Kerala: Kottayam is now the off-roading capital of South India

KOTTAYAM: As many as five teams from Kottayam are among 40 teams across the country participating in this year's Rain Forest Challenge (RFC) India, rated as one of the most gruelling motorsport competitions in the world, to be held in Goa from July 22-30.
Only Hyderabad has more teams than Kottayam with six while Bangalore is on par with Kottayam with five teams. Chandigarh, a known off-roading destination, has four teams.Kerala has seven teams, which is the second highest from any state, after Karnataka with eight.
RFC will test driving and vehicle recovery skills along with physical endurance, mental toughness and team spirit under extreme off-road conditions. The contestants have to drive through almost unpassable roads with ruts, gullies, trenches, steep slippery slopes and flooded streams amid constant rain.
“I have been off-roading since the last five years and have participated in several competitions in Kerala and elsewhere. I was a category winner at Raid-de-Himalaya last year. I am passionate about off-road vehicles and have been preparing my Gypsy since the last couple of years for RFC India, which I feel is a world-class event,” says 44-year-old Shemy Mustafa from Kottayam, who is director of a shipping company.
Kottayam's affair with the battle of man and machine in extreme off-road conditions began a decade ago in 2007 when KTM Jeepers, a club of off-road enthusiasts, was founded by Sam Kurian Kalarickal. The club now has 51 members, including women drivers.
Sam, later began an off-road training academy in 2013. Very passionate about building off-road machines, he owns a 4x4 customization workshop also.