Arjuna Awardee Rallyist Gaurav Gill conquered the Rally of Arunachal, winning both the opening rounds of the Champions Yacht Club FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), 2020 on Sunday, but it was drivers from the Northeast who hogged the limelight with the Arunachal tourism department supporting them in a big way.

The participation of Arunachal drivers in the Indian nationals hit a peak with seven drivers taking part. Out of them, five, including Nabam Asha, were from Arunachal. Lanusanen Pongener of Dimapur became the first Northeast driver to win a round at the national championship, taking a victory in the first round in a dramatic fashion. He beat all the biggies and bagged the INRC4 class.

Phurpa Tsering of Dirang won a golden double, taking both rounds in the Arunachal Pradesh Cup. Brothers Hage Chada and Hage Bittu of Itanagar were the driver and navigator pair. Pem Sonam, also of Itanagar, paired with Lenin Joseph of Tamil Nadu, and the only woman driver from the state, Nabam Asha, excelled in her performance with navigator Mahesh Nandi from Bengaluru.

“The Motorsports Association of Arunachal provided sponsor networks and navigators to train the local drivers and it yielded rich results. Support came in a huge way from the tourism department of Arunachal, the police department and the chief minister to make the event a grand success,” said Lhakpa Tsering, the chairman of Rally of Arunachal.