Erode (TAMIL NADU ) & KOLKATA : 

Siliguri:

After traversing through the hills and the plains for over 1,250km in five days, Ajgar Ali (Kolkata) and co-driver Mohammed Mustafa (Erode) emerged a clear winner over nearest rivals Deep Dutta (co-driver Prakash Muthusamy) in the Biswa Bangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 5 here on Thursday.

Ajgar and Mustafa enjoyed the extra edge of a strong lead in the national class points table going into the final day. But the duo decided to stick to the basics. They showed great understanding from the start (Hile in Nepal) and reached here without having to nurse the car right through the journey.

“There was nothing much to do for us today. We had to just keep the car on the road for the title,” said Mustafa.

They were obviously thrilled to have clinched their maiden international title.

“We have driven together for five years and have been successful in about 50 TSD events. But this was our first international event. It was a totally new experience. We saw different countries, beautiful locations and lovely people and that set the winning mood for us,” he added.

Mustafa said they were under some pressure after taking the lead on the first day. “But we managed to come clean thanks to Ajgar’s brilliant drive. I was always confident of him. He also does not complicate things.”

Ajgar was pretty pleased as well and credited the title win to Mustafa’s clean work. “He did a great job right through.”

Having tasted success at the international stage, the former Himalayan

Drive champions promised to return next year. “We will be back and in

an even better shape to defend our title,” said Ajgar.

Ashish Budhia (co-driver Arindam Ghosh) had to rest content for the third place.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by Rayan Rozario / March 02nd, 2017