Not so wet but wild enough

Kunal slushed best at the Monsoon Scooter Rally.

MUMBAI: If your perception of scooters constricts them to tame machines meant for pottering about for small distances, the Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally is one place where that mindset explodes. Even if your neighbourhood kids zoom about in the high eighties, just imagine doing the same on dirt. And not for just a paltry few turns of the odometer — instead, for a full 12 km rally through snaky, slushy tracks that ask for respect especially in the season of rain. This year, the rally was not as wet as has been the norm in the past.  

However, the event threw up a fresh face in the form of Kunal Rao. The 23-year-old Mumbai student proved to be a surprise package and beat the defending champion Rustom Patel who had to be content with second spot.

The podium can only hold a few but the true spirit of motorsports events are those persistent participants who compete just for the thrill of it. Thirty two intrepid faithful turned out. "It's a thrill which no other sport can give me," says Badal Doshi who's been busting limb and machine in the sport for 16 long years. Badal, who came 2nd in his category, runs his own motor sports school called Racing Blue. But the coolest veteran of all had to be 60-year-old Kersi Patel, who still likes to gives the boys a run for their petrol.

Overall results: 1. Kunal Rao, 2. Rustom Patel, 3. Manjit Singh Basaan, 4. Ganesh Lokhande, 5. Nilesh Thakre