Polaris' Arindam Saikia jumps from P14 to take lead after Day 2 of Raid de Himalaya

Team Polaris' Arindam Saikia shot into the lead after a snow-hit Day 2 in the 20th Raid de Himalaya here on Thursday.

Arindam, who was trailing in the 14th place after Day 1, jumped to the top position by showing his skill and courage on the highly challenging climb to Penzi La, where the temperature hovered around -16 degree Celsius.

Himanshu Arora of Harjee Rallying, a Delhi-based rallying club, moved to second place in his Maruti Gypsy. Col. Shakti Bajaj of Team Army was behind him in the third place, followed by 2014 Raid winner Captain AVS Gill.

Harpreet Bawa, also of Harjee Rallying, was in the fifth spot. The Raid will draw to a close on October 14.

Amitrajit Ghosh of Team Mahindra, who was leading after the first day, suffered two flaps during the day's demanding stages and lost several minutes. His teammate Philippos Mathai too slipped from his overnight second position to fall behind the lead pack.

Clerk of the Course Manjeev Bhalla said that the rallyists had to contend ...