INDIA in F1

Tag: Asian Gymkhana

  • Achintya Mehrotra hogs limelight for India at AAGC Korea

    Achintya Mehrotra hogs limelight for India at AAGC Korea

    Bengaluru, 24 Sept 2019: Ace Indian driver Achintya Mehrotra brought laurels to the country winning a podium place in the second round of the Asia Auto Gymkhana Championship hosted at the InjeSpeedium Circuit in South Korea that concluded on the first Sunday of September.

    Achintya file photo at India AAGC 2018

    The Delhi-based driver won the bronze in the Solo Knockout competition after qualifying third and also helped Team India to finish fourth in the team events which saw 9 teams take part including the two teams fielded by the host. Team India was represented by Achintya Mehrotra, Sahil Khanna and woman driver Khyati Mody. The other top teams included Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines and all the teams used the official car Kia K3 GT, a 1.6 Turbo GDI, pumping 204 HP with a 275 NM torque and a 7-Speed DCT.

    On August 30, the first day of the event started off with the scrutiny and usual administration checks and issuing the driver ID cards while the Driver Briefing was on Aug 31 at the InjeSpeedium Classic Car Museum auditorium. The competitors also got the start order and the competition track patterns.

    There were a total of 4 track patterns:

    • Pattern A – Solo Qualifying
    • Pattern B – Solo Knockout
    • Pattern C – Double Qualifying & Knockouts
    • Pattern D – Team Knockouts

    The event used twin tracks. Solo qualifying had the drivers drive on both lanes (A & B). The best of both times decided the qualifying order.

    This year saw the most competitive battle with the top 5 drivers within 0.1s. Achintya Mehrotra from Team India qualified in 3rd  place with Sahil Khanna in 14th place &KhyatiMody in 22nd place out of 27 drivers from all the 9 teams. The cumulative of qualifying times of the 3 drivers served as the overall qualifying time for teams. Thus Team India qualified overall 2nd out of 8 countries.

    Achintya Mehrotra in action in Korea 2019

    The next session was the Double qualifying wherein two drivers go behind each other. The time starts when the first driver cuts the beam at the start while the time stops when the driver behind cuts the beam at finish. The drivers change positions at the last corner just before the finish. Team India qualified in last position owing to a wrong penalty being given by the marshal. In the double knockouts, India went head to head against Philippines to which they lost.

    The final day of the event – 1st September started off with the Solo Knockouts. Sahil Khanna was lined up against Taiwan’s driver to whom he lost owing to course deviation &so did KhyatiMody who was lined up against the Singapore driver Jeremy Low.

    Meanwhile, Achintya Mehrotra beat the Philippines driver to advance into the next round of knockouts. The next round of solo knockouts had Achintya lined up against Korea’s lady driver whom he won against as the Korean driver got a 2 min course deviation penalty.

    The next knockout was up against driver of Team Thailand who was unlucky against Team India driver Achintya.

    Finally, Achintya was lined up against Team Taiwan driver who proved to be faster than him. Eventually, Achintya came 3rd for Team India in the solo knockouts.

    Solo podium for Achintya Mehrotra in Individual events. India won 4th place in team event.

    The final session was the Team event wherein driver 1, driver 2; driver 3 of Team A goes head to head with driver 1, driver 2 ; driver 3 of Team B.  On every win, each team is awarded with 2 points. The first team to get 4 points advances to the next round of knockouts.

    India was lined up against Singapore whom they beat in all the 3 rounds and advanced into the top 4 shootout. The next team was Team Thailand who beat us by 4 points to 2 points.

    Our final race of the day was against Team Taiwan for the 3rd place position in the Team round. However, that also didn’t as planned & Team India had to settle for 4th Place.

    Final results : –

    Solo Qualifying – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)

    Solo Knockouts – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)

    Team Result – Team India (P4)

    Indian team gets overall fourth and a podium as the first four get on to the podium in Asian Gymkhana events.
  • Achintya 3rd in solo rounds; Khyati, Sahil join him as India gets 4th in Team Championship: AAGC

    Achintya 3rd in solo rounds; Khyati, Sahil join him as India gets 4th in Team Championship: AAGC

    Indians (left), who got the 4th place in the Team Championship share the podium with other winners. An AAGC photo

    Bengaluru, 3 Sept 2019: The Indian team comprising of Achintya Mehrotra, Sahil Khanna, and Khyati Mody won the fourth place in the Team Championship at the second round of the Asia Auto Gymkhana Championship at South Korea on August 31 and September 1. Mehrotra also won a bronze medal in the solo rounds.

    Khyati Mody has represented the country in motorsports abroad and returned successfully from this outing in South Korea. She was selected to the Indian team as a female driver, along with Delhi’s Achintya Mehrotra and Sahil Khanna.

    In Asian Gymkhana, the top four nations in the Team championship will be awarded prizes on the podium. India finished fourth in the first round too.

    Indians Khyati Mody (left) Achintya Mehrotra and Sahil Khanna take a selfie with other teams at AAGC in South Korea. FB @Achintya

    Earlier, Khyati was selected to be a part of Team India squad during the trial rounds in Banglore in June along with others. Shivani Pruthvi participated in the first round and Khyati replaced her for this round due to her non-availability.

    “Just a week before South Korea round I got a call from the Federation that one of the team members is not available and I was selected for this round. I was thrilled and anxious since there was barely any time to get any training,” said Khyati.

    Her other two teammates in the Indian squad, Achintya Mehrotra and Sahil Khanna, have registered themselves to do a basic BMW course in South Korea prior to the round and they suggested her too. But unfortunately, the slots were full. However, before booking her flight ticket she checked the availability and was lucky that one slot opened up. She booked it immediately but needed an International driving license to attend this course. Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) assisted her and arranged the permit.

    The Indian Team.

    In Mumbai, it is difficult to find tracks to practice handbrake turns but Ajmera Indi Karting in Wadala was happy to lend her the karting track for her practice. Rayo Racing head Rayomand Banerjee and AAGC committee personal Harshit Merchant helped her in guiding her towards refining her skill in the few hour’s practice that could be managed in the last 2-3 days prior to her flight.

    “I procured the driving suit in the last minute and flew down to South Korea and along with my teammates held the Tricolour during the opening ceremony. It was a feeling that is beyond words to express. At that moment I just felt that we are carrying the dreams of all Indian motorsports lovers. Along with Achintya and Sahil, we gave our best and managed to get the 4th place despite much tough opposition from better-placed countries,” added Khyati.

    “I missed the individual podium by 0.07 second which was heart-breaking but I am happy to have won fourth place in the team trophy along with my teammates. They have been my biggest strength and support system in South Korea and assisted me when I needed them the most. I did not even have a team India T-shirt. Sahil Khanna was kind enough to let me borrow his spare T-shirt. It’s been an emotional roller-coaster and I am glad I was part of the Indian team,” she concluded.

     

  • Shivani Pruthvi, first Indian woman to take part in Asia Auto Gymkhana

    Shivani Pruthvi, first Indian woman to take part in Asia Auto Gymkhana

    Shivani Pruthvi  after being felicitated by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences recently. Photo: India in F1

    Bengaluru, 11 July 2019: A three-member Indian team, including a woman driver, representing the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI) will take part in the first round of the Asia Auto Gymkhana championship to be held at Yogyakarta in Indonesia on July 13.

    Shivani Pruthvi of Davangere, Sahil Khanna, and Karan Malik will represent India in the event which will see 39 drivers from 12 countries vie for top honours.  The trio will be up against contingents from Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and the host country Indonesia. There, all competitors will drive identical race-prepped Toyota Agyas (aka Wigo in the Philippines) on multiple gymkhana course layouts in a knock-out format. “It is a great honour to represent India and we will strive our best to bring laurels to the country,” said Shivani.

    Team India at the registration desk on Thursday. An INDIAinF1 image

    New for 2019 is the introduction of the ladies championship, run under the support of the FIA’s “Women in Motorsport” program. With this, FMSCI has selected Shivani Pruthvi to be India’s first female representative. Shivani has recently taken part in the South India Rally, the first round of the Indian National Rally Championship at Chennai along with her mother as the navigator in the only all-woman team. A couple of days back, Shivani was felicitated by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences before heading to Indonesia for the first round of Asia auto Gymkhana championship.

    The31-year old Sahil Khanna is the current reigning Autocross National champion in the Stock 2w class 1100 to 1400cc for 2019. He also won the third place in the T1 category of Desert Storm 2018 . The 26-year old Karan Malik won overall 2nd place in the T2 category of Desert Storm this year. Shivani, who is just 21 years, won the Times Women’s driver in 2018 and retained the title this year. She also did well in the INRC first round in Chennai with her mother Deepthi as co-driver last month.

    The AAGC’s first event in 2019 will take place under the city night lights of Yogyakarta, located on the Indonesian island of Java.

  • Achintya Mehrotra of Team India is champ in solo class: Asia Gymkhana

    Achintya Mehrotra of Team India is champ in solo class: Asia Gymkhana

    Achintya Mehrotra of India who won the Solo Gymkhana in AAGC on Sunday. Photos by Rahul Reghu

    Mumbai, 29 Sept 2018: Achintya Mehrotra won the Solo Championship in the Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition at the Raymond Drift Track in Thane here on Sunday.

    Team Indonesia of Adrian Septianto and Herdiko Setyaputra won the Doubles category and Team Gymkhana categories in Round 2 of the AAGC 2018 which concluded here.  

     Team Japan secured second place in both the Doubles and Team Gymkhana categories while Indian driver Achintya Mehrotra won the best driver award in the Solo Gymkhana category.

    Adrian Septianto and Herdiko Setyaputra who won the Team Gymkhana in AAGC Photo: Rahul Reghu

    An international motoring extravaganza held in India for the very first time, Round 2 of the AAGC 2018 witnessed an audience of over 2000 people and 26 top-class Gymkhana drivers from over 10 APAC countries, including Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines Singapore, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and India. 

    Driving prepared Volkswagen Polo track cars, all the participants were evenly pegged against each other with the ultimate goal of navigating through a short-timed loop, comprising of obstacles and choreographed manoeuvres such as 360 spins, J-Turns, Slalom and Figure-8 amongst others, while making the fewest errors. With 5 difference courses, the total run time of the heats were all under a minute, making it one of the most fast-paced motorsport events being held in India in recent times.

    The AAGC, an FIA event, was run under the aegis of  Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).  The event was sponsored by Kamasutra, Parx, Rustomjee Developers and MRF while VW Motorsport and Autocar India partnered with technical support. 

    Round 2 Provisional results:

     Solo Gymkhana competition: 1. Achintya Mehrotra, Team India; 2 Adrian Septianto; 3. Herdiko Setyaputra, both Team Indonesia.

     Doubles Gymkhana:  Team Indonesia (Adrian & Herdiko); 2. Team Japan (Tetsuya Yamano & Naoya Yamano); 3. Team India D (Arjun Rao & Ashad Pasha).

    Team Gymkhana: 1. Team Indonesia (Adrian Septianto & Herdiko Setyaputra); 2.  Team Japan (Tetsuya Yamano & Naoya Yamano); 3. Team India A (Achintya Mehrotra & Aabhishek Mishra).

     

     

  • Gymkhana is accessible, affordable and entertaining, says Gautam Hari Singhania

    Gymkhana is accessible, affordable and entertaining, says Gautam Hari Singhania

    Gautam Singhania, the Indian representative in the World Motorsports Council addressing a Press Conference in Mumbai to launch the Asian Auto Gymkhana on Friday. An INDIAinF1 image by Rahul Reghu

    Mumbai: Quotes from the Press Conference held ahead of the Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition to be held on Saturday and Sunday at the Raymond Drift Track in Thane here.

    Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, Raymond Ltd. and member of the FIA World Motorsports Council said “As an avid motorsports enthusiast I am thrilled to support and be part of this FIA recognised initiative held in India for the very first time. Through AAGC the idea is to popularise motorsports by making it more accessible, more affordable and an entertaining event. We also want to give participants the recognition that they deserve. The AAGC is a great beginning and in future, I hope to work with colleagues and representatives across the world and more so in India, to bring in many more such motorsports initiatives.”

    Dr. Kwong Yeung, President & CEO of AAGC said, “We are happy to host Round 2 of the AAGC 2018 here in India, a country with so many young, talented and ambitious motorsports aspirants. What makes the sport even more special is that Gymkhana competitions are affordable and that any car can be enrolled into the competition, with driver skills as the core criteria. For Round 2, we have some very promising drivers, including a very talented Indian driver line-up. I keenly look forward to this weekend event.”

    Mr. Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, “We are happy to provide our Volkswagen Polo stunt cars to the drivers. They are some of the best gymkhana drivers from their respective countries and would be driving some of the best cars we have to offer. I am excited for the upcoming two days of the competition.” He further added, “We strive to raise the standard of Indian Motorsport, develop awareness of motorsports in India and bringing the sport to the maximum audience possible. We are always ready for any collaboration to popularize motorsports in the country. This form of partnership restores my faith in future of motorsports in India”.

    Gymkhana as a form of motorsport relies on the driver’s skill and technique – to navigate through a short timed loop, which is comprised of obstacles and choreographed manoeuvres such as 360 spins, J-Turns, Slalom, Box Parking and Figure-8 amongst others. The total run time of the heats are generally under a minute which makes this a fast paced, engaging and rewarding experience to watch.

    Run under the aegis of FIA in conjunction with FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India), the event acts as an entry point for budding young drivers to start a career in racing, in a safe, economical and practical way.

    Akbar Ibrahim, President FMSCI said “In India motorsports is still an extravagant affair. It is not as easy as it looks and at the same time not as popular as we’d like it to be. At FMSCI it is our endeavour to cultivate this form of sport and make people, corporates and the authorities more aware and supportive of the sport, starting from the grass-roots level. We are elated to host this event  ere in India and we thank our sponsors and partners for the support extended to us.”

    The FMSCI is a long-standing member of the FIA, a national motorsport federation recognised by the Government of India, for the promotion and control of motorsports in India, and is affiliated to the prestigious Indian Olympic Association.

    Dilip Joshi, Chairman of AAGC 2018 Round 2 said, “Round 2 of AAGC 2018 promises to be exciting, with a world-class motoring event never seen before in the city. Through this event, we hope to connect our passion for automobiles to the larger Indian audience, including a bunch of very excited school kids from the neighboring Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School, who will be part of the audience on Race Day. As we move along, we hope to trigger greater aspiration for racing and look forward to a power-packed weekend.”

    The event is sponsored by Kamasutra, Parx, Rustomjee Developers & MRF and is supported by VW Motorsport & Autocar India.

  • Thrilling drifts and stunning feats provide a glimpse of the fare in store: Asia Auto Gymkhana

    Thrilling drifts and stunning feats provide a glimpse of the fare in store: Asia Auto Gymkhana

    Mumbai, 28 Sept. 2018: Motorsports enthusiasts were offered a glimpse of the stunning feats and thrilling drifts that is in store for the next two days as the drivers took their VW Polos for a spin ahead of the second round of the eight-round Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition (AAGC) began at the Raymond Drift Track in Thane today.

    The most popular forms of motorsport across the world, Gymkhana makes an entry into India and the Asian event will be held on Sept. 29 and 30. Before addressing the press conference, Gautam Singhania, a specialist in drifting took his Raymond-branded machine for a spin and it was a unique experience of precision and split timing that a skilled driver can showcase. Later, Sirish Vissa (right), head Volkswagen Motorsports, Akbar Ebrahim, FMSCI President, who is the man behind bringing Gymkhana closer to fans in India, and Farad Bathena, the event organiser, joined for a Press Conference.

    Asia’s Largest Gymkhana, AAGC is an FIA-approved event which will witness 32 drivers from 16 Asian countries and is organised by FB Motorsports. The drivers will navigate through a short timed loop that is designed to test their skills and precision rather than sheer speed but the drivers offer enough attractions including stunning 360-degree drifts with picture-perfect precision and timing.

    Apart from Singhania, professional stunt drivers, too, are expected to provide their thrilling fare for two days. Team India A will be represented by Achintya Mehrotra and Aabhishek Mishra.

    Gautam Singhania takes a spin ahead of the qualies at the Raymond Drift Track, Thane in AAGC on Friday. Photos by Rahul Reghu

    Gymkhana serves as a stepping stone for thousands looking to enter the world of Motorsport. The AAGC will have different classes in both stock, modified and purpose-built cars. The drivers navigate through a short timed loop which consists of manoeuvres such as J-Turns, 180/360 Spins, Figure-8s, Box Parks and Slalom that emphasise more on the driver’s skill and technique rather than on speed. “This ease of access and low costs of competing makes Autocross and Gymkhana a great platform for the grassroots development of motorsport,” said Farad Bathena, whose FB Motorsport is organising the event. Farad Bhathena, a celebrated rallyist of yesteryears, is the man behind FB Motorsports which has organised many racing events in India in the last decade including sprint and TSD rallies, track racing and has also conducted driving courses. Bathena is also a key man assisting JA Motorsports in running the Formula cars in the National Racing Championship at Chennai.

    Saturday morning will see qualification rounds for Solo Gymkhana while knock-out sessions will take place in the afternoon. On Sunday, Double Gymkhana, Solo and team Gymkhana finals will be held.