors, 2nd rank Team Ace and 3rd rank Team Living Life on Wheels.
