Prince reign continues

MUMBAI: Those following the National Dirt Track Championships would be familiar with the rivalry between Delhi's Maninder Singh Prince and Badal Doshi, where the former currently leads by a 10-point margin. On Saturday, the duo took the rivalry to the Times Supercross at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra, where Prince narrowly beat the Mumbai rider to reign supreme in the Private Expert Class, Group A (Foreign motorcycles upto 250cc).
In the first heat, Prince was late to start off the blocks but did well to come out on top as Doshi finished third behind Pune's Pinkesh Thakkar.But Doshi dealt with the pressure well to bag top honours in the second heat. However, with Prince edging out Thakkar to finish second, the overall tally read in favour of the Delhi rider to give him the win. Thakkar finished in third place.
"It was a really tight track and it was tough to maintain speeds, especially on the foreign bikes that are bigger. It required technical riding which was physically draining but I gained confidence with time. I'm happy to have won today," said Prince.
The 22-year-old has spent nearly eight months on the road with his bike, driving close to 35,000 kms in his MUV to various competitions around the country. After a three-month training stint in Calungute, Goa, he was simply glad to be going home for a 10-day breather. T The Private Expert Class, Group B (Indian motorcycles upto 250cc) was dominated by Pune riders as Snehal Chavan led the charts, followed by Thakkar and Shamlal Pardeshi.
Results:
Private Expert Class, Group A (Foreign m'cycles upto 250cc, 2 & 4 stroke): 1. Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi); 2. Badal Doshi (Mumbai); 3. Pinkesh Thakkar (Pune)
Private Expert Class, Group B (M'cycles upto 250cc, 2 & 4 stroke): 1. Snehal Chavan (Pune); 2. Pinkesh Thakkar (Pune); 3. Shamlal Pardeshi (Pune)
Novice Class, Group C (M'cycles upto 165cc, 2 stroke): 1. Zoheb Ahmed (Pune); 2. Tummi Nanavare (Mumbai); 3. Chinmay Bisht (Mumbai)
Novice Class, Group C (M'cycles upto 165cc, 4 stroke): 1. Sachin Gharpade (Kolhapur); 2. Zain Khan (Mumbai); 3. Tummi Nanavare (Mumbai)