Gulf Dirt Track National Championship–2007 Kolhapur

Bangalore’s Arvind K P and Pune’s Eeshan Lokhande stole the limelight to emerge deserving champions in their respective categories in the fifth and final round of the Gulf Dirt Track National Championship for two-wheelers, organized by Sportscraft, inKolhapur

While Arvind survived a strong challenge from his TVS Racing and Bangalore teammate Pramod Joshua to win three of the four classes he participated , Lokhande, who only participated in the Gurgaon and Kolhapur legs, was a class above the field on his Honda CR in the Private Expert Class for foreign motorcycles upto 260cc Group A 2 & 4 stroke, winning both races with much to spare.

In winning the two races in Indian Expert Championship for foreign motorcycles Group A upto 260cc, Arvind crowned himself also National champion in the category, finishing with 184 points in the class. Joshua placed overall second with 162 points, which were aggregated over the previous legs inBhopal,Coimbatore,Nagpur, Gurgaon and nowKolhapur.

Kolhapur motor sport fans were treated to a rich fare of two-wheeler racing after Inspector General of Police,Kolhapur, Ashok Dhivare flagged off the proceedings in the morning.

Arvind and Joshua, both astride a TVS 125X, set the tone for the day’s challenge in the first race it self – the Indian Expert Championship for foreign motorcycles Group A 2 & 4 stroke. Joshua led the 13-lap race till the tenth lap only to be hampered by a fuel problem which forced him to concede the lead to Arvind and settle for second place. Mumbai’s Rustom Patel, astride a Suzuki RM, placed a distant third.

With such a close fight in the opening event, there was another keen battle when both Arvind and Joshua met two events later in the 10-lap Indian Expert Championship for Group B motorcycles upto 260cc. Here, it was Arvind who had the initial lead, but Joshua forged ahead midway through the seventh lap. But with both battling wheel to wheel, it was Joshua who did better on the hairpin bends on the last lap to come out trumps.

For all his fine efforts, Joshua also emerged National Champion in the Indian Expert Championship Group B upto 260cc.

Pinkesh Thakkar of Pune was unable to win in his category inKolhapur, yet a third and second placing in the Private Expert Championship for bikes upto 260 cc 2 & 4 stroke Group B was enough to crown him overall National champion.

He aggregated 158 points from the five legs and finished ahead of Ganesh Lokhande of Nashik (120) and Shamin Khan, another Nashik rider, who had 115 points.

Shamim Khan also emerged overall champion in the Private Expert Class for motorcycles upto 260cc Group A 2 & 4 stroke. He finished with 114 points, just a point ahead of Rustom Patel. Ganesh Lokhande was third with 125 points.

Amul Satpute, riding a TVS Fiero, won the local class forMaharashtrariders, finishing a good 100 metres ahead of Pinkesh Thakkar and Shamin Khan.

TheKolhapurclass for local riders was won by Shahrukh Mulla, astride a Yamaha RXZ. Cheered by local fans, he went over the serpentine bends and slushy stretches with aplomb to beat Sumeet Yeware and Arif Ghori, who placed second and third respectively.

Race Results