Khan storms to NRC victory
Jamil Khan steers his car during the Bagamoyo Rally (dubbed Maji Poa Rally) in Bagomoyo yesterday. Khan managed to retain the title. photo | miguel suleyman
What you need to know:
Khan, who was navigated by Moses Matovu in Subaru Impreza N12, had to fend off a stiff challenge from Tufail Amin, Randeep Birdi and Gurpal Sandhu who were a few seconds behind him
Dar es Salaam. Jamil Khan put up a sterling performance yesterday to retain the Maji Poa Rally title in a two-day thriller held in tight sections of Bagamoyo routes.
Khan, who was navigated by Moses Matovu in Subaru Impreza N12, had to fend off a stiff challenge from Tufail Amin, Randeep Birdi and Gurpal Sandhu who were a few seconds behind him.
“I am delighted with this victory. I dedicate it to all those who supported me including my sponsors,” he said at Kiromo Hotel, the event’s parc ferme.
Impressive Khan won the Bagamoyo race last year. The event was organised by Mzizima Motor Sports Club.
The victory earned Khan his first 25 points which place him in the list of top contenders for this year’s national driving title with only one race remaining.
The winner clocked 1 hour, 17 minutes and 44 seconds beating closest challenger Amin, who was navigated by Maisam Fazal by less than a minute.
Tufail was the event’s surprise package as he clocked 1:18:29. Birdi who had a spectacular start yesterday was forced to finish third following mechanical problems in the penultimate stage. He clocked 1: 19:16 in his ultrafast Mitsubishi EVO 1X.
Arusha’s Gurpal failed to disrupt Dar es Salaam’s 1-2-3- target when he finished fourth overall in his modern Mitsubishi EVO X. He spent 1:20:24 ahead of Dar es Salaam-based Dharam Pandya.
Pandya, who is among the top-placed drivers in this year’s seeding points, suffered an engine problem that placed him far behind the winners. He timed 1: 26:38.
Other drivers who made it to the podium included Erfan Aladin who was navigated by Prabh Bhatt (6th), Juma Shaaban/Awadh Bafadhil(7th), Kelvin Taylor/Isaac Taylor (8th) and Azim Somji/Mahmoud who claimed the ninth position.
Thirteen cars out of 21 that attended the flagging off at Southern Sun Hotel on Saturday managed to finish the race.
Other drivers who finished the 350 kilometre race are Manjit Singh, Harrinder Deere, Mohamed Sammy and Ammar Kannabar.
Maji Poa Rally was the fifth round of this year’s National Rally Championship (NRC) series and the sixth round, according to AAT calendar will be the Guru Nanak Rally planned to rev up in Arusha next month.
