Why Rainforest Challenge chose Goa, not the Himalayas, for India

Born to fill a gap the Camel Trophy left

Rainforest Challenge was founded in 1997 in Malaysia by Luis J.A. Wee. He started it after the Camel Trophy, the famous expedition style 4x4 competition, wound down and left a gap for hardcore off road motorsport. RFC grew into a format with national rounds across Asia, each one feeding drivers into a world final.

India got its own round only in 2014, run in Goa from August 7 to 15 that year. Wee has said he looked at India because RFC already had chapters running in neighbouring countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka, so an Indian round made sense. He credits the local partner, Cougar Motorsport, led by Ashish Gupta, for making that first edition work. Cougar already had years of experience running motoring events in India, and without that local knowledge Wee has said the first edition would have been much harder to pull off.

Why Goa beat Ladakh and the Rann

South India's off road scene has deserts in Rajasthan and the Rann of Kutch, and snow passes in the Himalaya further north. RFC picked none of those. Gupta has explained the choice simply: Goa gives the event everything from tough terrain to dependable infrastructure, good connectivity, and a local culture that already embraces adventure sport.

The monsoon does the real work. Gentle slopes in Goa's hinterland turn into mud traps once the rain sets in, and the event is built around that unpredictability. Rounds run through areas like Quepem, Verna and Loutolim, on leased private estates and communal land that owners agree to open up, never inside protected forest. Every team signs a leave no trace policy before the event starts. That is the template South Indian clubs point to when they argue for running their own trails on private estates instead of forest land or riverbeds.

From one event to the region's benchmark

RFC India has run every monsoon since that first 2014 edition. The 2025 edition, held from July 28 to August 3, was the 11th running and drew a record 75 teams across three categories. For clubs on this beat, from Terra Tigers in Chennai to the Kerala groups under United Kerala Offroaders, RFC Goa has become the yearly target that separates a weekend trail run from serious competition driving.

The event itself runs across four stages. A circuit race warms crews up, then a jungle driving segment called Predator, an eliminator round called Terminator, and a night stage called Twilight Zone decide the field. None of it happens on a beach, in a reserve forest or on a public road. That distinction matters for any South Indian club watching from the sidelines and planning its own weekend out.

Sources

• Rainforest Challenge founder Luis JA Wee on India's tryst with off-roading
• Why India's ultimate off-road showdown prefers Goa