BAHAWALPUR: The 17th Cholistan jeep rally witnessed two major upsets on its concluding day on Sunday as the last years’ winner Nadir Magsi’s title was snatched by none other than his own nephew, Jaffer Magisi, and Bahawalpur’s young racer Zain Mehmood had to leave the race after his vehicle broke down during the second round of the “Prepared” category.

Dr Raheel Siddiqui, a former principal secretary to Punjab chief minister and an avid participant in the previous rallies, told Dawn that according to preliminary and unofficial results Jaffer Magsi was declared winner during the second and final round of the rally’s Prepared category, while his uncle Nadir Magsi was adjudged second, eliminating Zain Mehmood from both the main events as his vehicle broke down during the rally.

According to Dr Siddiqui, Jaffer Magsi on Sunday covered 221kms distance in four hours, ten minutes and fifty-one seconds (4-10-51), while Nadir Magsi stood second by covering the distance in four hours, eleven minutes and 13 seconds (4-11-13).

A racer, Asif, managed to bag the third position in the Prepared category by covering the distance in four hours, fifteen minutes and fifty-six seconds (4-15-56).

In the women’s category, Ms Nida Wasti, Ms Palvasha and Ms Zulekha won first, second and third positions, respectively, by covering the distance in one hour, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-three seconds (1-27-33), one hour, twenty-eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds (1-28-37) and one hour, forty-eight minutes and fifty-two seconds (1-48-52).

PML-N ex-senator Saood Majid Chaudhury improved his timings in the B category’s second round despite his vehicle’s bonnet got removed. Despite the handicap, he clinched second position, going five notches up from the seventh position on Friday in the first leg of the rally. Balochistan’s former chief minister Jam Kamal stood 7th in B Category on Sunday.

Mahmood Majid Chaudhury of the 4x4 Racing Club, Bahawalpur, was adjudged second in the C Category.

Zain Mehmood, who was second on Friday in the B Category of the Prepared class, could not finish the track on Sunday as his vehicle broke down before the mid point and was forced to abandon the competition.

Besides, Owais Khawkwani managed to clinch the third position in the B Category despite some fault occurring in his vehicle. However, he manged to finish the track.

Dr Siddiqui, who had himself been participating in the rally for the last many years, said young drivers like Jaffer Magsi and Zain Mehmood were now gradually replacing the older lot of racer like Nadir Magsi, Ronnied Patel, Sarfraz Dhanji and Dr Noorullah, who used to be winners during the last sixteen years of the Cholistan Jeep Rally.

After the official announcement of the winners names, the prize-distribution ceremony was held where position-holders were awarded prizes.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2022