Rajiv Yadav and Rohit Gowda win Extreme; Dhritimaan Singh claims Moto at JK Tyre Rally of Himalayas 2026

Rajiv Yadav and co-driver Rohit Gowda won the Extreme category and Dhritimaan Singh topped the two-wheeler (Moto) class at the JK Tyre Rally of Himalayas 2026, which ran from Manali through Lahaul-Spiti and concluded in Zanskar on Wednesday. The sixth edition unfolded over four days and featured 50 cars and 80 riders racing across rugged routes.

Organisers described the event as a brutal Cross Country Rally and one of India’s most challenging rally raids. Competitors tackled a unique 72-km stage that was later run in the reverse direction as part of the route from Manali to Zanskar.

Rajiv Yadav and Rohit Gowda set the early pace in the Extreme category, a performance that proved decisive as they held off later challenges. Aaryak Rana and Aditya Sharma finished second in the Extreme class, with Daksh Gill and Virender Kashyap third; Daksh and Virender reached speeds of up to 200 km/h on the treacherous Zanskar stretch.

There was nothing to separate the pairs of Soham Hazra & Nirav Mehta, and Santosh H.M. & Prakash Muthusamy in the Time, Speed, Distance (TSD)/Adventure category as they mastered the clock and machine. Chandra Mouli & N. Sri Sakthi Kumar placed second in TSD/Adventure, while Sachin Mandhwani & Adhitya Anthony were third.

Dhritimaan Singh claimed the Moto (two-wheeler) title, with Happy Verma second and Nitish Bharadwaj third. “It’s very tricky [on a bike] because you have to navigate on your own. It’s also a very demanding sport… we have to take good care of the body as well as the machine,” Dhritimaan had said midway through his fifth Rally of Himalayas, and the Dehradun rider dominated the second half of the event to secure victory.

One of the turning points of the rally came when Lakhpa Tsering, the 2015 Raid de Himalaya victor, was forced to withdraw after a technical issue on the second day of racing. The writer covered the event from Manali at the invitation of JK Tyre.

The results: Extreme (driver & co-driver): 1. Rajiv Yadav & Rohit Gowda; 2. Aaryak Rana & Aditya Sharma; 3. Daksh Gill & Virender Kashyap. Time Speed Distance/Adventure: 1. Soham Hazra & Nirav Mehta, and Santosh H.M. & Prakash Muthusamy; 2. Chandra Mouli & N. Sri Sakthi Kumar; 3. Sachin Mandhwani & Adhitya Anthony. Moto (two-wheeler): 1. Dhritimaan Singh; 2. Happy Verma; 3. Nitish Bharadwaj.