KARACHI: Legendary racing driver Ronnie Patel demonstrated his brilliant control and excellence at the wheels to clinch the Prepared “A” class title in the 5th edition of Hub Rally in a thrilling finish at the Max Dirt Arena on Sunday.

Boasting a vast experience of national and international racing events, Ronnie raced to victory on the dangerous, curvy and sandy terrain in two laps of 22kms while driving his Toyota Vigo 3000cc.

Composed and confident Ronnie, who drove without any navigator, clocked 18 minutes and 47.54 seconds to grab the major crown to the delight of his race driver wife Tushna Patel and his band of supporters.

“It was a great challenge for me but confidence and experience helped me to win this rally,” Ronnie told reporters after emerging from his vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Gwadar Rally champion Sahibzada Sultan Muhammad Ali, despite facing some engine problems, secured second spot while Syed Asif Imam finished third in professional class.

Sultan from Jhang, driving his powerful 4600cc Toyota Tacoma, took 18 minutes 54.23 seconds to finish second. “It was a hard battle on a superb track. I want to compliment Ronnie for his superb performance,” Sultan said at the presentation ceremony.

Pony tail Asif, who seemed to have the best knowledge of the track, grabbed the third position in 19 min 54.42sec.

Pakistan’s top lady driver Tushna Patel who competed against her male counterparts in the “B” Prepared category, bagged the second position behind Sahibzada Fawad Zakori.

Another brilliant race driver Mansoor Halim with his navigator Kunwar Talha won the “A” Stock title while Danish Siddiqui won the “B” Stock and Jeeyund Hoth took the honors in the “C” Stock contest.

Rija Ashraf, daughter of Pakistan’s leading ex-driver Ashraf Khan, won the women’s title by clocking 15min 9.62 seconds.

However, the racing fans direly missed Pakistan’s racing superstar Nadir Magsi and defending champion Asad Khoro who could not compete due to personal reasons. Nadir had performed a hat-trick by winning the first three editions of the rally while Khoro had dethroned him last year.

Founding members of motor racing Nadeem Khan, Muhammad Aslam, Owais Khakwani, Sarfraz Ahmed Dhanji and Martial Art pioneer Ashraf Tai were the guests of honor on the occasion and distributed trophies among the winners.

Pakistan’s legendary sportsmen including former cricket captain Mushtaq Muhammad, ex-opening batsmen Sadiq Muhammad, Shoaib Muhammad, former hockey captain Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqui, Bangalore Test heroes Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed and former Pakistan junior hockey goal keeper Fasih-ur-Rehman also watched the races.

Chief Organizer Shujaat Sherwani, members of the organzing committee Shad Ali Khan, Irfan Imam Zaidi, Aamir Salam and Amin Ghani were also presented on the occasion. He complimented the hundreds of Hub people and other fans for attending and watching the action and thanked Pakistan sporting legends for coming over and enjoying the exciting contests.

He promised to the local peoples that a motorcycle race will soon be conducted on the track.

Results:

“A” Prepared: 1. Ronnie Patel; 2. Runner-up Sahibzada Sultan Ali; 3. Syed Asif Imam

“B” Prepared: 1. Sahibzada Fawad Zakori; 2. Tushna Patel; 3. Dr. Muzammil Sherwani

“C” Prepared: 1. Kashif Khan; 2. Muhammad Dhanji

“A” Stock: 1. Mansoor Halim; 2. Omer Soomro; 3. Nasir Khan

“B” Stock: 1. Danish Siddiqui; 2 .Naveed Wasti; 3. Taimoor Khan

“C” Stock: 1. Jeeyund Hoth; 2. Darya Khan; 3. Berbukh Baloch.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2018