Pinkesh, Abhinay emerge winners in Pune leg of biking championship

Published May 20

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

GOLIBAR MAIDAN: This is not the sport for the slow and steady, but for bikers with grit, skill and control. And these qualities were inherent in Pinkesh Thakkar and Abhinay Virkud, who were declared winners of the Pune leg of the Castrol Power1 Throttle Max pre-qualifying round held here on Saturday.

In the 126 – 250 cc category, Pinkesh, on Suzuki Fiero, scored 58 points, seven points more than Ganesh Lokhande, who had mounted TVS Fiero.

Pinkesh continued his good form on the bike after performing exceptionally well in the in the first round of MRF National Supercross held in Pune last Sunday.

He came second in the Indian Motorcycles Group B 125 cc upto 250 cc 2\4 stroke, Indian Motorcycles (Locals) Group B 110 cc upto 250 cc 2\4 stroke and Foreign Motorcycles (Intermediate) Group A upto 250 cc 2 stroke and and 450 cc 4 stroke.

In 125 cc category Abhinay (57) had to really battle it out. He managed to scrape past Shamim Khan, who rode Yamaha YBX 125 with one point difference.

Last year national winner Rustom Patel of Mumbai crashed out of the competition coming a poor third in the 126-250 cc category scoring 49 points.

The two winners will now head for the national Castrol Power1 Throttle Max Throttle finals to be held in Indore on June 16.

Around 40-odd bikers participated in the event that has elapsed into its second year. The event included test of skill over three different courses -- an open straight stretch on dirt track, obstacle course and a wiggle-woggle section.

Pinkesh and Abhinay had to give everything with them to qualify for Indore finals.

This year, the event has been extended to twelve cities covering Guwahati, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Two winners (one from each category—- upto 125 cc and 126 cc) from each city will represent the city at the Castrol Power1 Throttle Max Nationals finals at Indore on June 16.

The All India Castrol Power1 Throttle Max champions will be taken to Malayasia to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix along with actor and Castrol’s brand ambassador-John Abraham, a passionate biking hunk.

Commenting on his victory, Pinkesh said, winner of 250 cc category said, “The unique feature of this challenge is that it is not just about speed, but about biker’s skill and control over the bike.”