Motorsport
Suhail Ahmed dominates first leg of Indian National Rally Sprint C'ship 2024
The Bengaluru-based rider bagged the top position in three categories to emerge as the most successful rider in the first leg of the Indian National Rally Sprint Championship.
Suhail Ahmed in action in the first leg of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship in Chennai on June 2, 2024. (Photo Credit: FMSCI)
Chennai: Bengaluru’s Suhail Ahmed shone brightly in the first of the two South Zone qualifiers of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship 2024 held in Chennai at the Madras International Circuit on Sunday.
Suhail came first in three categories to emerge as the most successful rider of the day.
Clocking a timing of 8:36:870 seconds, Suhail emerged as the outright winner in the Group A up to 550cc class while Kousthuba M (8:47:723s) and Rehana B (9:37:111s) finished second and third respectively.
Suhail excelled in the Bullet class up to 550cc securing the premier position with a reading of 8:52:268s and finished before Mohammed Zaheer (9:07:269s) and Suhas SS (9:28:480s).
In the Open Class up to 550cc, Suhail led the all-Bengaluru podium finish by clocking 8:32:642s. Kousthuba M (8:43:627s) and Hemanth Gowda (8:59:141s) finished in the second and third positions.
The Sprint Star of Tamil Nadu up to 260cc category featured Coimbatore’s Sarvanakumar K (9:27:785s) and Thangaraj (9:37:116s) securing the top two spots.
Kodagu’s Stephen Roy found his form back as he triumphed in two categories. In the 131cc up to 165cc class, Stephen Roy finished with a time of 9:07:319s with Vinoth Kumar on his heels at 9:36:458s.
Furthermore, Stephen also won the 166cc up to 260cc, clocking 8:43:906 and finished ahead of Deepan Kumar (9:46:134s) and Thangaraj S (9:55:675s).
With the day continuing to be a lucrative outing for riders from Bengaluru, Hemanth Gowda (9:07:28s) and M Rajesh (9:59:271s) secured the top two berths in the 261cc up to 400cc class.
Rehana B finished with the best timing of the day in the Ladies Class up to 260cc registering 10:49:248s.
Karthickraja M emerged victorious in the 261cc up to 450cc class, posting a time of 10:26:778. Prabhu Sukumaran followed closely with a time of 10:48:102 while Kerala’s Shaheen Ayoobi secured the third spot, finishing with a time of 11:20:043.
What next for the riders?
The second leg of the South Zone qualifiers is scheduled for July 20-21 in Bengaluru.
