Hyderabad biker Sundiip Singh Sokhi scorches track at The Valley Run

Hyderabad racer Sundiip Singh Sokhi set the track on fire at the 11th edition of The Valley Run at the Aamby Valley air strip in Lonavala, winning top honours on his bike in E3 class (1651 CC and above) and third place in T3 (551 CC and above) class

Hyderabad: Hyderabad racer Sundiip Singh Sokhi (Sonu) set the track on fire at the 11th edition of The Valley Run at the Aamby Valley air strip in Lonavala, winning top honours on his bike in E3 class (1651 CC and above) and third place in T3 (551 CC and above) class. Adding to that, the city racer also took the top spot in the L1 class (for cars) category.

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The race in Lonavala is the third in the series with the first two being held in Hosur and Hyderabad. Racing on his Kawasaki zx 14r, the fastest bike built in India, 38-year-old Sundiip also won first place in the E3 category in the race held in Hosur, Bengaluru. However, what makes the achievement even more special is the fact that there is no dedicated track in Hyderabad for the racer to practice. “Yes, it gets tough for us to train without a dedicated track in Hyderabad. For this Sunday”s race, I went to Hosur on Wednesday, trained on Thursday, and then rushed to Lonavala for the race. We have been asking for a dedicated track but nothing has been done. Hopefully, the new government will help us in getting a track,” he said.

Sundiip, who started racing in 2008 at the age of 24, was also the first Indian to be part of the World Cup that was held in the USA. His best timing in the quarter mile (402 metres) is 9.5 seconds and, he aims to create the record of clocking 9.0 seconds in the future.

“The goal is to create a record that would be challenging for others and would stand for a long time. Bikes and cars have become powerful and fast but we don’t have a track to train. If we have one, we can do wonders. My best timing is 9.5 seconds and I would like to become the first from Hyderabad to hit 9.0 seconds timing and I am confident I would achieve it in 2024.”