38-year-old Sunawr Ali S/O Idris Ali from Singapore has clocked an impressive 75 hours and 58 minutes, despite the blazing heat on the final day, to bring home the Grand Prize.
It was a battle of the former second-placers right down to the last minute, with Sunawr Ali finishing second in 2013 and Analiza Bte Mokhtar finishing second in 2014. In the end, first runner-up Analiza, 38, from Singapore and second runner-up Alex Neblasca, 34, from Philippines, dropped out at 75 hours and 57 minutes, and 73 hours 50 minutes respectively. The first and second runner up won cash prizes of S$5,000 and S$2,000 respectively.
For his efforts and sheer determination, Sunawr Ali, who has taken part in the Challenge for the 12th time, will be receiving the title of overall winner and the Grand Prize of an all-new Subaru XV 1.6 I-S worth S$69,600, without Certificate of Entitlement (COE). The long-overdue victory is especially sweet for Sunawr Ali whose last-best showing was second-place in the 2013 Challenge, where he fell short of the winning time that year of 75 hours and 1 minute.
Visibly elated and relieved after being told of his win, Sunawr Ali said that he “feels very great” about finally winning after taking part for the 12th time. He credited his win to the unwavering support of his family and friends, and said that “it may have taken years” but what matters is that he has accomplished the feat at long last. Despite finishing the Challenge with swollen feet, Sunawr Ali said the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was to “have some fried chicken”.
In the face of erratic weather conditions over the past four days, ranging from intermittent showers to unrelenting heat, participants continued to remain upbeat as the Challenge progressed. Supporters were also out in full force, cheering them from the side lines with words of encouragement and banners. Supporters could also support participants through the online game where they could win their participant-of-choice additional five-minute breaks, on top of the standard breaks every six hours.
Philippines, whose participants achieved the longest combined standing time of 490 hours and 42 minutes, despite a disadvantage of having only nine regional participants, when one participant had to back out at the last minute, has been awarded the Country Team Winner title. Most of the other regional teams who competed had a full crew of 10 participants. The Philippines team will also be going home with a cash prize of S$10,000, which will be divided equally between the team.
In recognition of the efforts by other regional contestants, the last-standing representative from each participating regional country will also leave with the title of Country Winner and a cash prize of S$1,000. (Please refer to Annex A for a list of Country Winners.) In addition, Alex Neblasca from the Philippines, the last standing regional contestant has won the Asian Winner title, walking away with an additional S$5,000 cash.
Hi Subhash Nair,
I came across this article from you and it is surely a pleasure reading. Thanks Buddy for the kind words. If there is another Subaru Car Challenge and the challenge is open to past winners too, i’m ready to participate again. For your info, traditionally if one is a winner before, he or she will not be able to participate again, that is the rule – smiling. Once again, Thank You for this Lovely Article and wow it has been years ago.
Regards,
Sunawr Ali.