Monsoon scooter rally promises thrills aplenty

The 21st Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally, which has attracted interest from even outside Maharashtra and promises a lot of thrills and tumbles, is scheduled to be held in neighbouring Navi Mumbai on June 13.

The 21st Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally, which has attracted interest from even outside Maharashtra and promises a lot of thrills and tumbles, is scheduled to be held in neighbouring Navi Mumbai on June 13.

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The rally, the only one held on a regular basis solely for scooters in the country, will see riders displaying their skills on rain-fed dirt tracks, said chief organiser Shrikant Karani of Sportscraft in Mumbai.

"The rally would commence at Parel (in central Mumbai) but the 25-km competitive sector of gravel-laden dirt tracks would be in Navi Mumbai. There are competitions for three types of Indian scooters -– two-stroke, four-stroke and gearless," he told a media conference last night.

"We are getting calls from places like Bhopal, Goa and Hyderabad too while our regulars from Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur and Navi Mumbai would also be competing.

"Rustom Patel is the defending champion while four-time winner Manjeet Singh Bassan and veteran Zubin Patel are also in the fray," he said.

"We are restricting the entries for logistical reasons to 40 and have received 35 so far. Standard entries close on June 4 and late entries on June 9. For the first time, incentives are being given to riders from outside the state to take part," he added.