Goregaon East first hillclimb

Pedal to the Metal: Royal Palms hosts the first Hill Climb at Goregaon East.

Mumbai, May 28, 2002: The Royal Palms Hill Climb officiated by MASA was a well- attended event, with the whole variety of cars starting from the three cylinder Maruti 800s to the Mercedes C300s, with over 60 speed buffs revving up their machines. It looked like the set of the Fast and the Furious, as the 16 Valve DOHC Monsters roared at the parc ferme making the normally serene Golf Course a look-alike of the Finland Rally with hundreds of enthusiasts cheering the cars on. The motorsport fraternity was out with all their wares, performance Exhausts, Valve Springs and Hi-Lift Cams.

The drivers were ecstatic after the formation lap before the start of the race. The two sections were appropriately designed for the event. The first section was up hill level tarmac with high-speed corners and medium paced hairpin bends, which even permitted third-gear corners too. This circuit layout was safe for the novices yet very challenging due its high pace for the professionals.

The second leg of the hill climb was the real knee-knocker for even the professionals. The circuit was tight and full of varying angles of corners. This was the most challenging design for even the National Drivers as the circuit rose up and fell just like roller-coasters without rails. If that is not descriptive of the second leg, the number of DNFs would endorse the challenge of the circuit. This track did not have room for the third gear but on the short straights the Lancers, Zens and Palios were screaming at 90 KPH in second gear!!!

Sam Katgara, Nevile Poonawala and Keshav Tanna were among the popular rallying and motorsports entrants. And the local Go-Karting Boys were also proving their mettle with Ashok Jadhav Mumbai's Indian National Kart-Racing Runner-up of 2000 raced the new Palio GTX in the 1600cc class

WINNERS

Leg 1 Overall
Winner Sam Nari Katgara
Second Neville Cyrus Poonawalla
Third Juned Vallinlah Shariff
Fastest Lady Driver Shahnaz Jehangir Ferzandi
Second Fastest Lady Driver Neha Sushil Gadia

Leg 1 Class Prizes
Class A
Winner Zahir Karim Dhanan
Second Anil Shamlal Lulla

Class B
Winner Bhupesh Misri
Second Sean Micheal D'Silva

Class C
Winner Sean Micheal D'Silva
Second Basil Arif Anaj

Class D
Winner Juned Vallinlah Shariff
Second Dilavar Amir Nensey

Class E
Winner Sam Nari Katgara
Second Neville Cyrus Poonawalla

Leg 2 Overall
Winner Sam Nari Katgara
Second Abhishek Kailash Dadhia
Third Neville Cyrus Poonawalla
Fastest Lady Driver Shahnaz Jehangir Ferzandi
Second Fastest Lady Driver Neha Sushil Gadia

Leg 2 Class Prizes
Class A
Winner Zahir Karim Dhanan
Second Anil Shamlal Lulla

Class B
Winner Ehtesham Mehdi Mohsen
Second Neville Cyrus Poonawalla

Class C
Winner Basil Arif Anaj
Second Bhavin Jayanti Lal Shah

Class D
Winner Abhishek Kailash Dadhia
Second Mohameed Nensey

Class E
Winner Sam Nari Katgara
Second Neville Cyrus Poonawalla

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