The thrilling bike race organized by a stunt group, Team Nemesis, for the second time in a circuit in Nepal was enough to bring chills to the bone of the spectators but the gritty riders did not get deterred even after crashing. [break]
Defending champion Ashutosh Pandey in the Yamaha R15 category race, one of the two categories included in the event, crashed in the final round but said he would continue with the race in the next edition.
It was a day to celebrate for Samar Manandhar who won the race in his second attempt. He had finished third in the first edition held six months ago at the same venue.
The 20-year-old daredevil´s skillful cornering made it impossible for the second placed Benjamin Gautam to overtake him as the two left others far behind while the speatctors appluaded the loud roars of the Yamaha bikes. Prashant Timalsinha secured the third position.
Manandhar, who is currently working for the ECS magazine, said he has been riding bikes for the last nine years. "I used to steal my father´s bike to learn it secretly. Nowadays, we often go to Chobhar or Tribhuvan University to do stunts," he added.
The winner of the Yamaha FZ category was Manish Shrestha, who is also a bike enthusiast like Manandhar. He happens to be Manandhar´s cousin and says he started learning stunts about three years ago from a stunt group merobike.com.
"I was greatly influenced by the stunt group. I thought if they can do then why can´t I? That´s how I learnt stunts," said the 20-year-old.
Karan Khatiwada and Bibek Kumar Mandal finished second and third respectively in the FZ category.
The winners of each category will get an opportunity to participate in the Chennai Racing Championship in India later this year. The runners-up and second runners-up each bagged Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.
Altogether 92 riders, 46 in R15 and 46 in FZ, had participated in the race that also featured DJ session, B-boying and stunt shows by Team Nemesis.
The race was sponsored by Morang Auto Works (MAW), distributor of Yamaha bikes for Nepal. Keshab Aryal, marketing manager of MAW, said they will organize such races regularly despite the country lacking a proper race track.
The main objective of the race was to impart riding skills, according to Suraj Manandhar, deputy general manager of sales and marketing department, MAW.
Indian championship rider Fahad Khan, who gave orientation about safety and riding skills to the youths, said the Nepali riders were ´awesome´.
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