TVS Racing riders again stole the show in the second round of the Gulf Dirt Track Racing Championship, a round of the FMSCI National Championship, in Nashik, on Sunday. But best among them was one who missed the first leg in Jodhpur
Yes, as expected, Arvind K P came and conquered, winning two races in the Indian Expert Class and snatching a second and third place in the Foreign motorcycles upto 250cc 2 and 4 stroke races.
After Mr. Bijoy Paul, General Manager (Mktg) of Gulf Oil Corp. flagged off the event at 10 a.m, it was all about Bangalore’s TVS riders cornering the glory. The top rider of the Jodhpur leg, Pramod Joshua, won the first race in the Foreign motorcycles 250cc class, with teammates Arvind K P and R Natraj taking second and third places respectively. All three were astride the TVS 250FX bikes.
However, H K Pradeep who ran Joshua close in Jodhpur upset Joshua’s calculations in the second race, winning it closely, with Joshua placing second and Arvind K P third.
There were 222 entries in 13 classes for competition and needless to say this event, sponsored by Gulf Oil Corporation Limited and organized by Sportscraft-Mumbai in association with Nashik Automotive Sports Association, produced high voltage racing with each class being gone through.
If the battle was keen in the Foreign Expert class, it was even better in the Indian Expert class for motorcycles upto 260cc 2 & 4 stroke, with Arvind K P being the standout performer. His better judgment around the bends saw him win both the races in the class, beating Joshua and Pradeep, who finished in that order in the first race, and Pradeep and Naresh VS, also from TVS, in the second race.
The Private Expert Class too had its share of excitement as Bangalore’s Suhail Ahmed, Yamaha 135, won the first race, with S Asif, also of Bangalore, finishing second and Syed Asif Alo of Bhopal third.
In the second race of the class, Syed Ali had to settle for second place, beaten by Coimbatore’s A Anand. Aujffar Ali was third.
If the country’s leading riders had the goodly crowd at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium enthralled in the abovementioned categories, the local class and Indian novice class provided more excitement and had the spectators cheering wildly.
In the local class for bikes upto 165 cc 2-stroke, Pune’s Pinkesh Thakkar, astride a Yamaha 135, won the first race. He was followed by Mumbai’s Jagjit Singh, also on a Yamaha 135, and Aurangabad’s Feroz Khan, who finished third.
Pinkesh was, however, relegated to second place in the Local class for motorcycles upto 165cc- 4-stroke, beaten by Aurangabad’s Rizwan Shaikh, astride a TVS Apache. Pune’s Amul Satpute was third on a TVS Fiero.
Same was the case with the novice class. Wase Ahmad Mateen of Aurangabad won the Group C motorcycles upto 165cc 2-stroke, while Vinoth Kumar of Coimbatore and Nitish Sharma places second and third respectively. All three were astride Yamaha 135.
Mateen was, however, given a stiff fight by in the Novice class 131cc upto 165 cc – 4-stroke and had to settle for third place, with Adnaan Ahmed of Bangalore and Dinu Devasia of Coimbatore placing first and second respectively.
Adnaan Ahmed also won the Novice class for motorcycles 130cc – 4-stroke. Astride as TVS Victor, he finshed ahead of Arif Shaikh of Miraj and Kamlesh Sharma respectively
Nashik’s Shamim Khan, astride a M&M Rodeo, as expected, won the scooters class, finishing ahead of Pune’s Pinkesh Thakkar and Aurangabad’s Feroz Khan.
Maansingh Thakur won first place in Nashik Class which organisers introduced for the first time for local Nashik riders only. The 2nd& 3rd position taken by Nishit Zaveri & Amit Suryavanshi
The crowd that turned up was appreciative of the event and the riders too were all praise for Sportscraft’s conduct of it. In sum, morotsport enthusiasts had a treat of dirt track racing they will relish for a long time.
