The
Bhopal Automobile Sports Club is not amongst the best known, but it
is amongst the most active motor sports clubs in the country, in as
much as it seems to hold regular motoring events aimed at the general
motoring public. The Great Escape, an event held on Sunday the 24th
of October '99, was no exception.
Restricted
for participation on Mahindra vehicles, the Bharat Petroleum cosponsored
event was a mixed tarmac/off-road noncompetitive endurance run. Starting
from Lal Parade Grounds the cavalcade of over 70 vehicles headed towards
Madideep, Dahod, Seth Barkehda and then Kerva. It then progressed through
increasingly worse offroad tracks towards Sahaapura and Calisot Dam
before culminating at the Kerwa Irrigation Dam guest house.
The rally was incident free as far as mishaps go, but it was full of
other interesting aspects.
Participant
Sharad Gupta of Bhopal claimed to have seen a tiger cross the path of
his vehicle in the jungles of Kerwa. That seemed to whet as much excitement
as the rest of the event with the people in the other 69 vehicles who
did not see it.
More fun was had by people helping - and ribbing - other people whose
vehicles had got stuck in the wet mud en route. Matters were not too
bad as it had not rained for a few weeks previous. Even an expert rallyist
like Farad Bathena, who has surely seen a few events, was heard commenting
that the route was not just challenging and demanding, but also tapped
his skills to the maximum.
Participant Ullah Khan stood out for his determination and enthusiasm
in as much as he has only one leg but inspite of that, he navigated
and took full responsibility for the safe completion of the event by
his vehicle.
Bhopal
seems to be an all-male preserve as far as motor sports are concerned,
which is a pity, considering the fact that this is one sport which has
got universal appeal across the gender divide.
The
Great Escape event series is fully organised by Shrikant Karani's Sportscraft.
Shrikant Karani of Sportscraft is an institutition by himself who tends
to transcend motor sports. For years, reviled by the establishment and
powers that be as an independent, he simply did what others do while
pretending they don't: and that is, he made a commercial success out
of motorsports in India. Sportscraft has held 137 events on various
aspects of motorsports involving two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers
and upto multi-axle trucks, all over India. If you need to know more
about Shrikant Karani's Sportscraft, write to him at
To
know more about Sportscraft
and Shrikant Karani Click Here
Top
The
Bhopal Automobile Sports Club is not amongst the best known, but it
is amongst the most active motor sports clubs in the country, in as
much as it seems to hold regular motoring events aimed at the general
motoring public. The Great Escape, an event held on Sunday the 24th
of October '99, was no exception.
Restricted
for participation on Mahindra vehicles, the Bharat Petroleum cosponsored
event was a mixed tarmac/off-road noncompetitive endurance run. Starting
from Lal Parade Grounds the cavalcade of over 70 vehicles headed towards
Madideep, Dahod, Seth Barkehda and then Kerva. It then progressed through
increasingly worse offroad tracks towards Sahaapura and Calisot Dam
before culminating at the Kerwa Irrigation Dam guest house.
Participant
Sharad Gupta of Bhopal claimed to have seen a tiger cross the path of
his vehicle in the jungles of Kerwa. That seemed to whet as much excitement
as the rest of the event with the people in the other 69 vehicles who
did not see it.
Bhopal
seems to be an all-male preserve as far as motor sports are concerned,
which is a pity, considering the fact that this is one sport which has
got universal appeal across the gender divide.
The
Great Escape event series is fully organised by Shrikant Karani's Sportscraft.
Shrikant Karani of Sportscraft is an institutition by himself who tends
to transcend motor sports. For years, reviled by the establishment and
powers that be as an independent, he simply did what others do while
pretending they don't: and that is, he made a commercial success out
of motorsports in India. Sportscraft has held 137 events on various
aspects of motorsports involving two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers
and upto multi-axle trucks, all over India. If you need to know more
about Shrikant Karani's Sportscraft, write to him at 
