Ishaan Rastogi
Amidst intermittent rain-showers that made the dirt tracks of Navi Mumbai all the more arduous, the 26th Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally saw Nashik’s Shamim Khan win the rally for a fourth time.
Residents of the Central Business District of Belapur in Navi Mumbai awoke to the rumble of contestants pulling up to the flag-off point of the 26th Edition of the Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally at the K-Star Hotel. The camaraderie among competitors was evident by the nervous smiles and words of encouragement between the scooterists. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and the teams were more than happy to pose for photographs while waiting anxiously for the rally to begin.
This year’s rally comprised of a total of 40 participants including two women riders and fourteen first timers. The different scooters were divided into three categories; Class S1 81cc-110cc 2-stroke, Class S2 111cc-160cc 2-stroke and Class FSG upto 160cc 4-stroke. Shamim Khan from Team Mahindra finished the treacherous 35km course on his Mahindra Rodeo and posted an unbeatable time of 00.31.59 which was 2.26 seconds quicker than Team Ceat’s Pinkesh Thakkar astride a Honda Kinetic. In fact, what makes Khan’s timing even more impressive is the fact that he had a nasty fall in the second of the three legs.
While attending to his injuries Khan said, “This was the toughest of all the monsoon races I have competed in. It did not rain so heavily during the race, but, as a result, the surface at the finish was sandy and loose. It was difficult to launch that final burst on the home straight at the time controls.”
The two women riders who braved the course should be lauded for their efforts and will hopefully inspire more of the fairer sex to get involved in motorsport over the years to come. Nidhi Shukla of Team Seat set a time of 00.46.14 on her Suzuki Access and Vishakha Falsunge finished the race in 01.11.28 on her Honda Activa. Equally heartening was the performance of the first-timers who stood up to the challenge and performed admirably. Bhopal’s Mohammed Ali Khan was awarded the Firdosh Vajifdar trophy for the best newcomer as he shocked some of the more experienced riders by blitzing the track in 00.34.32 on his Suzuki Swish and took the third and final podium finish in the FSG Class as well as fourth place in the overall standings.
Shamim Khan was the fastest in the FSG Class and outpaced all 40 opponents for the fourth time in his career after previously winning the rally in 2003, 2004 and 2010. Other winners include former champion Manjeet Singh Bassan of Team Ceat who was the fastest in the S2 Class astride his LML Vespa with a time of 00.35.37 and Pinkesh Thakkar also of Team Ceat won in the S1 Class and completed the race in 00.33.45 on his Kinetic Honda.
The heavy rains that bombarded the track a few days before the race made for an exhilarating day of racing and the crowds were subjected to a plethora of emotions. Four competitors were unable to finish the course including R Nataraj of TVS Racing who was forced to pull out due to an early mechanical failure after which the defending champion was justifiably disappointed.
Ravi Chawla, Managing Director of Gulf Oil Lubricants said, “Gulf Oil’s monsoon scooter rally is a property to connect with our audience and build the brand relevance much strongly. This year, we were glad to see great enthusiasm from the participants and are thrilled to witness the number increasing every year which assures us that we are in the right path towards connecting with our audience."
Known to be the only fully dedicated and organized monsoon scooter rally in India, the Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally lived up to my expectations in terms of sheer excitement from a motoring enthusiast’s point of view.
