HUB: Just an hour’s drive from Karachi, some 50 vehicles, including heavy four-wheel-drive trucks, gathered at the Max Dirt Arena here on Sunday for the sixth Hub Rally Cross-2019, which carried a Rs1 million cash prize and was organised by Toyota Highway Motors.

The 10km track off the Arabian Sea Road in Hub may be the shortest muddy track in the country, yet it is the most challenging, with at least 29 dangerous turns and bends. “It wouldn’t be wrong to refer to it as the Twenty20 of motor rallies,” remarked the chief organiser of the event, Shujaat Sherwani.

According to the organisers, it took 12 days to prepare the track, using bulldozers and tractors. The soft sand prevents major mishaps during mud rallies, though there are always fire trucks and ambulances, along with an automotive workshop, for any kind of assistance that may be required there.

The vehicles entered for the events also had safety cages and bars. All the drivers and their navigators wore fire retardant racing suits with helmets while taking regular precautions.

The race comprised seven main categories, with three races titled as A, B and C each in stock and prepared groups. There were races for vehicles of up to 1,500cc, 2,500cc, 3,500cc and above engine powers as well as for prepared ones with enhanced engine power. There was also a general or open category for ladies.

It wouldn’t be wrong to refer to it as the Twenty20 of motor rallies, says event’s chief organiser

Reigning champion in the women’s category, Tushna Patel, was the favourite in her 3,000cc Vigo but she faced good competition from Asma Asif and Pakhtun girl Salma Khan, who had specially come from Rawalpindi to participate in the event with her 5,700cc Tundra.

The defending champion in one of the men’s stock categories, Ronnie Patel, said he would be competing, but in wife Tushna’s Vigo because he didn’t have his own vehicle. “I sold mine a while back and my new one is still not ready,” he told Dawn.

Meanwhile, Mir Amer Magsi, another huge mud rally champion in the 2,500cc plus group, explained that it was not just the car, truck or engine that mattered in such races. “Your driving skills, your guts also matter. It is a game of the mind and tactics combined with one’s reflexes. You need to be prepared to make split-second decisions behind the wheel,” he said.

Another driver, Shad Ali Khan, driving a Vigo Champ, said he had been competing in mud rallies since 1994 but the best he had done was third position. “It is not as easy and simple as it looks. I do it for the thrill, actually,” he said.

Another driver who also said he hadn’t won any major rally was Kamran Allahwalla. But he had a huge team there to support him and cheer for him. They were his group of 50 Harley Davidson bikers, who call themselves the Iron Brotherhood.

Watching the bikers with their beautiful machines, the organisers of the rally said they planned to prepare a special track for bikers in the Hub area.

“These off-road mud tracks are good for those who race on the roads and put their own and everyone else’s lives at risk. They can race to their heart’s content on the mud track,” said Sherwani.

But the bikers expressed their concerns after hearing this. “We are a group of predominantly heavy and expensive Harleys. They are not dirt or trail bikes, they are cruising bikes,” pointed out Danish Khawaja, the road captain of the Iron Brotherhood.

The winners of the races were: Ladies category, first position Salma Khan, second position Tushna Patel, and third position Asma Asif; Stock A, first position Mansoor Halee, second position Ahmed Inam, and third position Mir Nawaz; Prepared A, first position Asif Imam, second position Nadeem Khan, and third position Irfan Mian; Stock B, first position Ronnie Patel, second position Naveed Wast, and third position Umer Farooq; Prepared B, first position Amer Magsi, second position Sahibzada Bahadur, and third position Mohammad Dhanji; Stock C, first position Bebark Baloch, second position Nasir Khan, and third position Shad Ali Khan; and Prepared C, first position Shiraz Qureshi, second position Kashif Khan, and third position Bewragh Mazari.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2019