Ronni wins Hub Rally, Sultan ends second

KARACHI: Toyota Highway Motors’ Ronni Patel clinched the fifth Hub Rally in A-prepared category at Max Dirt Arena, Hub, on Sunday.

Ronni clocked 18 minutes and 47 seconds to cover the distance of 21 km. Sahibzada Sultan, who was the favourite, came second with 18 minutes and 53 seconds. Asif Imam with 19 minutes and 54 seconds ended third.

In B-prepared category, Sahibzada Fawad got first position, Tushna Patel second and Dr Muzammil Sherwani third.In C-prepared category, Kashif Khan and M Dhanji got first and second slots, respectively.Jehan Halk got first position in C-stock category.

Rija Ashraf was the winner of women’s race. Ronni told ‘The News’ that the newly-made 11km track was challenging. He said that the track has zigzag turns on it and the rocky part of the track was quite difficult.

The 55-years-old driver said that he was looking forward to establish a motor sports academy for youngsters. “In collaboration with Toyota Motors I am looking forward to set up an academy in near future,” he said.

Tushna, who came second in B-prepared category, said: “I always take challenges in my life and this is one of them. Competing with boys gives me confidence. I feel more enthusiastic when competing in male category.

“I always try my best to give stiff competition to my opponents whether boys or girls,” she said.Chief organiser Shujaat Sherwani told ‘The News’ that this event was exceptional as far as the interest of the people was concerned.

He said he was amazed to see the huge crowd which came up to watch the rally.Shujaat said that the track was specially developed to make the competition tough and less time consuming.

When Shujaat was asked about the absence of renowned driver Nadir Magsi, he said that he could not come because of some personal issues. He said they were going to launch a motorbike race in near future. “We have received many request to conduct bike races and we are looking at it,” Shujaat said.

Former cricketers Iqbal Qasim, Tauseef Ahmad, Mushtaq Mohammad, Sadiq Mohammad, Shoaib Mohammad and Olympian Islahuddin were among the spectators.Tauseef while talking to the media praised the efforts of the organisers to promote motor sports in Pakistan.Islahuddin said that he was surprised by the interest of the people in motor sports. It seemed to be more popular than hockey, he said.