Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Shillong: Phoebe Dale Nongrum is heading to Ladakh. She just finished on the podium at the Rally of Coimbatore. The Meghalaya athlete secured second runner-up in the women category at the second round of the 2026 Indian National Rally Championship. That race ran from September 18 to 20 in Tamil Nadu. Nongrum fought through car issues on the first day to place.
She moves next to the sixth edition of the Rally of the Himalaya. The race runs from September 27 to 30. It covers high-altitude terrain across the Zanskar Valley and Ladakh. The route demands work on mountain roads and shifting surfaces. This marks her second time in the event. She previously took a podium in the T1 Xtreme category and grabbed the Best Team Trophy, becoming the first woman to reach the podium there.
Nongrum represents the Meghalaya Motorsports Society. She balances circuit racing, rallying, and cross-country events. She made her national championship debut in 2023 and has held consecutive runner-up spots since. Nongrum acknowledged the tight schedule between races. She said the short turnaround after the Coimbatore event would leave little time for recovery, but added that her previous experience had given her an understanding of the demands of high-altitude cross-country racing.
Co-driver Shahid Salman will join her. Salman is a 2023 INRC 3 champion who previously won the T2 category at the 2017 Rally of the Himalaya. The pair must now shift gears from national rallying to the grueling cross-country format.
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