BAHAWALPUR: Nadir Magsi retained his title by winning the 13th edition of the Cholistan jeep rally that concluded near the Derawar Fort on Sunday.

Sahibzada Sultan and Jaffar Magsi were the runners-up.

In group B of the prepared class, Faisal Shadikhel clinched the first position with Owais Khakwani second and Asad Shadikhel third. In group C of the same class, Mian Rafique Bharchoundhi came first, Gohar Sangi second and Dr Raheel Siddiqui and partner Dr Noorullah third.

Around 34 drivers participated in the second and final round of the prepared category, covering 240 kilometres.

In group A of the stock category, Mansoor Haleem, Nosherwan Tiwana and Noor Nabi won the first, second and third positions, respectively. In group B, the first spot was clinched by Zarain Magsi, second Mian Afzal and third Sajjad Qureshi. In group C, Syed Mubeen Ahmed, Hassan Jhandhir and Haris Khan were the top three position holders.

In women’s category, in the first place was Tushna Patel, second Asma Raza Siddiqui and third Momal Saeed.

The vehicles of Nadir Magsi and Dr Raheel were damaged during the race but they survived and continued their journey. Two racers were injured when their motorcycles collided on the track; they were shifted to Yazman THQ hospital.

Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman was the chief guest on Saturday night at a cultural evening where local folk singers performed before the crowd. The jeep rally, which turned into a festival in the desert, continued for four days and people in large numbers joined the festivities from the across the country.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2018