Day One:
Shimla to Manali via the 10,280 foot Jalori Pass. The toughest day of the Raid. Average speeds were higher and we had an all-new off-road section. The Wagon R did admirably well in the dirt but we went into ‘preserve-car mode’ when the going got really tough. We had to re-learn dirt driving. Chiclet was the first car to check into Manali, managing second overall behind Team Overdrive’s Esteem. Not too bad – army Gypsies (fully equipped with rally comps and roll cage) were behind!

Day Two
Manali to Jispa could have been a normal mountain drive, but the organisers made it a bit more interesting by adding a section from Gramphoo to Chotta Dhara (on the very rough road to Kaza). This was the toughest terrain in the Raid – gravel and rocks to huge boulders. We were amazed by the way the Wagon R acquitted itself. Earlier, a mismatch between our odo and tulip charts had seen us off course for a bit, and then a miscalculation of stage speeds by the organisers cost us some time. We’d slipped to fourth overall.

Day Three
Param had the hang of the TSD (Time Speed Distance) format now and we were managing decent times. We went thorough Baralach La and Nakee La passes The run through the Sarchu plains with its infamous dips and alien landscape was unforgettable, and the Wagon R was yet to miss a beat. We swapped our front tyres for a fresh pair at Jispa (we carried two spares) and that helped. We were sixth overall, with two days to go. Or so we thought.

Day Four
This day, while the Extreme competitors sat it out, we ran a shortened highway run to Tanglang La and back. Topping out at about 17,469 feet, this  is the third highest motorable road in the world. We hit a snow storm as we were reaching the pass and it was a sign of the things to come. The return leg was slippery, but we could still aim for a top-three finish. We reached Pang without trouble. The result sheet looked promising – barely a few seconds between third and sixth, us.

Day Five
This run back to Manali was cancelled and the now infamous ‘convoy to hell’ happened. Finally back in Mumbai having missing our train by two days, we checked the provisional results on the Internet and found we had finished fourth overall. That changed to fifth overall after an appeal from someone, and fourth among cars. That means a small trophy to park at home (the first five get trophies at the Raid), and a nice story to tell my grandchildren, over grilled chicken, someday.