INTRODUCTION : The Haldia Utsab Rally ‘2006 was held as part of Haldia Utsab , an event to showcase the progress and prosperity of the Haldia region. The event , for Motorbikes and Cars was organised by Haldia Utsab Car Rally Committee jointly with Bengal Motor Sports Club (BMSC) , an affiliate of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the National Sports Federation recognised by the Government of India. The rally was conducted on permits issued by Indian ASN’s of FIM and FIA who are the world governing bodies for 2-Wheeler and 4-Wheeler motorsports in the world.

COMPETITORS : A total number of 38 competitors took part in the event. Out of this there were 22 competitor in the Motorcycle (2W) category and 16 competitors in the Cars (4W) category.

START : The rally was flagged off from Salt Lake stadium at 08:00 hours on Saturday , 14-Jan-06 by Hon’ble Minister for Sports & Transport , Govt. of West Bengal , Shri Subhas Chakraborty in presence of Hon’ble MP of Tamluk , Shri Lakhman Seth and Shri Rajat Kumar Mazumder , the President of FMSCI. Also present was Shri Avi Mukherjee of National Insurance who were the Official Insurers for the Rally.

THE RALLY : The Rally was run on the Time Speed Distance (TSD) format in 2 legs.

The First leg started from Kolkata and terminated in Haldia after travelling through 304 kms. of varied terrain including National

Highways and other tarmac roads , murram , gravel and other dirt tracks through districts of Howrah , Purba and Paschim Medinipur before finishing at Hotel Golden Retreat in Haldia after 8 gruelling hours. 14 Time Controls was set up enroute for recording the time of the competitors.

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