Venkatesh Shetty wins Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally 2017

The 28th edition of Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally was organised by Sportscraft, the previous day. The 35km-long two-wheeler time trial rally was conducted in the backwoods of Navi Mumbai and was flagged off from Hotel K Star in the Central Business District of Belapur by popular Radio Jockeys Rohit and Harshit. Heavy rains over the last few days made riding on the gravel-laden, winding course even more challenging. Under the circumstances, riders had to exercise extreme caution and control while negotiating steep inclines, hairpin bends and water-logged stretches they encountered along the course. Some of them took a tumble or two and some even damaged their scooters in their bid to clock good timings in the competitive sectors. A total of 54 riders competed in the race, out of which 49 completed. There were 22 first timers and among them, 18 completed the course. Also read: Aprilia SR 150 Race: Road Test Review

Venkatesh Shetty of Lorraine’s Racing, riding an Aprilia SR 150, outpaced former champions Syed Asif Ali, Shamim Khan, Rustom Patel, Manjeet Singh Bassan and Avtar Singh, and finished first, with a timing of 25 minutes and 15 seconds (after deducting penalties). 

Pune’s Pinkesh Thakkar of Team Ceat, also riding an Aprilia SR 150, finished second with a timing of 00:25:43 seconds, and defending champion Syed Asif Ali of TVS Racing was just one second behind, astride a TVS 4SXR 150, and finished third with a time of 00:25:44 seconds. 

Nashik’s Shamim Khan, who was looking to win the event for the fourth time, finished fourth on an Aprilia SR 150 in 00:25:55 seconds, while Erimal Shekharan of Team Ceat, finished fifth in 00:25:56 seconds with his Aprilia SR 150.

There were two women who braved the challenge admirably. Mumbai’s Nidhi Shukla of Team Ceat, riding a Honda Activa, completed the course in 00:37:13 seconds, while Priya Gala, astride a Suzuki Access, was home in 00:42:19 seconds.

The first-timers too went through the rally with equal élan. The best of them was Kolhapur’s Aniket Korgaonkar, astride a TVS Jupiter. He completed the course in 00:32:27 seconds and was awarded the late Firdosh Vajifdar trophy and adjudged the best Kolhapur rider for his spirited effort.

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Former champion Rustom Patel of TVS Racing, riding a TVS Wego, was adjudged the best Mumbai rider, having finished sixth in 00:26.44 seconds.

Photo courtesy: Shrikant Karani‎/ Narayan Bhat- Sportscraft India