Maruti Suzuki has announced the completion of the North Zone qualifying leg of the Rock N’ Road 4X4 Masters championship. Launched on 27th January in Delhi followed by Chandigarh on 3rd February, the Rock N’ Road 4X4 Masters is an off-roading championship designed exclusively for budding off-roading enthusiasts who are Jimny owners.
This event has been introduced to bring together like-minded adventure enthusiasts, providing a stage for them to test their Jimny’s capabilities, by conquering challenging terrains while discovering their passion for off-roading and weaving lasting memories.
The recently concluded qualifying leg in the North saw participation from the cities of Delhi and Chandigarh. On the completion of the Rock N’ Road 4X4 Masters North zone qualifying leg, Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “At Maruti Suzuki, we strive to offer top-tier SUVs to our clientele and cultivate a community of avid drivers who crave adventure and discovery.
“The Rock N’ Road 4X4 Masters epitomizes our dedication to innovation, customer involvement, and providing extraordinary experiences. The Jimny embodies a purpose-driven SUV with a rich heritage of conquering unexplored terrain. Through the 4X4 Masters championship, Jimny owners will have the opportunity to fully utilize their SUV’s capabilities in a competitive setting, showcasing its 4X4 agility and adaptability.”
He further added, “Following the exhilarating North zone qualifying stage, we eagerly anticipate witnessing the excitement, expertise, and camaraderie that this pioneering event will generate among our esteemed customers and the broader off-road community in the weeks ahead.”
The championship is structured in two phases – qualifiers, which are organized across 8 cities, followed by a grand finale to culminate the season in Goa.
The event allows Jimny owners to participate in two categories – stock vehicles and modified vehicles. The participants in the qualifiers are required to complete 8 challenges, referred to as Special Stages (SS) over two days of the competition.
The Special Stages have been designed to test the participants’ off-road driving skills, minimizing penalties while preventing damage to the vehicle, their familiarity with the vehicle and their physical abilities in undertaking recovery activities such as manual winching to generate awareness about safe practices during off-roading. The Special Stages include ascents, descents, and undulations across varying off-road terrain.
The participants in the Rock N’ Road 4X4 Masters championship are judged by an independent panel of supervisors comprising seasoned members from the Indian off-roading community. One winner from each category of the qualifier categories will progress to the grand finale, set to take place in Goa on the 23rd of March, 2024. Along with other prizes, the top two winners of the Rock N’ Road 4X4 Masters will stand a chance to experience global off-roading events.
The first leg of the qualifiers for Rock N’ Road 4X4 Masters was kicked off in Delhi on 27th January, with Manav Arya and Shantanu Grover emerging as winners in the stock and modified categories, respectively.
The Chandigarh qualifiers saw Gurmeet Virdi and Mankaran Singh Bhambra as the winners in the modified and stock categories, respectively. The next qualifier round will take place in Shillong, followed by Hyderabad, Vagamon, Bengaluru, and Mumbai & Pune, with the finale slated to happen in Goa.
