Shafraz and Akhry off to India Coffee Day Rally

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    Sri Lankan Duo to APRC

    Sri Lanka will return to the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) when the local rally champs Shafraz Junaid and co-driver Akhry Ameer take part in the India Coffee Day Rally which works as the final round of the APRC to be held from 24th to 26th November Chikmagalur, India.

    The local duo narrowly missed the podium in the India Rally Championships (IRC) category at last year’s edition of this event. This year they will be competing in the higher APRC 2WD category, signaling a return of Sri Lanka to the APRC since the last participation by Dinesh Deheragoda in 2015. The duo will be supported by Maxxis Sri Lanka, HTL Logistics, Contura Lanka and Pro Mech, each of whom have contributed towards their entry, logistics and various aspects of their participation.

    Shafraz and Akhry have been pairing for more than a decade and have many accolades to their credit. They have been competitively placed across the board in TSD raids in the motorcycle category riding a Honda Transalp 600, winning overall in a Nissan 4WD cab and in their Subaru GC8 rally car. Last year they drove hot into the second leg of the Coffee Day rally to catch up 20 seconds for a third-place finish, but an engine miss towards the latter stages and the possibility of not having an opportunity of a service made them nurse the car and settle for a fourth-place finish 40 seconds away from the podium in the IRC category.

    “As the final round of the APRC, the Coffee Day Rally is a much looked forward to event. It is also a very technical rally with quite a number of turns and we are looking forward to giving it our best”, said Shafraz Junaid of their planned return. As a returning international entry, the Sri Lankans have also been invited to kick dust in the ceremonial shakedown stage with the APRC 4WD rally cars.

    Shafraz and Akhry who recently were adjudged winners of the KORSC TSD night rally will be racing a Volkswagen Polo rally car tuned by GT Tuners, Bengaluru. The car will be different from what they competed in last year as the higher APRC2 category requires greater conformity to FIA specifications, such as the fire bomb apparatus and other car setup changes. Their VW will share the same paddocks with leading APRC contenders Mike Young and Malcolm Read at the competition.