Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Mumbai:

Team TVS Racing’s Syed Asif Ali won the 27th Sportscraft Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally here on Sunday. Ali thus prevented Shamim Khan from winning the competition for the fifth time.

The Bengaluru-based Ali, astride a TVS Wego, won the Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited-sponsored event with a penalty of 32.43 seconds. The second place went to Team Mahindra’s Shamim astride a Mahindra Gusto while Navi Mumbai’s Erimal Shekharan, riding a Yamaha Alpha, took third place.

The competition — Sportscraft’s 351st — turned out to be very tough and the likes of former champions Rustom Patel, Manjeet Singh Bassan and Avtar Singh did not finish among the top five. In all, 53 riders entered the event.

“This time the course was really tough. In addition to the slushy areas we had a couple of trucks coming in our way and forcing us to slow down. It was challenging,’’ said Ali.

Team CEAT’s Nidhi Shukla riding a Honda Activa turned out to be the best woman rider; she completed the race with a penalty of 45.20 seconds.

The results: Overall:

1. Syed Asif Ali (TVS Wego) 32.43s penalty; 2. Shamim Khan (Mahindra Gusto) 33.36; 3. Erimal Shekharan (Yamaha Alpha) 34.18; 4. Sheshraj Yadav (Yamaha Alpha) 35.54; 5. Muzaffar Ali (TVS Wego) 36.05.

Class S1, 81-110cc, 2-stroke, Group C:

1. Rohan Thakur (Kinetic Marvel) 36:54; 2. Nilesh Thakare (Kinetic Honda) 38:34; 3. Kunal Rao (Kinetic Marvel) 39:10.

Class S2, 111-160cc, 2-stroke, Group C:

Manjit Singh Bassan (LML Vespa) 37:14; 2. Ravindra Singh (LML Vespa) 43:58; 3. Vikram Boparai (LML Vespa) 47:34.

Best performance by a first-timer in two-wheeler rally, Firdosh VajifdarTrophy: Mohsin Mehboob Faki (Yamaha A) 37:18.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by Special Correspondent / Mumbai – July 10th, 2016