The preparation for SJOBA rally begins on an adventurous note

The following article was published in The Tribune Chandigarh on November 23, 2010.

The Thunderbolt SJOBA Sub-Himalayan Rally maybe a few months away (scheduled for March 25-27, 2011), but the SJOBA team is already out on the dusty, bumpy trails of the mountains doing a recce for the rally. Over the weekend, two vehicles and a team of promising young (and a couple of not so young) ex-Johnians took off from Chandigarh to test the rugged and unknown tracks in the sub-Himalayan ranges.

"You see, everything has to be just perfect for the SJOBA rally," said Nagendra Singh, president, SJOBA. "And, that is why we were up and about so early on a Saturday morning, checking the tracks the rally will ultimately pass by a few months away. We started preparing the road book for the rally, looked for new, challenging routes to take and also started working out the safety and communication aspects from now itself."

Many kilometers and photographs later, having completed a fair number of routes with a draft of the road-book and GPS tracks, the team reached Koti Resorts for the night, exhausted and full of dust. The road-book and GPS tracks were taken care of by the young lads under the excellent guidance of experienced seniors, who have had a fair share of doing this in the many years that they have been a part of the SJOBA rally.

Sunday morning also started early for the team. All pepped up, the team zoomed off from Koti Resorts early morning onto the dusty tracks once again. As fate would have it, one of the most interesting stretches could not be done because of a landslide, so turning back a little, the team headed off towards another stretch.

A quick lunch at a roadside dhaba was followed by more off-roading and photography, with the youngsters taking over the wheel and letting the elders enjoy the breathtaking view. Due to shortage of time, the team split into two and headed in different directions, finally meeting on the highway in the late hours of the evening. After lots of on-the-spot planning and brainstorming, the team decided on a probable route for the rally, which would incorporate several new tracks which have never been used before.

"Rallying is a sort of addiction and planning a rally is an even bigger one," said Shivneet Singh, a senior member of the team. "Once you do it, you want to keep doing it. You just can't get enough of the thrill, the view, the adventure and the fun," he added.

Two days of hard work, fun and bone-rattling and dusty rides, a highly satisfied team headed back home to Chandigarh, counting down the days till the next recce and to seeing yet another successful SJOBA rally!

SJOBA Rally 2011

24th Annual SJOBA Thunderbolt Rally will be held on March 25-27, 2011. Apart from the ‘Extreme Rally,’ SJOBA is also organizing the ‘TSD Rally’ , which will be based on the Time, Speed, Distance (TSD) format and can be called a more sober version of Rally. This rally is being conducted with the affiliation of FMSCI.

The Extreme Rally will be open to jeeps/cars/bikes with the participants being required to cover approximately 550 kms over 4 days. The route will be a challenging and an adventurous one covering “axle-breaking” river beds (both dry and wet), fast tarmacs with winding hair pins, unmetalled surfaces and exhilarating hilly terrain in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The competitive stretches will be evenly spaced and followed by the transport sections. Participants will face six competitive sections on each day, which Extreme the drivers concentration abilities, physical endurance and driving skills.

Participants in the TSD Rally will be able to compete in their unmodified cars making this an excellent opportunity for amateurs and for those who want to have a feel of what rallying is all about.

One of the most professionally organized rallies today, the SJOBA-Thunderbolt Sub-Himalayan Rally attracts professionals and budding rallyists from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan, who want to take up the professional circuit. The rally has become a nursery for motor sports in North India and many rallyists from this region have honed their skills and proved their mettle in the annual SJOBA Rally - Hari Singh, Bittu Mann, Manik Rekhy and Sunny Sidhu to name a few.

Each participant is treated like a member of the SJOBA family and thus provided with excellent food and lodging during the event. SJOBA’s hospitality and professionalism are undeniably the best in the country with manpower of over 100 marshals who ensure that all participants go with memories that they will cherish forever and come back for more each year.

Safety standards have always been a priority of SJOBA. Hence, there are FIVs (Fast Intervention Vehicles) and ambulances at each competitive stage with SJOBA marshals and doctors available with full medical assistance. Each Marshal on the route also carries a first aid kit with himself when on duty.

The rally enjoys the full support of the Police and Administrations of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, hence adequate arrangements are made to ensure that there is no oncoming traffic in the competitive stages. SJOBA also boasts of a near perfect wireless communication network set-up with in-house ham radio operators who ensure that any kind of help is provided immediately to the participants

SJOBA is the alumni association of St. John’s High School, Chandigarh. SJOBA was founded in 1980 and now has over 2,500 strong members and a global presence with a Chapter of the Americas also. Apart from the Rally, SJOBA organizes various events through the year like the SJOBA Winter Ball, Blood Donation Camp and the Mini Marathon.

The idea of Motor Sport came into being, when SJOBA decided to do something for the region. Ideas were thrown about and SJOBA decided that motor sports would be its forte. So, the first SJOBA Motorcycle rally was held in 1981 and this graduated to the SJOBA Open Rally in 1982 where, for the first time, amateurs in the region were exposed to motor sports in a professional way.