Date:30/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/30/stories/2008013055471900.htm

Sport - Racing : Motor

Manju-Mustafa duo rules the roost

Sports Reporter

Coimbatore: The veteran rally duo of D. Manju and N. Mustafa from Mysore pulled out all their aces to win the JK Tyre 100 per cent tarmac rally at Udhagamandalam recently.

The opening event in the Indian motor sport calendar witnessed a thrilling finish with both Manju and Mustafa locked in an interesting tie with Vignesh and a team from Coimbatore at 84 points. However, the duo from Mysore, with the maximum number of time controls zeroed in, walked away with the trophy.

“We are delighted to win this event. In the past two years, we had not participated in the National rally circuit, except for an event or two. This year we are planning to do the full INRC (Indian National Rally Championship) season, and we are warming up with these TSD events,” they said.

The results:

Professional class: 1. D. Manju / N. Mustafa 84 pts; 2. Vignesh, Raja, Velmurugan & Suresh (Coimbatore) 84; 3. Thangaraj / K.E. Suresh Sekar (Erode) 93 pts.

Novice class: 1.Rohit Sarcar / Shasvi Gomes 169 pts; 2. Naveen Kumar / Ravindar Kumar 309; 3. K. Ramkrishnan / M. Mohan 1079.

Family class: 1. Venkatapathy / Praveen Kumar 2700 pts.

Students class: 1. O. M. Karthikeyan / Jagan 1500 pts.