Ajkar & Mustafa emerge champs of Hornbill Motor rally

Correspondent Kohima, December 4 SK Ajkar Ali and Mohammed Mustafa today emerged as the new champions of the professional category of the JK tyre Hornbill Motor rally organised Nagaland Adventure and Motor Sports Association (NAMSA) in association with the Government of Nagaland as one of the attractions of the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland.Nitoka chophi and Philip Lam emerged champions of the amateur category while Saptarshi Basumatari and Diptojyoti Ghosh emerged champions in the two wheel category. In a glittering ceremony held at The Heritage here this evening, Governor Dr. Ashwani Kumar, who was also the chief guest of the award ceremony expressed his gratitude to Dr. Raghupati Singhania Chairman & Managing Director JK Tyre &Industries Ltd. for playing an integral part in the promotion of motor sports in the State. A lover of cars himself the Governor relating about an adventure trip that he and his friends planned maintained how rallies like this conveyed the idea that obstacles and problems can be overcomed with proper planning and navigation. The Governor also highly commented on how Nagas attributed their successes to God too. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Singhania speaking highly of his maiden visit to Nagaland pledged that JK tyre & Industries Ltd. would continue to organise motor sporting events in the State in the coming days too. Expressing hope that the event would reach greater heights in the coming years the Chairman also lauded Abu Metha, President, FAMSA North East for his efforts in promoting Motor Sports in the State in addition to his brief note on the dynamics of the Hornbill rally to the rallyists. This year's Hornbill rally was organised by the NAMSA in collaboration with the Dept. of Youth Resources &sports, GON and JK Tyres. Results PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY 1st – SK Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Mustafa 2nd – Along Aier ad Chandan Sen 3rd – Chidanand Murthy and Satish Gopalakrishnan 4th – Saurav Chaterjee and Ashok Kumar Basu 5th Bijo Awomi and Chandrashekar AMATURE CATEGORY 1st – Nitoka Chophi and Philip Lam 2nd – Kezhaletuo and Bodevi Shuya 3rd – Mikrio Kayina and Arun Kayina 4th – Nitya and Shibu 5th – Kekhrie Metha TWO WHEEL CATEGORY 1st – Saptarshi Basu and Diptoyoti Ghosh 2nd – Uday Ganguly and Raj Kumar Mundra 3rd – Mukesh Thakkar and Subhranshu Hazra 4th – Sanchyan Biswas and SK Ansar Ali 5th – Dibendu Nayak and Bebashish Dutta ALL LADIES CATEGORY Darashana Sen and Ranjana Bhajanka COUPLE CATEGORY The 4th Horsepower Challenge, organized by Nagaland Adventure Club (NAC), will be held on December 6 and 7, coinciding with the Naga Premier festival ‘Hornbill’ at Nagaland Football Association (NFA) ground near Nagaland University, Meriema campus Kohima from 8am to 4pm on both days. Pursuing its objective to promote adventure sports despite lacking infrastructure locally, the NAC has not only given birth to a new era of motorsports in the state, but has given innumerable opportunities to young enthusiastic and talented drivers. The event was conducted during rainy season for the last three years, however on trail basis, the 4th Horsepower Challenge would be held during dry season adding that if the event proves worthy, there are possibilities that it would conduct twice in a year, informed a statement received here from the club. The event is categorized into two in both the events: Autocross- Cars (1000cc above and 1000cc below and SUV, and in Motocross there will be Open class and Novice Class. The organizers also informed that participants from Assam and Meghalaya have extended their confirmation while competitors from Bangalore, Bhopal and Delhi are also expected. National champion Motocross Rehan Khan will take part in the scheduled competition. An amount of Rs. 3 lakh has been set as total cash prize for the 4th edition of Horsepower Challenge, while promising drivers and riders will also be selected for an award. The entire event will be managed by the club members. Minister Youth resource and sports Merentoshi R Jamir will grace the occasion as the chief guest and Atuo P Mezhur, President Nagaland Football Association will grace the closing function as guest of honour.