Monsoon scooter rally
After a three-year break, two-wheeler riders get a chance to test and display their riding skills in the Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally, to be held on September 8, along the dirt tracts of Khandala and Lonavala, in western India.
The once popular event, which was first staged in 1986, ran for 11 years but was forced to be discontinued due to paucity of sponsors. This year, Gulf Oil Corporation Limited [formerly Gulf Oil India Limited] have come forward to revive it.
Oft-crowned champion in the event and former National motorcycle rally champion Zubin Patel will not be participating because of an accident during a rally in Shimla, two years back, which has rendered him impaired. But his cousin Kaizad Patel, who has won the title on a couple of occasions, will be there along with several seasoned riders like Prashant Desai, Freddy Elavia, Shailesh Gala, Afzal Khan, all of whom ran Zubin and Kaizad close in previous events.
With good rain over the past few days along the backwoods of Lonavala needless to say, the 150-km race, which will be run in two sectors - competitive and transport, and on the European format of Time and Distance Rally, will be a stiff challenge for man and machine.
With a good amount of riding to be done on dirt terrain, it will be interesting to see how the many new scooter models in the Indian market perform and how sturdy they are to take on the elements.
The riders will be timed to a second and the one who accumulates the least number of penalty points will be adjudged the winner.
Competition is being held in three classes - Class S-1: Above 80 up to 110 cc - Two Stroke; Class S-2: Above 110 cc up to 160 cc - Two Stroke; Up to 160 cc - Four Stroke.
Besides three prizes in each class, there will be five overall prizes, with the overall winner getting Rs 5,000/-
There will also be a Ladies Class, for which the Late Neeta Nerurkar Trophy and cash prize of Rs.1,000/- will be presented.
The late Firdosh Vajifdar Trophy and Rs 1,000 will be presented to the best performance by a first timer.
Standard entries close on Monday September 2, 17:00 hours.
More details/entry forms are available and accepted only at SPORTSCRAFT, Chitrakut, 3rd floor, Siri Road, Chowpatty Bandstand, Mumbai 400 006. Tel. 022 - 3677631, or e-mail sportscraft@hotmail.com.
